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.

November 9, 2012

Christian Standard

Websites Help Foster Global Evangelism

By Jennifer Johnson   Net Work Many missionaries manage websites, send newsletters, and post videos on YouTube. But for these resources to be helpful, potential supporters must first hear about them””and, as Reggie Hundley says, “Who”s searching YouTube for missions videos?” Hundley, executive director of Mission Services, a nonprofit organization serving missionaries and mission agencies, recently developed a solution to connect churches, individuals, and missionaries online. The new website www.themissionsnetwork.com provides an easy way for people to learn about the missionaries they already support as well as come in contact with new ministries. A “Missions Knowledge Base” shares audio and

November 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Very Good Indeed

By Mark A. Taylor Not every missionary expert posting at this site this month agrees with every other posting here. Readers need not find this discouraging. The point is that more missions work is happening among Christian churches and churches of Christ than ever before, and that”s good. New churches are being planted cross-culturally. Independent congregations in areas once served only by U.S.-supported missionaries are starting new churches that then send out their own missionaries. Thousands of children are receiving nourishment of body and soul because members of Christian churches are sponsoring them with monthly donations. All this is good.

November 6, 2012

Christian Standard

Unreached People Groups

By Doug Lucas In spite of tremendous strides forward in Bible translations, religious satellite broadcasts, and Internet-based evangelism, God”s good news still has not yet penetrated numerous pockets of the planet”s population. To make matters more complex, these pockets sometimes do not follow political boundaries. Rather, they often follow ethnic and/or linguistic boundaries that are much harder to document. Ralph Winter was among the first to articulate the concept of people groups back in 1974 at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization. (See Stephen Burris”s article for more on the origin, biblical roots, and history of the development of this

November 5, 2012

Christian Standard

Where Are We Now?

By Stephen Burris Over the past 200 years, there has been a great deal of focus on what the church has been doing, is currently doing, and what still needs to be done. This article seeks to give a general overview of what the church has been doing to fulfill its nature as a missionary church. This piece builds on a model developed by Ralph Winter1. It looks at the three eras of mission he described and then updates that model to represent the current reality of the world. Virtually from the beginning, the church has wrestled with what task or

November 4, 2012

Christian Standard

Future Trends in Missions

By Mike Sweeney As we look to the future of missions, we need to think in broad categories about the current trends that appear to have a future trajectory. Many strategies will rise and fall with people”s interests, technological changes, crises, and other transient issues. But, stepping back and observing the world of missions as a whole, we can see fairly clearly that there are a few major trends that will continue to push the church in new directions as we live out the Great Commission around the world. Just as recognition of the 10/40 Window made an impact on

September 17, 2012

Christian Standard

A Big Heart for Missions

By Francis Nash While studying history and broadcasting, which became my eventual full-time profession, I found myself behind the pulpit in 1968 at Sugar Grove Christian Church in rural Bath County, Kentucky, six miles from any town. My interest in mission work was ingrained by my childhood love for geography and the mission displays I had visited every year while attending the North American Christian Convention with my family. As a congregation of mostly middle-income families numbering around 85, Sugar Grove””which I continue to serve””had not been exposed much to mission work. I detected a reluctance to commit to other

September 9, 2012

Christian Standard

Spreading the Gospel, Unleashing Compassion

By Justin Horey This summer, as Eastside Christian Church celebrated five decades of dynamic ministry in Southern California, senior pastor Gene Appel emphasized “Eastside”s second 50 years” as much as its first. Later this year, Eastside is scheduled to complete one of the largest, most expensive, and most ambitious relocation projects ever undertaken by a Christian church””with a total project cost of more than $50 million. The church”s leaders believe the project will “carry forward the congregation”s spiritual passion by positioning Eastside for exponential impact in its second 50 years.” Shortly after Eastside Christian Church began meeting in 1962, the

June 26, 2012

Christian Standard

Deep Change

By Mark A. Taylor The discussion was about missions, but the topic was change. And I couldn”t stop thinking about the church”s task in a world changing faster than we may realize. Steve Moore, president of Missio Nexus (missionexus.org), was leading about 30 of us at the Cincinnati installment of Reset Tour, a 10-city event sponsored by the International Conference on Missions (ICOM). The Tour, which concluded with a West Coast swing in May, was expected to reach 250 missions-minded members and leaders of Christian churches and churches of Christ, according to David Empson, executive director of ICOM. From this

May 23, 2012

Christian Standard

Impacting Canada

By Kent E. Fillinger Toronto, Canada, is the most ethnically diverse city in the world. On the west side of Toronto, where Churchill Meadows Christian Church meets, 55 percent of the population speaks a language other than English in their homes. All totaled, more than 140 languages and dialects are spoken in the city. People of Muslim and Hindu backgrounds outnumber the people with any form of Christian background. Additionally, only 4 percent of the population is churched, which means the majority of people have no frame of reference for Christianity. Culturally, Canada resembles Western Europe more than the United

May 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Central Brazil Mission Dedicates New Medical Boat

The Central Brazil Mission recently dedicated a new medical boat that will be used by short-term mission teams to provide basic medical and dental care for families who live in remote villages along the Amazon River and its tributaries. The two-story boat was custom-made for the mission and includes first-floor medical and dental offices and treatment rooms. On the second floor are crew quarters, a kitchen, dining room, and dormitory rooms for visiting mission teams. Since starting with a remodeled used wooden boat in 2000, the Amazon Boat Ministry has established more than 20 new village churches. After initial contact

April 23, 2012

Christian Standard

The Missional Model: “˜Go and Make Disciples”

