The tragic killing of Christians at an Afghanistan hospital

The tragic killing of Christians at an Afghanistan hospital a few days ago demonstrates the love and power of the Gospel in the face of danger and hatred. Why would Christ followers go and serve those who are not like them and why would they do so in such a dangerous setting where their very presence was an invitation to danger? Why would they serve a people who have many among them that would like to kill them?

These men knew something. The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus is of such great value that it is worth our lives. As the news of these killings reverberates across our globe how can one not ask "Why such hatred of Jesus?" and "Why such love of Christ followers?" From the earliest days of the church, God's people have gone into harms way to demonstrate the love of Jesus - compelled by the love they have experienced. They have started schools, cared for the sick, established hospitals and taken in "the least of these." Often in the face of persecution, hardship and danger.

Every time those sharing God's love are targets of hatred, the chasm between God's amazing love and man's amazing lostness is highlighted. What the gunman did not realize is that no weapon can win against God's love lived out by His people. It is for this reason that we have the ancient saying that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." Our Savior is the only one who can take absolute tragedy and redeem it for His sovereign purposes. Nothing happens in our world, good or bad, that does not first pass by the hand of God and which He does not use to build His church.

Against the hatred that prompted this act, is the response of the wife of one of the lost. ""Our family and friends have suffered a great loss and our hearts are aching,"Jan Schuitema told reporters in front of the couple's Kenwood home Thursday afternoon.  "While our hearts are aching for our loss, we're also aching for the loss of the other families as well as the multiple losses, that the Afghan people have experienced." See the article in the Chicago Tribune.

In spite of this terrible act, God's people will continue to go to Afghanistan and every place where He is not known. His love compels us. Once we have truly experienced His Grace, how could we not share that most awesome of news. These servants of God join a long procession of those who have given their lives for the Gospel, a crowd that grows until the coming of Christ. Compelled by His love!

(Posted from Oakdale, MN)

14 things missionaries might want to tell you but probably won't

This is an insightful article

(Posted from Oakdale, MN)

Pray for those in Ukraine: A missionary's perspective

Comments from a ReachGlobal staff member

It’s now after 5 am in Ukraine on March 4.  Before I go to sleep tonight in the US, I’ll scour international news sites and Facebook with friends from Ukraine, looking for friends and ministry partners who may be on Skype at this early hour (for them) to see what happened with the ultimatum presented by the Russian government for Ukrainians to abandon their posts in Crimea or face the consequences and wrath of the Russian Army.

 It is surreal to live in and love the country that is the headline of every international newscast.  News changes so quickly that I’m often hesitant to post or make requests too specific.  That said, I would like to suggest ways we can pray together:

 Just as God held back vast armies numerous times in The Old Testament, we have seen God hold back the immense Russian Army and opposition in Ukraine.  Please pray with us that God will grant peace throughout Ukraine.  We are dependent on him for his intervention.

Amid the conflict in Kiev, there has been a prayer tent where people of numerous denominations have gathered together and stood to intercede for unity and peace.  Please pray with us that this unity of believers will continue long beyond this conflict.

Pray for war to be completely avoided in all areas of Ukraine.

We know from biblical accounts and personal experience that we serve a God of restoration and miracles.  Pray that He changes and directs the hearts of opposition leaders.

Pray for wisdom as the new government in Ukraine leads.  The new Prime Minister is a former Baptist Pastor.  Pray that he will hear and heed God’s voice.

We place our hope in God.  We recognize that He uses nations and leaders to accomplish His will.  Thank God for His sovereignty.

Often when the things that we put temporary hope in are stripped away, we see people search for answers.  Pray that Ukrainians will continue to turn to God for eternal hope and answers.

Top Missions Blogs: Getting to strategic mission strategies

The blogs related to missions receive some of the highest readership on my blog site. I have compiled the top read missions blogs below with links to the individual blog you are interested in. I hope this can be a resource to missionaries, supporters and mission committees in local churches.


Missions and Europe: Should we be sending missionaries to a place that has been evangelized in the past?

