Revitalize Your Church

My friend, George Voss, has turned his room at the nursing home into a mission field. Here's a video we showed of him this past Sunday. We helped him buy several more goats for grandmas in Zambia. He has a whole flock now! (Special thanks to Jeremy Mavis for doing the video editing.) Goats for Grandmas from Jeremy Mavis on Vimeo .

Here's the website of my friend, Dr. Hanna Massad's ministry, Christian Mission 2 Gaza. Please pray for the Massad family as they share God's love in a very difficult place.

I've been giving some thought to how we can help the younger people in our church engage more passionately in global missions. Here are a few of my observations: Younger Donors give to Specific Issues rather than Programs or Fields. Issues close to the hearts of younger donors: Clean drinking water for a village b. Hunger c. Human Trafficking d. Aids Orphans e. Missional Church Planting f. Justice issues – persecuted church g. Tragedy – such as Haiti h. Micro-loans Younger Donors are more likely to give BY project – for issues. a. i.e. Benefit concert b. 30 Hour Famine c. Ski for a cause Young Donors give relationally. How can we build relationships between the missionaries – our mission faith promise – and the young donors? Images speak louder than words to Young Donors. Young Donors give when they know their gift will really make a difference for a specific person. a. i.e. youth group “adopts” an orphan b. when they really know the missionary Young Donors give electronically. Web...

An insightful article by Bill Eason about Don McGavran , the father of the church growth movement. I was privileged to sit under his teaching a few times during my days at Fuller.

Either you are a minister or you need one. Either you are a missionary or you need one. -- John Huffman (Presbyterian pastor)

In preparation for our recent Missions Weekend, I preached a message from John 12:24, "Unless the kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it only remains a single seed, but if it dies, it produces many seeds." Just about a hundred years ago, the missionaries to west Africa packed all their belongings in a coffin sized box. They left for the field, realizing that there was a good chance they would not return home. Many of them were buried in the box. My good friend, Nate Yoder, made a box like that for me. We put it in the front of the church. I told the story of our early Wesleyan missionaries to Sierra Leone. ( Paul Shea has a great presentation here. I used some of his insights in my sermon.) They gave their ALL! They were willing to invest their very lives! They put it ALL in the box! Then I challenged the congregation . . . "What are you willing to give, so others will know about Jesus?" Unless the kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies it remains ...

We are holding our Passport to the World Missions Expo today! YIPPEE!! From 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., we will turn our whole church building into the "whole world." Various areas of the church will represent different countries. People coming in will receive a passport and go through customs and orientation. Then, they are free to travel the world: Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, The U.S.A. and then we also have the "Everywhere Room." We have missionaries here from Nicaraugua, Czech Republic, Croatia and South Africa. Two churches we helped launch (Safe Harbor in Superior, and The River in Minong) will be represented. We also will have good friends we support from Mercy Ships, the local Pregnancy Center, Camp Forest Springs, and Hephzibah Children's Home. Short term mission teams from our church will be featured as well. This will be an "interactive" experience for whole family -- including various ethnic foods and activities. It's going to be ...

A very interesting article in Newsweek on generosity : People are more willing to help a single individual than many. In an experiment, one group was given general information about the need for donations, including statements like "Food shortages in Malawi are affecting more than 3 million children." A second group was shown the photo of a 7-year-old Malian girl named Rokia, and told that she is desperately poor, and that "her life will be changed for the better by your gift." People in the second group gave more.

Every four seconds, somewhere in the world, another person indicates a decision to follow Christ after viewing the "JESUS" film. Every four seconds... that's 21,600 people per day, 648,000 per month and more than 7.8 million per year! That's like the population of the entire city of Seattle, WA, coming to Christ every 27.5 days. And yet, if you are like most people, you may have never even heard of it. Called by some "one of the best-kept secrets in Christian missions," a number of mission experts have acclaimed the film as one of the greatest evangelistic tools of all time. Since 1979 the "JESUS" film has been viewed by several billion people all across the globe, and has resulted in more than 225 million men, women and children indicating decisions to follow Jesus.

