November 23, 2021
When You Have Enough Stuff: Donations for the Kingdom This Christmas
As you look over your Black Friday list, consider these ideas for giving a meaningful and tangible donation to a mission organization this year.
Articles for tag: Team Expansion
November 19, 2021
When People of Faith Stand: A New Hope for Afghanistan
Two Afghan nationals are helping meet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs in their nation with support, provision, and encouragement from Western believers through Team Expansion.
September 29, 2021
Mission Groups Monitoring COVID-19, but Not Requiring Vaccinations
Leaders of some of the largest independent Christian church mission organizations say they monitor COVID-19 closely, but none requires their missionaries be fully vaccinated against the disease, a step recently taken by the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
September 22, 2021
Three Churches Celebrate Major Anniversaries (Plus News Briefs)
Broadway Christian Church (Lexington, Ky.), Central City Christian Church (Joplin, Mo.) and Jefferson Street Christian Church (Lincoln, Ill.) all are reporting significant anniversaries. Also, news briefs from Ozark Christian College, Galilee Christian Church, and more.
September 8, 2021
Team Expansion’s Afghan Appeal Sees Record Response (Plus News Briefs)
Team Expansion sees amazing response to appeal to help internally displaced Afghans. Plus briefs from First Christian Church (Lamar, Mo.), ICOM, IDES, Dallas Christian College, Hope International University, and more.
September 1, 2021
Longtime Ozark Prof Gordon Clymer Dies (Plus News Briefs)
Thousands are praying for Charlie Russell . . . plus updates on Team Expansion's efforts to help Afghans and efforts to plant churches in New England. And much more . . .
Update on Afghanistan: Where Do We Go from Here?
If we want to see God do something big and miraculous, we need to pray. The Afghan people are in a dangerous moment in their history. Pray for a miracle . . . but also pray for endurance and tenacious faith. . . .
November 22, 2020
Drinking Tea, Sharing Meals, and Making Disciples
Musa* lives in a Muslim country in the Middle East. Since he grew up hearing stories about the great prophet Jesus, he thought he knew all about him. That changed when he became roommates with Yosef*. Yosef shared his faith in Christ as the Messiah with Musa, and they began studying the Bible together. Before long, Musa accepted Jesus and wanted to be baptized. Christians in his country usually baptize new believers in a river, but because of the pandemic occurring at the time, public beaches were all closed. Musa’s baptism would have to wait. As time passed, Musa became
October 24, 2020
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
March 2, 2020
China Institute at LCU and Mission Groups Forge Ahead as Coronavirus Spreads
By Chris Moon The coronavirus outbreak has shaken things up for mission organizations and other Restoration Movement groups that do work internationally. The China Institute at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University—which assists the 20 Chinese students and their families who live on campus—had a student arrive at Lincoln in January after the outbreak of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. The student came from Wuhan, China, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, said Weilun Lee, director of LCU’s China Institute. The student was checked out by local health officials and given the all clear. “We have done all the things we
February 22, 2020
A Social Presence that Spreads the Gospel
Laura McKillip Wood Terry pounded the steering wheel and cried. It took her last ounce of restraint not to throw open the car door and march right back into the boarding school to collect her son’s things and take him home. Who cared if the mission organization she and her husband, Kevin, worked with required them to send their child to boarding school? Was it even worth it? “Please, God, just give me my son back!” she cried. In the stillness that followed, the assurance that God was working through them in their ministry settled her heart. “I loved Jesus,
October 1, 2019
Partnering for Change
By Laura McKillip Wood The 75-year-old, one of few literate Roma women in Ukraine, had read the Bible for years in Russian and Ukrainian. She spoke both languages, in addition to her own dialect of the Roma language. When translators presented to her the story of the prodigal son, newly translated into the Roma dialect, a smile spread across her face. With tears in her eyes, she said, “I have read this story many times, but this is the first time I have understood it!” This reaction underscores the importance of a new project underway that partners a Ukrainian college,