Partnerships in missions: Five key principles

Can the great cities of Europe be re-evangelized

Accountability for missionaries: Rethinking the paradigm

The both/and of missions: The gospel and compassion

What is missions? Be careful how you define your missions efforts

Short term missions: Doing it right

Mission agencies: choose wisely

The nine critical shifts that must take place in missions today

Helpful and wise words from a veteran missionary to the US church

What I wish my supporters understood about my work

A wake call for missions: the world is moving to the city

Sticker shock in missions

Best practices for training overseas

Strategic missions strategy: leveraging your investment

Missionary support team building: very tough work

Holistic Missions: Cautions and opportunities

Bride over Brand


TED talk at the Mission Exchange on critical shifts that need to take place in the mission world today

Parents: A major inhibitor to sending new missionaries

It really is a very bad idea

Changing antiquated local church mission strategies

Muslims are not the problem

Straight talk about results in missions

Disappointment in missions

Leadership in missions

Missions in the 21'st century: Two circles, one goal

From leader to partner in Global Missions

What kind of churches should we be planting around the world?

Western vs. indigenous missionaries

Missions and the Holy Spirit

Determining what missionaries to support

The changing face of world missions

The single greatest deficit in missions today

The single greatest deficit in missions today is the scarcity of highly qualified leaders to provide strategic leadership to teams in the field. In my view, of all ministry venues, missions is the one place where leadership gifts have not been seen as important and in many cases, those with leadership skills have either chosen not to go into missions or they have not been able to use their gifts.

The reasons are many. On the local church side, there are many churches who will not support leaders in the field because "they are not doing real hands on mission work." Here is the irony: those very churches would never start a ministry in their congregation without a leader to lead it. In fact, the larger the church the more staff they have - to lead staff and volunteers in ministry endeavors but somehow that is seen as a non-value in missions. 

The result? The very missionaries the church supports are often not nearly as productive as they could be because they are not deployed in teams under strategic leadership. The thinking of churches that leadership in missions is somehow not real ministry is frankly nutty! They would never operate that way and in denigrating leadership in the missions arena they hurt the very investment they are making in missions.

On the mission side, for many years, missionaries have seen themselves largely as "independent contractors" doing their own thing in their own way largely independent of oversight, accountability, strategic considerations and even in many cases direction from the mission agency they serve. That is pretty amazing given the amount of money it takes to keep a family on the field. We would never allow someone to operate that way on the home front.

This mentality has historically not only marginalized leadership gifts but has convinced leaders that they are not welcome in the missions arena. That they are not desired. There are a substantial number of missionaries who like doing their own thing and don't value accountability or leadership. Non leadership and full independence has become a part of the mission culture in many circles.

Yet leadership matters in every arena. We know it does in the church. We know it does in our places of work. We know it does in government. In fact, nearly all of us have experienced the pain of poor leadership at some point in our lives and those of us who are fortunate have experienced the gift of good leadership. 

Under good leadership teams flourish, clarity and focus are defined, there is alignment and cooperation and there are results that are tangible. If these characteristics are needed anywhere they are desperately needed in missions where the eternal stakes are so high and the financial investment supporters are making is so substantial.

The leadership of ReachGlobal, the mission I have the privilege of leading is convinced that the key to every team (and we are all deployed in teams) is a good leader. Without good leadership at all levels we cannot move forward. With good leadership we can develop, empower and release our own staff and indigenous leaders. We are so convinced of this that we have made the recruitment of leaders one of our highest priorities. It has Kingdom implications.

In recent years we have seen key leaders from other agencies come into ReachGlobal precisely because the agency they were with was not leadership friendly. It is a loss for those agencies and a gain for ReachGlobal who not only values good leadership but empowers those leaders to lead. Ironically, those agencies who do not value leadership are also floundering in a changing missions environment.

Here is our commitment: High Impact Ministry Teams on the field wherever we work. A high-impact team is a group of missionally aligned and healthy individuals working strategically together under good leadership toward common objectives, with accountability for results. This is not possible without skilled and empowering leaders. Leaders matter in missions - a lot. The lack of them is hurting mission endeavors globally.

Never underestimate the need for leadership in missions and if you have a passion for missions and have leadership gifts we are one mission that wants to talk with you. We know how important leadership gifts are to the missions task.

