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.

July 22, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Dean Trune

By Brad Dupray After graduating from the University of Michigan with a bachelor”s degree in business administration and a master”s in engineering, Dean Trune was well prepared for a career at General Motors. After 12 years with GM, however, Dean”s heart turned to ministry and he became campus minister at Michigan State, where he served for the next 11 years. Since 1995, Dean has led Impact Ministries International (www.ImpactingTheWorld.com), establishing campus ministries around the world and conducting seminars to help people connect with God more intimately. Dean”s book, The Path to Passion, was recently released by Prayer Shop Publishing, the

June 16, 2009

Christian Standard

God of This City

By Jennifer Taylor In 2007, the Places Rated Almanac named Pittsburgh the “most livable city” in the United States. Despite its long winters and reputation as an aging steel town, the city scored strongly for recreation, education, and safety. The chamber of commerce and local politicians enjoyed the victory, but business leaders and families aren”t the only ones moving to Pittsburgh; hundreds of refugees from Myanmar relocate to the city each year. Many of these refugees from the country formerly known as Burma arrive in the United States to escape the ruling military junta and its repression of human rights.

June 14, 2009

Christian Standard

Transformed Lives Through God”s Word in Every Language

  By Greg Pruett I cocked my ear to one side, straining to understand the faint yelping I was hearing as I blinked a drop of West African dust and sweat out of my eye. I instinctively moved into the high grass to investigate and found a young boy with a long switch relentlessly whipping a starving puppy to near death. I tried to tell him not to do that, but my first week of language learning just wasn”t enough. The boy”s eyes betrayed no shame. Nobody had ever told him the simplest lesson of Genesis my Sunday school teacher

May 10, 2009

Christian Standard

Serving with Cultural Intelligence

  By Gayla Cooper Congdon    Amor Ministries began taking groups on short-term mission trips in the summer of 1981. That first summer, four churches with about 100 students traveled to serve in Tijuana, Mexico. Since then, more than 250,000 students and adults have gone on short-term mission trips to six locations in Mexico, and most recently, in South Africa. Last year, I heard about a book making waves in the short-term mission world. David Livermore”s Serving With Eyes Wide Open upset quite a few people because of his critique of short-term missions. When I learned about it, I just

April 12, 2009

Christian Standard

A Secret We Must Tell

  By Arron Chambers Can you keep a secret? Stephen and Louise couldn”t. “Our son became an astronaut today.” On September 17, 1962″”in one of the most interesting segments of game show history””Stephen and Louise Armstrong appeared on I”ve Got a Secret with the secret that their son Neil had just been selected to be an astronaut. Neil was one of nine new men so chosen. What made this appearance especially unique was that host Garry Moore asked Louise an incredible question: “Now, how would you feel, Mrs. Armstrong, if it turned out””of course nobody knows””but if it turns out

April 12, 2009

Christian Standard

This Is the Church”s Moment

By Ethan Magness The fifth chapter of 2 Samuel records three pivotal events in the life of David and the history of Israel. First, David is acknowledged as the king of all Israel. Saul and his legacy are rejected, and David is established as the unquestioned ruler. Politically he has arrived. Second, David conquers Jerusalem and establishes a new capital. Geographically (and strategically) he has arrived. Third, David defeats the Philistines. From Gibeon to Gezer he strikes down the powerful Philistine army. Militarily he has arrived. He has one more important task. He must retrieve the ark of the covenant

April 5, 2009

Christian Standard

Balancing Word and Deed

By Doug Priest If you want to start an argument, ask a group of involved church members this question: “Of all the ministries this church performs, which is the most important?” Stand back and watch the fireworks begin. When I was a missionary kid growing up in Ethiopia, the government required the missionaries to establish and manage primary schools. These schools provided the only opportunity for the local children to receive an education. My father oversaw the expansion of the school, and one of the tasks was constructing outhouses for the students. This meant that funds given for missions were

April 5, 2009

Christian Standard

Which “˜E” has Priority? Economy or Evangelism?

By Mike Schrage Economy or evangelism””which has our attention, and which is our priority as reflected by our calendars and checkbooks? In the past 14 months, I”ve had the opportunity to see God”s people in action in Bosnia, Kenya, Afghanistan, Mali, Uganda, and Sudan. The needs are astounding in every place, in every way. Life is difficult, and the challenge of living a godly life in some of these countries is outright dangerous! Yet Christian people are there working, serving, and evangelizing. The church is making inroads in these hard areas, but more resources are needed. And in Africa, the

April 5, 2009

Christian Standard

Keep Reading!

  By Derek Duncan I have a theory. If you stop reading, you die. Maybe I should expand on that just a little. If you stop reading, you stop growing, you stop learning, and then you die. Our advanced and technologically driven culture is causing people to read less and less. Sometimes I wonder if the innovative media we have created (radio, television, movies, Internet, cell phones) actually are contributing to illiteracy. We are satisfied with looking at things passively instead of poring over a written text that forces us to think. Mortimer Adler, in his classic How to Read

March 29, 2009

Christian Standard

“˜And How Shall They Hear?”

