Mission & Evangelism

Mission & Evangelism equips Christians and churches to share the gospel and make disciples locally and globally. Explore Bible-based articles on evangelism, outreach, disciple-making, missions strategy, church planting partnerships, and engaging your community with compassion and clarity. You’ll find practical guidance for building a missional culture, telling the story of Jesus well, and reaching people across cultures and generations. Whether you’re serving in your neighborhood, supporting missionaries, or leading a church on mission, these resources help you live sent and invite others to follow Christ.

March 25, 2016

Christian Standard

Social Service

By Bill Belew The Christian”s mission in life is to make disciples of the nations. Social networks are an asset the Christian should use. On LinkedIn, I have more than 4,000 1st-degree connections. My reach on LinkedIn exceeds 30 million people (that is, somebody knows somebody I want to know). On Twitter, I have more than 50,000 followers. Each of them, on average, has 500 followers. That means I can potentially reach 25 million people (50,000 x 500).  I run a private forum that includes more than 1,200 people from more than 50 countries. I can accurately predict1 that 1

March 25, 2016

Christian Standard

If You Post It, They Will Come

By Bill Belew Jesus was so good at what he did that crowds hunted him down, ran to him, brought folks to him, and prepared for his visit. Jesus” teaching, works, and methods were so appealing that people were attracted to him. He did not need to advertise: “Come hear the sermon on the mountain by the Sea of Galilee.” “Great crowds came to him,” (Matthew 15:30, emphasis mine). The church””your church and Jesus” church””should be producing such high-quality content that people seek it out. People are looking for answers. Americans spend an estimated $16.6 billion annually looking for answers

March 24, 2016

Christian Standard

140 Character: How to Be a Social Media Missionary

By T.R. Robertson I”ve dreamed of being a writer since I was just a kid, back in the 1970s. Being a writer would give me the chance to express myself, to share my thoughts and opinions. Little did I know by the time I became a published writer, anyone with Internet access would be able to instantly publish his or her thoughts. Social media enable everyone to have their say, whether insightful or spiteful, eloquent or ignorant. Twitter recorded 738 million tweets in the 10 days following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Social media drove the public

March 21, 2016

Christian Standard

The World Comes to India

By Gary Holloway “The experience changed my life.” “I saw more of what God is doing in the world.” “Our churches will never be the same.” These are statements from people who have attended a Global Gathering of the World Convention. The World Convention of Churches of Christ serves the Stone-Campbell churches (Christian, Churches of Christ, and Disciples of Christ) found in 199 countries and territories, with about 10 million total adherents worldwide. World Convention seeks to connect those churches everywhere, every day. One way it connects is through a Global Gathering every few years, with the next one scheduled

March 17, 2016

Christian Standard

How Team Expansion Missionaries Define Success

By Doug Lucas We”ve tried and learned from a variety of approaches, each with a different definition of success. Here”s where we”ve been and how we”re seeing God bless the approach we”re taking now. When we were starting Team Expansion in 1978, we organized several brainstorming conferences that included some of the nation”s top thinkers and leaders in missions and other fields. At these events, we would ask questions like, “What should Team Expansion try to be? What should be its main goal? In fact, what IS Team Expansion?” It took a while to hone the vision (about 37 years,

March 4, 2016

Christian Standard

“˜A Dream in My Heart”

By Jennifer Johnson It all began with a sermon. Several years ago, Josh Howard, director of leadership training at Central India Christian Mission, was listening to a message called “Born to Reproduce” by Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators. “He made a comment that it was possible for us to reach the entire world in 10 years,” Howard says. “I thought, There”s no way that”s true. So I got out my calculator and did the math. I realized that if every person reached one person every six months, in 15 years we could reach all of India”s 1.1 billion people.

November 23, 2015

Christian Standard

Back to the City

By Kendi Howells Douglas Our increasingly urban world requires a commitment to embracing diversity and pursuing reconciliation as we plant churches in cosmopolitan environments. Our world is more urban than rural for the first time in history1, and in addition to rethinking how we prepare people to minister in an urban world, we must look at church planting efforts in light of this new reality. In researching the history of the Restoration Movement in urban areas, I have discovered some factors that have kept many of our churches out of cities in the past. One issue was failure to be

November 16, 2015

Christian Standard

Opening Doors: Sharing the Gospel in Closed Countries

By Name Withheld Unreached need not mean unreachable, even in countries where Christian evangelism is forbidden. Sousida goes to sleep afraid every night. She never knows what the spirits are going to do to her or her family. She thinks she”s done enough to appease them, but she has no way of knowing. She”s never heard of Jesus. In fact, no one she knows has ever met a Christian or seen a Bible. They have no idea they could experience freedom. Generations of her people have lived and died in total darkness. Further complicating her hopelessness, Sousida”s country is openly

November 14, 2015

Michael C. Mack

Thanksgiving Discussion Starters

By Michael C. Mack As Thanksgiving approaches and on the day itself, people will naturally be thinking about thankfulness. Pray for people you will see throughout the week. As you talk with friends, coworkers, or neighbors, or as you get together with family, watch for natural opportunities to ask these simple questions: “¢ What are you most thankful for? “¢ Whom are you most thankful for? “¢ When do you tend to be the most thankful for what you have? “¢ Other than at Thanksgiving, do you think you are generally a thankful person? Why or why not? Next, be

November 13, 2015

Christian Standard

A Ministry of Hope

By Name Withheld In Indonesia, life can be short. In just two weeks we heard about at least five deaths in our neighborhood or among our neighbors” friends and families. Each death is important to the Indonesians. In most of the villages, if someone dies, the whole village shuts down to mourn. The day someone dies, the death is announced over the loudspeaker from the mosque in the kampung (neighborhood). The men in the community immediately begin building a wooden box for burial, and then they set up plastic chairs and a large tarp so people can come be with

November 12, 2015

Christian Standard

Mobilize and Accelerate

By Mike Schrage Go and make disciples. This 2,000-year-old command from Jesus is just as compelling and encompassing as ever. It”s a command for obedience. It”s a command for commitment. What must we do today to obey the command? Robert Coleman said, “Evangelism is not an optional accessory to our life. It is the heartbeat of all that we were called to be and do.”1 How”s the American church doing with this command to go and make disciples? Let me share a heart that”s full of concern for the bride of Christ found within our nation”s borders. We”re living in

November 10, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Changes for the Better?