Change blindness and missions today

I saw an interesting video recently regarding "change blindness." In this experiment, a customer would come up to the counter for some kind of help. After a moment of discussion the clerk would excuse himself to find the appropriate form, duck down under the counter (to get the form) while another clerk moved into place under the counter, popped up with the form and continued the conversation. In almost every instance the customer never realized that they were talking to a different person - change blindness.

As one who works in the ministry world - missions, churches and Christian non-profits - I see this phenomenon all the time. Something changes before our very eyes, actually right in front of us and we don't realize that the change has taken place.

I often call the major changes that have taken place during my own lifetime the change from a black and white world and the now color world.

All of us are blind to some of the changes that take place around us. We are so familiar with the usual that we don't recognize the unusual. When my son was living in Chung Du, China for a year he once spoke to a clerk in Chinese. He answered, I don't know English. He again asked his question in Chinese, and the answer came back, "I don't know English," at which time the other clerk said to the first clerk, "He's speaking Chinese, stupid!" An example of being so familiar with the usual that we don't' recognize the unusual!

Monumental changes are taking place in missions today but like the clerks who changed places, many missionaries and agencies didn't notice the change.

One: the key to missions is no longer the missionary from the West to the East or the South. The key to missions today is the sending of believers from all parts of our world to all parts of our world, especially the least reached parts. Increasingly mission teams are being made up of people from the west, east, and south working together in a location to reach the unreached. This requires a new humility and partnership on the part of those who for many years played the major role in world missions as they move from being "the leaders" to "one partner at the table" and it is a round table!

Two: missions today is less country specific as it is people specific. In a globalized world where borders are often easy to negotiate, countries mean less than they used to mean. Multi-national corporations have discovered this and missions are beginning to discover this. People groups, whether Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, tribal, or language specific are often more important than the boundaries of countries. 

These "affinity" groups are increasingly more important than country boundaries. One of the practical results of this is that many mission agencies are abandoning the old "country" structures they had for "affinity groups" that transcend a specific country. Globalization has allowed and driven this change which was far more difficult in the black and white, pre globalized world.

Three: The key to multiplication today is that missionaries become enablers, coaches and empowerers of others rather than doing it all themselves. This is hard because it is a loss for those who were used to doing ministry by themselves. It is a gain in that it reflects the theology of Ephesians 4:12 where those in ministry are instructed to equip others and give ministry away in the spirit of Jesus. In this paradigm, western missionaries move from being the leader out front to being the coach in the back, encouraging and coming alongside indigenous leaders who are now out front leading the ministries.

Four: A logical extension of this last point is that the best missions today do not own anything, control anything or count anything as theirs. They are, after all, not out to build something for themselves but for the church of Jesus. They are servants of Jesus for the building of His church. 

This is a major shift for almost all western based missions who have inadvertently or advertently been controlling entities - a legacy of colonialism, wealth and education that has translated into holding the ministry, financial, education and leadership keys wherever they existed. Indigenous partners are flocking to those mission agencies who have understood this change because they are true partners rather than controlling entities. The table is round and they have an equal seat at the table as they work together for the building of His church.

Five: The logical extension of this comes when mission agencies are less interested in exporting their brand (denominational identity) than they are seeing the planting of healthy, indigenous, reproducing, interdependent and self supporting churches. Jesus did not die for my brand of the church, He died for His bride and our drive to extend our brand rather than His church is often a detriment to the spread of the Gospel.

I remember vividly visiting the closed country of Myanmar and visiting the northern city where Protestant groups over the years had planted their headquarters - like rival countries did when they planted flags at the North Pole. Here you have a deeply Buddhist country where persecution of Christians is rife and in this northern town are the headquarters of every denomination known to man - and a lot not yet known to man. 

We all planted our brand with the consequence that they all thought their brand was the brand. They neither cooperate with one another, work together and when push comes to shove, they break off and create a new brand. This is not the vision Jesus had for the church. That is why our mission is committed to planting His church and allowing them to organize as they will. 

Our commitment is that we have healthy, interdependent, self supporting, indigenous and reproducing churches. It also means that we have the liberty to partner with whatever Christ followers there are rather than having to start something new because our brand does not yet exist in that location.

