Articles for tag: International Missions

October 24, 2020

Christian Standard

Job 1 Is Still Job 1

A global pandemic brought many changes to how we carry out our international ministry, but it hasn’t changed our mission. By Jeff Metzger The international mission sending agency I lead had lots of crisis plans. We prepared for many emergencies. We had a plan for hurricanes. We had a plan for kidnappings and political unrest. We had a plan for emergency evacuation. We had a plan for sudden illness or death. But we didn’t have a plan for a global pandemic or its ongoing consequences. Now we do! Our plan continues to grow and evolve. By God’s grace, we are

October 24, 2020

Christian Standard

The Pandemic’s Impact on International Missions (and What We All Can Learn from It)

By David Empson The church in America could learn much from how foreign missionaries persevered during the coronavirus while continuing to advance the cause of Christ. In early April, I received an email update from sisters Megan and Michelle Moss, missionaries serving in Tanzania. At the time, most Americans were still homebound and wrestling with internet issues, virtual meetings, and restaurant withdrawal. Mostly, we were wondering how long this pandemic would last. The Mosses wrote: ________ Many times, as missionaries, we really need you to be there for us. But right now, we’re seeing how God has equipped us in

July 15, 2020

Ken Idleman

7 Practical Guidelines When Hiring a Young Leader

The late Donald McGavran, respected missiologist and founding dean of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, identified five kinds of leaders the church must have to thrive locally and have impact globally:  1. Volunteer leaders who focus inward: unpaid leaders who focus their gifts for service on the internal health and growth of the local church body. (Biblical examples: Priscilla and Aquila, Dorcas) 2. Volunteer leaders who focus outward: unpaid leaders who focus their evangelistic passion on the lost and unchurched in the larger unreached community. (Stephen, Philip) 3. Bivocational: leaders who are mostly or entirely self-supporting in order to launch or

December 2, 2019

Christian Standard

Growing Volunteers to Grow the Kingdom

How These Two Churches Recruit and Equip Servants to Live Out God’s Purposes By Melissa Wuske Crafting an effective volunteer program takes a mix of big-picture vision and nuts-and-bolts programs. Julie Liem, director of volunteers at Eastside Christian Church in Southern California, and Abby Ecker, next steps pastor at The Journey in Newark, Delaware, shared how their churches recruit and equip volunteers—and how they’ve seen the kingdom advance as a result. God’s Design For many churches, it starts with the critical shift from viewing volunteers as “a necessary inconvenience,” Liem said, to seeing them as “the lifeblood of the church.”

August 11, 2018

Christian Standard

A Garden Story

By Mel McGowan Mosaic Church in Winter Garden, Florida, opened their doors in 2003, but the church’s story began taking shape centuries before. In fact, it has the same origin we all do, the Garden of Eden, a paradise handcrafted by God for his beloved creations. Eden began as a perfect oasis that offered humankind everything we could ever need—and then it was broken by sin. And the shattered world that emerged was rescued by Jesus and restored for eternity. The heart of Mosaic’s story is summarized in three words: rescue, identity, and mission. And this story informs and describes

October 19, 2017

Michael C. Mack

A Great Commission for Everyone

By Michael C. Mack As I edited this month”s articles about international missions and ministry, I noticed a trend. Most of our writers either quoted or referred to the Great Commission, namely Matthew 28:18-20, some in the first sentence or two. That makes sense. When we think about taking the gospel into all the world, we naturally think of this primary passage.   I hope this doesn”t sound sacrilegious, but we deleted that Scripture from some of the articles. Why? For one thing, we didn”t want the articles to become redundant, but also, we figure you know this verse well. I”m

May 18, 2013

Christian Standard

New Home Brings New Growth

By Kent E. Fillinger What a difference a new home makes! Legacy Christian Church of Senoia, Georgia, started in March 2009 with a core group of 59 believers. Legacy met in an inconveniently located elementary school for three and one-half years. The church desired a permanent home and looked for an existing warehouse or storefront to meet its needs. The church”s leaders looked at 66 different properties but couldn”t find one with the right combination of space and parking. Eventually God opened the door to a great 20-acre property two counties away. The new location had excellent visibility from a

November 10, 2012

Christian Standard

Perhaps a Little Guilt Can Be a Good Thing

By Jennifer Johnson In 2011, Americans spent more than $1 billion on scrapbooking supplies. They spent more than 100 times that on fast food and, unbelievably, another $1 billion on the Facebook game Farmville. Anyone who”s grown up in a Protestant church in America has experienced “missions angst”””that gnawing guilt for having so much material wealth and good food while missionaries in foreign countries eat goat and wear discarded American T-shirts. We admire them, but we don”t want to be one of them, which we feel guilty about. We write a check once or twice a year, and know we

November 24, 2010

Christian Standard

More Stories About “˜Just One” Sunday

Churches continue to share stories about their “Just One” Sunday. In addition to joining with other participating churches in praying for more laborers for the harvest, Crossroads Christian Church (Newburgh, IN) also used the three weekends before the Nov. 14 emphasis to challenge every Christ follower in the church body to identify “Just One” person with whom they would build a relationship, share Jesus, and include in some expression of Christian community. CCC plans to continue this emphasis on making disciples and raising up Christian leaders throughout 2011. During its services that Sunday, Greencastle (IN) Christian Church displayed pictures of

Secret Link