By Mark A. Taylor Every missions leader and missionary watcher will tell you missions is different these days. A generation or two ago, missionaries departed for a foreign field with the intent to spend their lives there. Now “long-term missionaries” stay for maybe two or three years. Those days, and in the generations before, missionaries went from the West to the rest of the world, and most American church members assumed “we” had the solution to the problems suffered by “them.” Now missionaries from Asia, Africa, and South America are going all over the world with the gospel. And some

November 8, 2015

Christian Standard

The Test

By Marion Duckworth My husband, Jack, our two young sons, and I drove 3,000 miles from New York to the state of Washington to begin our first assignment as rural missionaries. Since the community had no church or parsonage, we”d be living in a tiny cabin in the woods with an outhouse “down the path.” Upon arrival, we discovered the cabin was dominated by two voracious, wood-chomping stoves, one in the kitchen and the other in the tiny living room. The steps leading to the second floor were Bunyan-sized. But it was the sight of the metal bunk beds where

November 4, 2015

Christian Standard

Listen

By Jim Tune Earlier in my ministry, I viewed evangelism as almost entirely an act of proclamation. Evangelism meant “telling.” It was shaped by modernism and was largely “proof” oriented in its content and approach. A logical argument would be presented following defined lines of traditional apologetic thought. Equipped with the facts and bolstered by books such as Josh McDowell”s Evidence that Demands a Verdict, I could boldly offer “five arguments for the existence of God” or “seven reasons why we can believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead.” The problem with this approach is its reliance on

November 2, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Missions Ministry Toolbox

Interview by Mark A. Taylor We spoke with four local church missions ministers about best practices for missions ministry. Their answers were as inspiring as they were practical. Here are approaches to the local church”s global outreach that build up the church and nourish the workers on foreign fields.  We think every congregation will appreciate the insights and ideas these four shared: PAT CREECH, global outreach pastor for Crossroads Christian Church, Newburgh, Indiana; DREW DEPLER, global outreach pastor at LifeBridge Christian Church, Longmont, Colorado; TYLER HARI, pastor of outreach, Eastview Christian Church, Normal, Illinois; and DAVID THORESEN, director of local and international outreach,

November 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Going Short

How one congregation prepares people for short-term trips and helps them see how they are part of a much bigger picture. By Tom Moen We use a document at Mountain Christian Church called “The Anatomy of a Short-Term Mission Trip” to help our people understand the gravity, depth, and commitment involved in getting the team ready to go, serve well, and return home to continue the mission. This information illustrates the great investment of time that goes into making a GO Team trip work. The team leaders and church staff work together to lead the team participants through this process. Our hope

October 30, 2015

Christian Standard

Running to Make a Difference in India

By Wilbur Reid At a Christ In Youth MOVE conference with their youth group, Kerri Reid and Kindy Carrier were inspired to make a difference for girls in India. They envisioned a big event that would help raise money to provide furnishings for a new orphanage being built in Kerala, India, associated with Rajan Ipe and Kerala Christian Mission. Girls who are abandoned by their families in India have little chance of being educated or even surviving for very long. The Carmel Girls Orphanage provides a loving atmosphere, with a focus on education and gaining important life skills. When Kerri

October 18, 2015

Christian Standard

It’s OK to Be the ‘Away Team’

By Jim Tune In the fifth century, Romans reclined in their villas in the south of England feeling secure that their world was intact and would remain that way for years to come. Life was good. Sure, the army was busy, always off to subdue an uprising here or resist a barbarian raid there. But the roads still bustled with trade, the public baths were thriving, and the harvest was under way. Meanwhile the Saxons were already crossing the English Channel with designs on the land that once seemed to be the permanent possession of the mighty Roman Empire. Soon

October 1, 2015

Christian Standard

Pray for My Muslim Neighbors . . . and Yours

By Name Withheld When I was getting ready to leave my home church, I shared openly with a group of women about some of the unique struggles Islamic women face. I asked these ladies to consider covering me in prayer as I entered into the world of Muslim women. One woman came up to me after the service and told me her husband once said Muslims were the one people group he felt he could never love or accept. She asked me to join her in praying that the Lord would soften (and humble) his heart. Christianity Today recently published

September 20, 2015

Christian Standard

Discovering Your Potential for Missions

By Jennifer Johnson Christian Missionary Fellowship plants international churches, trains national leaders, coordinates a child sponsorship program, develops campus ministries in key cities around the world, teaches Community Health Evangelism, drills wells for clean water, manages a microloan program, and more. But much of this work depends on consistently recruiting new people to serve””as interns, exchange students, and short- and long-term missionaries. Recently CMF developed a new “Is Missions for Me?” seminar designed to discover more potential recruits for its programs while resourcing and supporting local church efforts. The event is hosted by a church (although several churches can partner

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