All of us suffer from one degree of change blindness or another. The more aware we are of our propensity to not see change taking place around us the better off we will be. Because we will start looking for it and understanding its implications.

Looking and praying for open ministry doors

Those of us who are engaged in ministry whether in the local church, missions or elsewhere are always looking for ways and opportunities to minister more effectively and reach more people with the Good News. We have our strategies and our plans - all good. But a huge part of that strategy out to be a specific prayer and an intentional practice.

The prayer is that God would open specific doors of opportunity. The practice is that we are always looking around us for the doors He is opening. We do not open doors to ministry opportunity. God does. Our job is to be praying that He would do so and aware when He does.

Paul recognized this in his ministry. In 1 Corinthians 16:9 he says that "a great door for effective work has opened to me." Later he writes "Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me (2 Corinthians 2:12)." In Colossians 4:3 he says, "pray for us, too that God may open a door for our message" 

Paul recognized that it was God who opened ministry doors and he intentionally prayed that He would. And he constantly watched for the opportunities that God presented. 

One of the common lessons in mission work is that the door we think will be open is often not while an unexpected door we never thought about is. Unless we are watching and praying we can often miss the real opportunities where God is opening a door. 

All of this is a reminder that we join God in His work. It is not our work. 

This story will rock your world! From India

This is a wonderful story of God's grace and power from one of my dearest friends who ministers in India. Take a couple of minutes and be encouraged today. If God can do this, He can do anything!

https://vimeo.com/53877165 

It is time to stop the blame game in missions

I was at a conference recently where there was a very harsh and unkind (and I would add largely unfair) critique of western missions. The critique was made by a prominent Latin American missiologist. He characterized missions from the west as being imperialist in nature, controlling, paternalistic and colonial. He further blamed most of the worlds ills on the west and its capitalist system. The west is the creator of the world's ills and the majority world is the victim. 

It made me sad. It is true that western missions have made many mistakes. Mission leaders and missionaries are far more sensitive today than in the past as we have learned from those errors. It is also true that the church in the west has made an enormous sacrifice and contribution to the evangelization of the world in the last 200 years and continues to do so, now in partnership with missionaries from across the world.

In fact, the faith of this missiologist is the legacy of missionaries who gave up everything to go to share the gospel.  As I write this I sit overlooking Hong Kong where my own parents served as missionaries in the 1960's. Then it was a place where the Gospel was scarce and today the Gospel is well known and the church is strong because of the sacrifice of western missionaries. My parents and many others gave up much to bring the Gospel to Asia. Tens of thousands of western missionaries are making that sacrifice today globally.

Missionaries from the majority world will and do make many of the mistakes that missionaries from the west made. It is the nature of missions. It is time to stop blaming one another and to start appreciating one another in the global church and to work together. It is time to get over it (anger at the west) and get on with it (the cooperative work of the Gospel). Our own mission has moved to a philosophy of "We don't own anything, control anything or count anything as ours." We are a servant organization to the church in the United States to serve their mission vision and to the church internationally to serve their mission vision.

I find the critique from this Latin missiologist particularly hard to swallow given the social and political landscape in much of Latin America where corruption, crime and inept governments are the norm and where the church has little influence on society. I don't say this to defend the west, but to make an observation that is hard to ignore. One can certainly find much that is wrong with the west and with the church in the west and I am not here to defend it. However, one can also find much that is wrong in the majority world and the church there and I am not here to critique it. It is time to stop the blame game.

I love and cherish my colleagues in the majority and minority world who work with us to spread the Gospel. Their attitudes are so different than the one mentioned above. We are able to appreciate one another's strengths and weaknesses, cultural differences and varied circumstances as we work together. Our concern for the Gospel outweighs our many differences. In fact, we are all enriched as we value one another, learn from one another and enjoy the richness of our differing cultures.

As a mission leader who is committed to healthy mission practices I found the comments of this man sad. I am committed to a different way of doing missions and of valuing the contributions that all make.