"Today, Christians spend more on dog food than they do on missions." -- Leonard Ravenhill

"What in the world am I doing here in Ethiopia?" I wondered, as I rode in the jeep with missionary doctor, Dr. Harold Adolph. Our motor vehicle was the only one in sight. Slowly, we navigated our way through a sea of pedestrians, ox carts, and chickens, down the dirt road into in the village of Soddo. It was just as if I had been plucked from the northwoods and dropped into a National Geographic documentary on Africa. Arriving at the clinic, we got emerged from the jeep, and were immediately met with hundreds of needy people seeking medical attention. Most had been waiting for hours to see the doctor. Many would have to wait much longer. I saw a grieving mother, holding a lifeless infant in her arms. She looked at me with pleading eyes. I looked away. The immensity of poverty and human suffering was absolutely overwhelming. Never, in all my life, had I witnessed such need, and felt so powerless to do anything about it. A grotesque begger approached me. One eye and most of his...

At six his morning, our youth mission team departed for Matamoros, Mexico. My sons, Luke and Wes were among the 15 team members. This will be quite a new experience for them: an adventure of grace!

This weekend, we held our annual Missions Conference. The theme is "Call of the Kingdom", and we had some outstanding missionaries with us for an activity-packed three days. Jeff Whitney and his new bride, Geyla came here from Russia. Rick and Clara West represented the Latin American Ministries of the Wesleyan Church. Shirley Duncan came on behalf of Hephzibah Children's Home in Macon, Georgia. Yesterday, Dr. H. C. Wilson, the General Director of Wesleyan Global Partners , delivered a powerful message in our worship services. He's a dynamic communicator, and really inspired us to see the needs of the world around us. I'm grateful to partner with such committed ministers of God's grace. We received Faith Promise commitments for Missions at the end of the service, and the total is around $65,000 so far. (Our goal is $80,000 -- and we're well on the way. Last year at this time, for instance, the Faith Promise total was $28,000.) Last night, after the co...

"When it comes to the Great Commission, followers of Christ have three options: Go, Send or Disobey." -- John Piper

In a recent speech at the Asian Society of Missiology Conference, Dr. Ralph Winter, the guru of evangelical mission efforts, recently made the following observations -- 12 Mistakes Western Mission Agencies Make: 1. The Mistake of Starting Bible Schools, Not Universities 2. The Mistake of Only “Salvation in Heaven,” not “Kingdom on Earth” 3. The Mistake of Congregations Sending Missionaries, Not Using Mission Agencies 4. The Mistake of Whole Congregations in Direct Involvement, Not Professional Missions. 5. The Mistake of Insisting that Devout Followers of Jesus Call Themselves “Christians” and Identify with the Western Church 6. The Mistake of Sending Only Money, Not Missionaries 7. The Mistake of Sending Short-Termers, Not Long-Termers 8. The Mistake of Not Understanding Business in Mission and Mission in Business 9. The Mistake of Healing the Sick, Not Eradicating Disease Germs 10. The Mistake of Thinking “Peace” Not “War” 11. The Mistake of Assuming Science Is a Foe Not a Friend 12...

My dear friends, Kent and Hannah Peterson, have recently established International Treasures, a non-profit company to import goods from developing countries, selling them here in the States, and then putting the profits into Mission Work. Currently, they are selling items from our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua -- but soon they will have items from Swaziland as well as other countries. Stop by and pay them a visit!

When the Missions Committee snapped this shot, I thought I looked like Indiana Jones. I showed it to my kids. "What famous actor does this remind you of?" They giggled and said, "Danny Devito!"

We succeed, not by crossing the sea, But by seeing the cross. -- Rich Warren

Todd Rhoades, at Monday Morning Insight, shared this insightful post from Christianity Plus: The Impact of Coca Cola 91% of the world's population has heard of Coke. 74% have seen Coke 51% have tasted Coke yet only 10% of the world's population has heard the Gospel. If Coca-Cola were in charge of world evangelism then we would be done by now.