Articles for tag: Missions

November 10, 2017

Christian Standard

Elders Champion Missions 

By David Roadcup   An effective elder-shepherd team connects to the missions initiative of the congregation. Elders should be the greatest proponents for mission service in the body of Christ. By following Jesus” marching orders, we can facilitate and support the missions outreach of our churches in the most effective way possible. Good elder teams are involved in missions!   In Acts 20:17-38, Paul, who is on his way to Jerusalem, arrives by ship at Miletus and calls for the Ephesian church elders to join him there. (Paul had planted and nurtured the Ephesian church.) When the elders arrive, Paul involves them

November 9, 2017

Christian Standard

Unnoticed Hero

By Jessi Holland  With a daughter off at college and a son in the Navy, a mother with an empty nest started on an unexpected journey. Ruth Anne Shattuck offered to teach eighth-grade boys with her husband, Dan, at Chapel Rock Christian Church in Indianapolis. Soon after, they were asked to serve as sponsors on the church”s first youth mission trip to Portugal. The year was 1989.  “I was so ready to do this,” Ruth Anne said. “I”d been on a plane. I felt so prepared. I felt like the Lord wanted me to go on this particular trip.”Â Â  But

November 5, 2017

Christian Standard

Mission Trips Aren”t Working

What We Need to Do to Keep Missions Strong Among Millennials  By Haydn Shaw   Baby boomers in the 1970s wore clothing inspired by India and followed rock-and-roll groups from Europe. Their millennial children buy phone cases from online stores in China and play video games with people from all over the world.  Millennials (those who are 17 to 36 years old) have five times as many passports as previous generations (many of which are needed for short-term mission trips).   Ironically, in many churches today, millennials know more about missions than their parents do. That”s because churches talk less about missions

November 4, 2017

Christian Standard

The Church and Global Missions 

By Kent E. Fillinger  With 195 countries and 7.5 billion people in the world as of April 2017, we have our work cut out for us in fulfilling Christ”s commission. Therefore, every church should have a clear global-missions strategy.  I surveyed 148 churches in late August to gain a better understanding of the current status of global missions in our movement. The survey size was somewhat small, but the responses included a nice cross-section of churches:   “¯37 small churches (average worship attendance of fewer than 250) “¯38 medium-size churches (attendance of 250″“499) “¯29 large churches (attendance of 500″“999) 22 emerging

November 3, 2017

Christian Standard

Three Shifts to Increase Global Engagement 

By David Dummitt  The church is the hope of the world. The global church is connected like no other generation before us. This should impact the way churches engage internationally. We live in an exciting time in church history, and we have the privilege and responsibility to grow the kingdom of God well.  Global engagement isn”t a new idea to American churches. Mission programs, global outreach projects, generosity campaigns, and more have been a part of churches in the United States for centuries. Many methods, strategies, and best practices have come and gone, but like everything else, we need to

October 31, 2017

Christian Standard

More Than Bible Translation 

By Greg Pruett  It was my first day on the job back in 1994, and I was eager to get started. I walked onto the West African scene fully trained to translate the Bible””tomes of knowledge about Greek, linguistics, and missiology crammed into my mind. But when the sun rose on my first workday at Pioneer Bible Translators, my mentor didn”t escort me to a desk to show me how to translate. Instead, he walked me over to a well he had hand-dug for the village to show these Muslim people the love of Christ, and we started troubleshooting a

October 27, 2017

Christian Standard

Shalom . . . Salam

The journeys of two missionaries from diverse backgrounds and a unity only the Prince of Peace can bring   By Dave Stewart  In The Grand Weaver, Ravi Zacharias writes,  God intervenes in the lives of every one of us. He speaks to us in different ways and at different times so that we may know he is the author of our very personality. . . . Once you begin to see God”s hand in your life, you will know that his workmanship within you and through you was tailor made, just for you. His design for your life pulls together every

October 24, 2017

Christian Standard

The Increasing Challenge for Evangelism in India

Persecution is increasing in India. How will our churches respond?   By John Caldwell  The year was 1950 and colonial India was debating its constitution as a new, independent nation. Drafters of the constitution had written an article on freedom of religion that “each individual has the right to profess, practice and propagate his faith.” The constitutional convention engaged in much debate over that word, propagate. The Hindu majority feared that word would be used by a small Christian minority as an excuse to proselytize.   Ironically it was a Hindu delegate who stood to his feet and said the word propagate

October 22, 2017

Christian Standard

RISE

This project focuses on mobilizing churches, campus ministries, and individual Christians to be more intentional about loving our neighbors from other parts of the world.    By Greg Swinney  “Now we get to the fun part.” That”s what a team leader said at the conclusion of a meeting that awarded thousands of dollars of grants to churches and campus ministries around the nation. This process began nearly two years ago when Mike Schrage of Good News Productions International shared a dream with ICOM executive director David Empson. After discussing the details, the idea of the RISE Project was born.  Multiple