December 5, 2018
Megachurch Helping Asylum-Seekers (Plus News Briefs)
Compiled by Chris Moon Central Christian Church in Mesa, Ariz., is one of several nearby churches that have helped house nearly 5,000 asylum-seekers who have crossed the Mexican border into the United States since October. According to the Arizona Mirror, the megachurch has received five large groups of migrants released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The asylum-seekers are brought temporarily to the church’s worship center, where they are fed and clothed and connected with local families who can house them temporarily. Eventually, the migrants go to live with relatives across the United States until their asylum cases can be
October 30, 2018
Transforming Communities through Business as Mission
By Fenton Lewis More than 20 years ago, I found myself wrestling with a desire to serve God beyond teaching Sunday school or giving to the church. The advice I received—as have many others—was to quit my job, go to seminary, and become a pastor. But I questioned that. God had given me a unique combination of education, work experience, and spiritual gifting, and I believed he had done that for a reason. I thought my unique skill-set could be used to help fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. So, I began an adventure that took me around
February 10, 2018
Wayne & Greta Meece: Two Country Kids Serving Together for Nearly 60 Years
By Wendie Gabbard “The blessing God gave to both of us was that we grew up country kids.” Those country kids, Greta from Pennsylvania and Wayne from Kentucky, met as sophomores in college. Rules prohibited them from dating without another couple or chaperone present and the understood boundary was “six inches apart.” Even so, they quickly fell in love and married in Greta’s hometown the summer before their junior year. Pennsylvania law allowed marriage at age 21. As both were 20, their parents had to sign for them. Wayne and Greta Meece then returned to Kentucky Christian College, where she
November 9, 2017
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.”  But
March 18, 2017
My Refugee Friends
By Kelsey McKain I first met Wurood, Alaa, and their son, Rayan, through the Kentucky Refugee Ministry Cultural Exchange program that connects local residents with newly settled refugees to help acclimate them to their new city. I”ve known them for about six months, but because of the language barrier, I”ve only recently (with the help of a translator) been able to learn more about their lives as refugees. We sat down in their modest, two-bedroom apartment in the south side of Louisville. The furniture doesn”t match and the walls aren”t decorated, but it”s cozy and it feels like a home.
November 22, 2016
Good Smells, Great Lives
By Mark A. Taylor I got to the Lexington Center at 1:15 Saturday afternoon, a little before I”d promised to be there. We were planning a special 2:00 event in our International Conference on Missions booth, and the attendant had promised to be there at 1:30 to help us get ready. But as soon as I entered the exhibit hall, I knew she was already on the job. I could smell the popcorn popping. Soon the aroma was filling the whole, huge facility. And even before our announced start time, we relented and allowed the people lining up to grab
August 15, 2016
A Night of Prayer for Muslims
By Jennifer Johnson Okolona Christian Church (Louisville, KY) has been praying for Muslims for years, but last year the church created a new approach designed to connect more of its members””and it”s something your church can do, too. “Previously we had coordinated 30 days of prayer initiatives, but last year we decided to hold a focused night of prayer on The Night of Power,” says Betty Byrd, vice president of prayer, operations, and personnel at Team Expansion (Lexington, KY) and a member at Okolona. The Night of Power, which commemorates the revelation of the Koran to Muhammad, is considered one
April 3, 2016
We”re Making Great Strides in Missions
By Justin Horey “If you have no churches, and you have no Scripture, you have no hope.” With those sobering words, Greg Pruett explains why he has made Bible translation his life”s work””to bring hope to those who have none. Pruett, president of Pioneer Bible Translators, says there are still about 1,775 languages worldwide without a written copy of the Bible. Pioneer Bible is one of many organizations committed to reducing that number to zero by translating the Bible into every language on Earth. Pioneer Bible”s passion for cross-cultural evangelism is shared by several missions organizations with roots in the