By Greg Nettle It all boils down to “how well we are doing at making disciples.” After 23 years at the leadership helm of RiverTree Christian Church, I have to take at least some responsibility for the quality of disciples we are producing. Now, don”t get me wrong, I know it is God who brings about the sanctification process and that we, as humans, certainly continue to have the freedom to make good or bad choices. However, surrounding my 20-year anniversary as leader of RiverTree, I spent a lot of time praying and reflecting. And I didn”t like what was

March 8, 2012

Christian Standard

IDES Working to Help Tornado Victims

International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES) is working with churches around the country to help victims of last week”s tornadoes. “We are encouraging Christian churches and churches of Christ to hold a moment of prayer this coming Sunday to pray for the victims and the volunteers and to take up a love offering for IDES,” the ministry shares. Make donations online or mail checks/money orders marked “U.S. Disasters” to P.O. Box 60, Kempton, IN 46049-0060. In southern Indiana, IDES will be setting up a base camp to help with disaster relief. Although it does not yet know if it will be

March 1, 2012

Christian Standard

Lifeline, Southland Work Together for Haiti

By Jennifer Taylor This past December, 6,000 people gathered at 12 packing stations for five days to pack more than 1 million meals for the people of Haiti. Participants packed a specially formulated, fast-cooking, rice-based combination of vitamins, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and other nutrients that provide, in one serving, about 75 percent of a child”s daily requirement for a healthy diet. Lifeline Christian Mission (Westerville, OH) worked with Southland Christian Church (Lexington, KY) to coordinate the event. Lifeline”s ABC (All Because of Christ) food packaging events are opportunities for churches and organizations to meaningfully address issues of world hunger in

February 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending and Supporting Missionary Kids

By Lana West These kids are confronted with special opportunities and unique problems. The first step to helping them is understanding the world through their eyes. The issue of taking children to a foreign mission field and raising them overseas has long been a matter of debate. Grandparents wonder, “Will they be safe? How will they be educated? Will they have proper medical care?” The local church asks, “How can we support a family with so many children? Why do they have so many children? How can they do the work they are called to do and care for their

February 27, 2012

Christian Standard

An “˜Incredible Group” for an Important Mission

By Mark A. Taylor In just under 48 hours each year our contributing editors meet in an annual retreat to consider the future of this magazine. We discuss a wide range of issues””from the lofty (“How should young leaders in our fellowship view it?”) to the specific (“What should a Christian Standard app contain?”). All of it is aimed at improving Christian Standard”s service””its content, its appearance, even its means of distribution. The group suggests topics the church needs to consider and writers who have something to say about them. They critique our past year”s product and react to future

February 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: Team Expansion

By Jennifer Taylor Team Expansion (Founded 1978) 4112 Old Routt Road, Louisville, KY 40299 www.teamexpansion.org Doug Lucas, President Team Expansion is serious about prayer. The ministry began as a movement of prayer when President Doug Lucas was a student at Kentucky Christian College (now Kentucky Christian University). In addition to raising support, team members also recruit prayer partners””an average of 200 for each individual or family! And Emerald Hills, the ministry”s training center, is “a prayer center first,” says Eric Derry, vice president, mobilization. From those first prayers almost 35 years ago, Team Expansion has grown to more than 300

February 22, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: TCM International Institute

By Jennifer Taylor TCM International Institute (Founded 1957) P.O. Box 24560, Indianapolis, IN 46224 www.tcmi.org Tony Twist, President It takes a one-time Master of Arts scholarship investment of $16,000 to equip an international leader for a lifetime of service and ministry in his home country. Compare this to the $60,000 or more needed annually to send a U.S. missionary overseas (where service is usually less than four years), and it”s obvious: equipping national leaders to reach their own countries for Christ is both effective and cost-effective. TCM exists to develop bivocational “international disciple makers” throughout Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and

February 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: Pioneer Bible Translators

By Jennifer Taylor Pioneer Bible Translators (Founded 1976) 7255 West Camp Wisdom Road, Dallas, TX 75236 www.pioneerbible.org Greg Pruett, President Pioneer Bible Translators does not exist just to translate the Bible. Instead, its mission is “discipling the Bible-less,” a holistic approach that includes working with native people groups, developing literacy, investing in the community, and planting churches. “The end goal is not just translated Scripture, but churches using Scripture,” says President Greg Pruett. “We consider a project completed only when we have helped to create networks of growing believers and multiplying churches.” The ministry began with a vision to combine the

February 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: New Missions Systems International

By Jennifer Taylor New Missions Systems International (Founded 1989) 2701 Cleveland Ave., Suite 7, Fort Myers, FL 33901 www.nmsi.org Laura Clancy, President/CEO Every word of NMSI”s name is intentional: the organization looks for new ways to help people fulfill the missions they feel called to, while using systematic approaches to planning and implementation and maintaining an international focus across the ministry. “Our niche is supporting missionaries to fulfill their calling,” says President Laura Clancy. “We look for ways to support people who can identify and articulate their call, and we focus on opportunities where we can add unique value. This

February 21, 2012

Christian Standard

Sending, Serving, Reaching: IDES

By Jennifer Taylor IDES (Founded 1973) P.O. Box 60, Kempton, IN 46049 www.ides.org Rick Jett, Executive Director Until 2005, International Disaster Emergency Service primarily received donations from churches and individuals and channeled the money to missionaries or U.S. agencies. When disaster struck, churches knew they could trust IDES to manage the gifts and ensure every penny went to the designated cause. Today IDES is still a “top of mind” organization for charitable giving, especially in response to earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters, and as much as 70 percent of its ministry is facilitating these gifts. However, the IDES team

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