  By Russ Kuykendall Marie Rempel was one of “the lost generation” who came of age during the Great Depression. But Marie spent her life seeking the lost of her generation.   EARLY YEARS Born in Garwin, Iowa, she immigrated with her parents, Herman and Shada Dunbar, to Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, in 1917. As a teenager, Marie moved with her parents to the Grande Prairie district of Alberta, graduated from Grande Prairie High School, and enrolled at the Peace River Bible Institute. After a year, she transferred to Alberta Bible College (ABC) in Calgary, followed by her future husband, Frank

January 28, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Doug Priest

By Brad Dupray Doug Priest has embodied the theme of the recent National Missionary Convention, “Get Your Hands Dirty,” through his life in missions and ministry. Doug spent 17 years on mission fields in such places as Kenya, Tanzania, and Singapore while also serving in stateside ministries in Los Angeles and Dexter, Oregon. He holds a PhD from the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, and has degrees from Northwest Christian College and the University of Oregon. Doug has served as executive director of Christian Missionary Fellowship for the past 13 years. He and his wife of 31

January 18, 2009

Christian Standard

SOS: Servants of Our Savior

by Mary Miller   SOS is an international distress signal, but it is also an acronym for a group of Christians””Servants of Our Savior””whose mission is to help churches and ministries that are in distress.  The Servants of Our Savior emblem displays two hands and a willing heart. That logo shows part of what you need to be a volunteer with SOS””a willing heart and hands, and a love of God. You”ll also need an RV and some free time. Are you retired or would like to use your free time serving the Lord? Then read on, SOS may be

January 4, 2009

Christian Standard

Life for the Average Christian

By Doug Priest Who is an average Christian, and what does an average Christian look like? I am not using average in the ethical sense, that is, to mean one who does not sin too much, goes to church, contributes to the offering, and finds ways to serve. Nor am I referring to the average Christian in the intellectual sense of one who has a pretty good grasp of the Bible. Instead I am using the term average Christian in the demographic sense. In the year 2000 there were almost exactly 2 billion professing Christians in the world, but that

January 4, 2009

Christian Standard

Common Sense

By Greg Pruett The room was a bit dark, and the West African sun had baked my sandaled feet to match the fine red dust clinging to my skin. I couldn”t help but appreciate my host as I enjoyed the hospitality of the couch in his small, tin-roofed home. Omar had a gentle spirit about him as he asked his earnest question: “How can I get the prophets of the Bible to be my intercessor on the Day of Judgment?” My reply was rehearsed, “The Bible says that only one man can be the intercessor: “˜For there is one God

December 7, 2008

Christian Standard

Nurturing Missions Partnerships

By Janie Mehaffey READ THE SIDEBAR: “Church Pursues More Active Partnerships” by Janie Mehaffey       A church cuts off support to a missionary after 20 years. Is it a travesty or a natural progression of ministry? Church and mission leaders are considering this and other mission-giving questions after Sam Stone stirred up the topic in his May 11 CHRISTIAN STANDARD column, “Second Thoughts About Mission Giving.” Sam”s article pondered, “What constitutes missions giving?” and “What responsibility does the church have?” Whether looking at it from the church”s perspective or through the eyes of a mission/parachurch organization, the view

December 7, 2008

Christian Standard

Church Pursues More Active Partnerships

By Janie Mehaffey READ THE MAIN ARTICLE: “Nurturing Missions Partnerships” by Janie Mehaffey          About six years ago, First Christian Church of Canton, Ohio, dismantled its missions board. The church is passionate about pursuing active partnerships, so it wanted to shift decision making and relationship building beyond one team by taking a more universal approach to missions giving. The church now supports endeavors that allow the entire congregation to serve alongside the missionaries it financially supports. During the time of this transition, Joe Franz served as executive pastor of community impact with First Christian. He says the

December 7, 2008

Christian Standard

They Were Our Supporters

By Mike Sweeney When I speak to people about the prospect of entering cross-cultural ministry, I often hear them say, “I would love to become a missionary””if only I didn”t need to raise my own support.” I understand. The prospect of going church-to-church marketing myself never appealed to me. But, looking back on the whole adventure from the opposite side, I wouldn”t trade the relationships that developed with our supporters for anything. For the 15 years we served as Bible translators in Papua New Guinea, we always knew there were people praying for us by name, people concerned that our

December 7, 2008

Christian Standard

Serving the Senders: Encouraging Parents of Missionaries

By Diane Stortz and Cheryl Savageau   When Your Child Becomes a Missionary . . .     Cheryl Savageau and Diane Stortz have written an important new book to help often overlooked partners in the missionary enterprise. Parents of missionaries may struggle to adjust and sacrifice as much as their sons and daughters who serve overseas. This book looks at the problems””and the possibilities””for these families. It is a practical resource that will encourage parents of missionaries and lend valuable insight to everyone who knows one. (Some material in the articles on these pages is adapted from this book.)

December 3, 2008

Christian Standard

Interview with Bob Carter

By Brad Dupray You couldn”t write the history of Standard Publishing without devoting a chapter to John Carter Sr., who served the organization for 34 years. Likewise, John”s son, Bob, has devoted himself to a lifetime of ministry. Bob”s work has taken him in a different direction as he has recently completed work on the translation of the Bible into Pijin, the unofficial national language of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. Bob and Amy, his wife of 24 years, reside in Waxhaw, North Carolina, where they work with SIL International, a sister organization of Wycliffe Bible Translators. Bob

November 23, 2008

Christian Standard

Only One Life

By Charliece Fierbaugh See the Sidebar: “What Was the Congo Massacre?”   “Only one life “˜twill soon be past, Only what”s done for Christ will last.”   These words, engraved on a plaque that hung on the bedroom wall of Phyllis Rine”s Ohio home, guided her life until her death on November 24, 1964. Shot by insurgent rebels during the Congo Crisis, Rine is remembered as the first female martyr from the Restoration Movement heritage.   A COMMITTED LIFE Born August 15, 1939, Phyllis Rine grew up near Martinsburg, Ohio. In 1957 she dedicated her life to full-time mission work

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