Managing Complex Kingdom Partnerships
Partnering is something we all do, but many of us know little about. Partnering in a cross-cultural setting can get very complicated, particularly when multiple organizations are involved. What can we do to help such partnerships work more friction-free? Through interviewing nearly thirty leaders involved in broad-based mission partnerships, a partnering model evolved that is presented here in story format.
Building Unity among First and Second-Generation Chinese Churches and Leaders
There is a concern among Canadian and American Chinese churches about the growing disunity within their congregations. For years, these churches were in a state of growth as first-generation Chinese immigrants filled the churches. Over time, however, these churches started to create two new groups.
Effective Partnering: The Church and Cross-cultural Worker On-Task Together
Everyone agrees that we must work together to accomplish the task of Matthew 28:19-20 so that we may move closer to the end goal found in Matthew 24:14. Furthermore, we all know God did not give this task solely to missionaries or pastors.
Teams in Mission: Are They Worth It?
Do teams work? What does it take to develop and maintain a healthy team? Is it worth the effort? Does a healthy team really produce better results than a dysfunctional team?
Missionaries, Middle Age, and the Generative Life
By the time missionaries reach middle age, quite a few things can go wrong. Their kids may be struggling in the host culture. Their ministry might be advancing far more slowly than they thought possible. Because of limited opportunities for career advancement, they may be jealous or in competition with other missionaries.
The Right Stuff and the Future Mission Aviator
When I was a boy, my dream was to one day become an astronaut. I lived and breathed everything NASA—from monitoring the orbit patterns of the first satellites to actually building a full-scale mockup of the Gemini spacecraft and flying multi-day simulated ‘missions’ in my basement.
Don’t George Muller Me: A Missionary’s Plea for Understanding
George Muller (1805-1898) is a model of faith for many. Moving from Prussia to Bristol, England, in 1832, Muller ministered as a pastor, started schools and orphanages, and sacrificed unceasingly for others. Many of the sins of his early life were associated with money. After conversion, however, a marked change occurred, and Muller developed several strong convictions about his own use of funds.
Business as Mission 101
Just as Gutenberg changed the world forever when the printed word challenged the spoken word, so globalization and the Zuckerberg generation are doing the same in this millennium. One of those changes has been in business as mission (BAM).
Exploring the Appropriate Contextualization of Salat
The primary reason for this article is that it seems to me that something very important about the contextualization of prayer has been lost in the larger debate about appropriateness of certain kinds of contextualization in the Muslim world.
MissionS: Why the “S” is still important
The vocabulary that dominates the theology of mission today features a hierarchy of status describing its very essence. All the terms are derived from the Latin word missio (roughly translated “sent”) and used to convey the concept rooted in the biblical Greek term apostello. At the top is Missio Dei. This is followed by mission and missional in the middle. At the bottom, still championed by ‘unsophisticated slaves to the past,’ is missions.