October 21, 2017

Christian Standard

Velvet Ashes: Reaching Women All Over the World

By Emily Drayne If asked, “Have you ever felt lonely?” most people would answer yes. Most people would also admit to sometimes missing their friends, family, and hometown. Now consider missionaries serving in foreign countries and imagine the loneliness they face. Velvet Ashes is reaching out to women on the mission field who are experiencing these types of feelings. Founded by Danielle Wheeler in 2013, Velvet Ashes is helping women from all over the world connect in a central location: online. The goal is to serve the women who have uprooted their lives and planted roots in new lands. The

October 20, 2017

Jerry Harris

KORE: Beyond Relief

By Jerry Harris KORE”s story begins with three Indian children. In 2000, Dennis and Brenda Bratton were finishing their first short-term mission trip and getting ready to head back home to Mandarin Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. They were standing on a missionary”s front porch, about to leave for the airport, overloaded by the experience of witnessing India”s extreme poverty firsthand. They saw three Indian children walking down the road; the children were albino, diseased, sight-impaired, malnourished, and their hair was infested. They were dressed in rags. The sight of these children was too much for the Brattons. Dennis told

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

August 20, 2017

Christian Standard

LOVEtheLOU: Demonstrating and Declaring the Gospel in North St. Louis

By Walt Wilcoxson North St. Louis, Missouri, is a place of contrasting realities: rich and poor, black and white, peaceful and violent, hopeful and hopeless. These distinctions are visible and well known. The term “Delmar Divide” neatly sums it up, as Delmar Boulevard divides this area”s poorer, larger African-American community to its north from the more affluent (and largely white) communities to the south. Families and young people who are among the “have-nots” of North St. Louis encounter desperation and despair every day. On this hot and humid morning just before lunchtime, Lucas Rouggly and I stood watching as a

June 9, 2017

Christian Standard

Church Building the New Testament Way

By Doug Lucas Suppose the Restoration Movement churches (Christian churches and churches of Christ) want to restore the New Testament practice of constructing or buying church buildings. What would it look like? Easy answer. To my knowledge, throughout all the New Testament, there”s not a single example of constructing or buying a building. The book of Acts records exponential church growth without buildings. And, according to Matthew 28:19, 20, our core mandate is to make disciples who will make disciples””not build buildings. Making disciples always needs to be at the center of everything we do, whether it be going, baptizing,

January 22, 2017

Christian Standard

March Madness Ideas

By Michael C. Mack It”s March, baby! Don”t miss all the “trifectas” and “dipsy-doo dunk-a-roos” during all those “NCAA knee-knockers”! Here are two prime-time ideas for your ministry this month: March Madness for Missions. Horizon Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado (www.horizoncrc.org), offers a bracket challenge for a cause. When participants pay their sign-up fees, they write in the name of a local ministry outside of Horizon. They then fill out the designated Internet NCAA bracket in the church”s group. When the winner is announced, the local ministry selected by the bracket-challenge winner receives all the winnings as a charitable

December 15, 2016

Christian Standard

Training the Next Generation of Women in Ministry: An Interview with Anne Menear

By T.R. Robertson The back of Anne Menear”s office door is covered with dozens of photographs of smiling young people, mostly women. “Those are all my kids,” she says, with a proud smile. “The ones over there,” she adds, pointing to more photographs arranged on a world map, “are all in missions. They”re all the girls that I”ve had contact with that are working in places like Germany, Japan, and Mexico. “It was great to have seen them graduate and now they”re grown-up adults, and to see them as such””it”s cool.” As director of the Christian Education department and dean

September 18, 2016

Christian Standard

Motivation Through Missions!

By Janet C. Smith If you”re looking for a way to motivate people to use their gifts and talents for God, CMF International has a suggestion: Get them interested in missions! Since the Indianapolis, Indiana, mission organization launched its partnership with Missions of Hope International (MOHI) in the Mathare Valley slums of Nairobi, Kenya, in 2005, scores of churches across the country have sent teams of people with all kinds of jobs, connections, interests, and abilities there to provide medical clinics, training, education, sponsorship, and more. Most people come back saying the experience changed them. But some””like those in the

May 2, 2016

Christian Standard

Hopes, Fears, & Priorities (2015 Megachurch & Statistics Report)

By Kent Fillinger Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd released a song a few years ago called “Something to Live For.” Churches and individuals could echo the lyrics of the song; we, too, need something we can live for, hold on to, and believe in. Hebrews 6:18, 19 says, “We who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Bill Hybels said, “The church is the hope of the world.” Hopes This year”s survey asked churches to share “one hope or

February 11, 2016

Christian Standard

My Theology and My Calling

By Doug Lucas I might have tried to become a doctor. That”s what my mother wanted. Honestly, my dad didn”t care, just so long as I landed a “secure job.” Perhaps I would have done something with music. Everyone told me I had a gift for playing piano. My high school guidance counselor said my academic test scores were high enough that I could take my pick of universities across the land. And somehow, I managed to finish high school as valedictorian and president of the student body. He argued that I had a good chance at a full-time scholarship

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