Missions

Never before has the phenomenon of mission mobilization been so broadly researched. In a vein similar to Too Valuable To Lose and Worth Keeping, the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission commissioned a research team to investigate what motivates people into mission service from around the globe. Mobilization practitioners recorded, translated and transcribed hundreds of hours of interview dialogue that explored reasons for mission involvement from Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North and South America, Oceania, East Asia, South Asia and East Africa. The data was subsequently analyzed to draw out common themes, and Mission In Motion presents the results of this research. This book is the first definitive exploration of the recent history, ministries and methods of mission mobilization. The evangelical missions community is expending much energy and resource trying to raise up workers for the Lord’s harvest, but is it helping? Are the means, models, methods, and mechanisms being applied to this end effective? What does influence people to greater involvement in mission—whatever they understand mission to be? Furthermore, what hinders it? In addressing these questions, Mission In Motion allows the interviewed respondents to speak for themselves, in an open and frank manner. Some results confirm common beliefs, but others may surprise you.

This close look at what the Lord is doing to spread the gospel highlights the key scriptural principles that help Christians reach out in love to share the gospel in their own community.

An instant bestseller when it was first published in 1946, this memoir recounts the author's nearly forty years of service in naval intelligence, beginning in 1908. One of the first to venture into the realm of psychological warfare, Ellis Zacharias was awarded the Legion of Merit with two gold stars for his contributions. Among the highlights of his impressive career was the role he played in convincing the Japanese to accept surrender in 1945, a subject he deals with in fascinating detail in this book. Zacharias gives readers access to rare psychological profiles that he prepared for the Office of Naval Intelligence on leading political and military figures in Japan. His book also recounts his exploits as a young naval attaché with the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo in the early 1920s. In the early months of the war readers join him in the thick of combat in the Pacific, first aboard a cruiser under his command and later in a battleship. Of particular interest are descriptions of his one-man radio broadcasts beamed at Japan between V-E and V-J days that received kudos from Adm. Ernest J. King for helping bring about the surrender.

'Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate.' John Piper's contemporary classic draws on key biblical texts to demonstrate that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship fuels missionary outreach. Piper offers a biblical defence of God's supremacy in all things, providing a sound theological foundation for missions. He examines whether Jesus is the only way to salvation and issues a passionate plea for God-centredness in the missionary enterprise, seeking to define the scope of the task and the means for reaching 'all nations'. Let the Nations Be Glad! is a trusted resource for missionaries, pastors, church leaders, youth workers, seminary students, and all who want to connect their labours to God's global purposes. This third edition has been revised and expanded throughout and includes new material on the 'prosperity gospel'.

Effective Engagement in Short-term Missions represents the single most ambitious effort to date to understand and improve upon patterns of ministry in STM. In six sections, the authors explore topics such as the links between STM and older patterns of long-term missions; engagement with people of other cultures; international partnerships; specialized ministries such as medical missions; legal and financial liabilities; and last but not least, the impact of STM on participants. The goal of this book is to improve the ways in which STM is carried out and to improve the understandings needed on the part of all who engage in the ministry. In short, this book attempts to provide a knowledge base for those who provide leadership within the short term missions movement. Youth pastors, mission pastors, lay leaders, college and seminary students, and missiologists will all find information that is helpful and relevant to their concerns.

A Jedi general vanishes to a distant world, leaving his apprentice and a group of untested clone troopers to complete a dangerous mission. Trapped in Wild Space in the far reaches of the galaxy, the inexperienced team must look for help from smugglers and bounty hunters. With few options and time running out, they need all the help they can get.

China, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq . . . God is at work. Christians are testifying. The gospel is advancing. In this captivating travelogue, a veteran missions mobilizer leads readers to experience global Christianity, exploring the faith and lives of Christians living in some of the world's most perilous countries. The incredible accounts recorded here—stories that span the globe from the Balkans to Afghanistan—highlight the bold faith and sacrificial bravery of God's people. Ultimately, this book magnifies Christ's saving work in all the earth and encourages Christians to joyfully embrace their role in the gospel's unstoppable advance!

Too Soon to Celebrate—Too Soon to Quit “Lord, why another mission agency? There are already so many good ones,” Greg Livingstone cried out on a beach in 1983. But, as he made his case to God that he should find someone else to change the world, the answer became clear: the world needed a new agency, operating in a new way, that would focus entirely on all Muslim peoples. So began the wild, risky, worthy story told in Uncharted Mission, a book that is more than the history of the founding of Frontiers. D. C. Keane weaves together interviews with over one hundred missionaries who refused to accept the status quo in missions and were willing to go where no one had gone before—to the Muslim frontiers. In this inspiring true story, you’ll meet pastors, engineers, artists, pilots, and others whose lives changed course when they discovered that Muslims were largely left out of historic missionary efforts. This is a book for innovators who ask, as Greg Livingstone always asks, “How can we do this better? How can we improve?" Don’t simply admire the groundbreakers who went before us in this compelling narrative; there is still work to be done. There are still “frontiers” of mission for the next generation of Christians who want to change the world.

Every local church should be engaged with global missions, even if most individuals in the church aren't called to go overseas. But what does this engagement actually look like? How can local churches train, send, and support missionaries well? Unpacking principles from the Bible and applying them in the context of real life in a local church, this new book in the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series is filled with practical steps and advice for supporting missionaries, forming international partnerships, sending short-term teams, and engaging with the nations here at home. This book casts a vision for the local church as the engine of world missions—for the joy of all people and the glory of God.

In this addition to the highly acclaimed Encountering Mission series, two leading missionary scholars offer an up-to-date discussion of missionary strategy that is designed for a global audience. The authors focus on the biblical, missiological, historical, cultural, and practical issues that inform and guide the development of an effective missions strategy. The book includes all the features that have made other series volumes useful classroom tools, such as figures, sidebars, and case studies. Students of global or domestic mission work and mission practitioners will value this new resource.