Partnerships in missions: Five key principles

I am a huge proponent of partnerships in mission efforts. One of the guiding principles of ReachGlobal is that "We are partnership driven." Those partnerships can be with local churches in the United States, churches internationally, other ministries and missions and church planting movements. 

Partnerships, however, are delicate things and hard work. Here are five guidelines to consider for healthy partnerships. 

One: Partnerships are worth pursuing when we can accomplish more together than we can alone. The silos that exist in local church, denominations and mission agencies simply because we are focused on our particular brand are not healthy. If we are going to reach cities and regions for the gospel it will be with a coalition of the willing, not by ourselves. 

Often we don't pursue partners in ministry because our own vision is so small we think we can do it alone. That is unfortunate. We ought to have a God sized vision that only He can make possible and which often requires the efforts of several rather than just one party. 

Two: Healthy partnerships are not based on well written MOU's but on deep relationships of trust. When groups move toward common efforts before there is a high level of trust and relationship those efforts are in jeopardy.  In ReachGlobal we are far more interested in relationships with our partners than with MOU's which in the end are only as good as the relationship anyway. While a memorandum of understanding may be helpful for clarity, it is a secondary issue to trusting relationships.

Too often in ministry partnerships there is management of the strategy without adequate management of relationships. When there are tension points in the partnership it is the trusting relationships which help the parties move forward and solve the issues. Thus relationships must be nurtured in any good partnership.

Three: Partnerships only work when there is both theological and missional compatibility. We don't have to agree on all fine points of doctrine but we do have to have evangelical orthodoxy along with a missional mindset to see the Gospel expand in a significant way. We will not move forward with any partner unless there is compatibility in both areas.

Four: Healthy partnerships respect the autonomy of each party. Here is how we define our "Partnership Driven" guiding principle: "We are committed to carrying out the Great Commission in partnership with local churches, national partners and like minded evangelical organizations. Healthy partnerships include mutual cooperation without either party losing its identity or ability to work toward its intended objectives." When either party seeks to control the other the partnership becomes unhealthy. 

This requires a level of humility on the part of both (or all) parties because in healthy partnerships there is mutual collaboration on how we will together reach our intended objectives. Whenever one party tries to impose its agenda on another it is no longer a true partnership. Organizational and personal humility is a prerequisite for healthy partnerships. It is not about us but about the vision that we are pursuing together.

Five, partnerships are based on clear, common objectives that all parties are committed to pursuing. Where there is ambiguity on objectives, partnerships will inevitably become murky and ultimately fail. The glue that unites like minded partners is both trust and a common vision. It may well be that different parties play different roles in achieving that vision but common vision cemented with trust and relationship is a strong combination. In addition, when that common vision is the result of ongoing concerted prayer together it moves from our vision to His vision and captures the hearts and imaginations of all concerned.

We need to think partnerships far more than we do. But, we need to  build those partnerships for health and strength based on these five criteria.

Can the great cities of Europe be re-evangelized?

I believe that the answer is yes - with certain qualifications. There is no question that God desires this and there is no question of the needs among these post modern and post Christian cities. Nor can we every abandon the effort on the missions front until Christ returns. 

My answer is a qualified yes, if.....

If God's people will pray for His Spirit to move in the cities of Europe. All movements of God start with movements of prayer. 

If local ministries, denominations and mission agencies will work together to reach specific cities in Europe. No one can do this alone and there is unlikely to be a significant movement of God in any city until God's people genuinely come together with a common vision, common dependence on Him and declare that they will set aside their differences for the sake of the Gospel. 

If the ethnic groups who know Jesus can be partnered with. There is a great deal of spiritual energy among ethnic populations in Europe. They may well be a key to the re-evangelization of Europe but this means that we need to engage them, work with them, envision them and bring them to the table of cooperation.

If there is humility among all concerned that we need one another and we need the Spirit of God. Pride and self sufficiency will kill our efforts while humility will fuel them. A Christian leader in London, for instance, told members of our staff planning to come to  London that we had no right to be there and they didn't need us. Really? With the spiritual statistics of England? All of us need a great dose of humility if we are going to make a dent in the secularism of Europe. It is not about us. It is about Jesus. God does not honor pride. He does honor humility.

If we can be bold with the simple Gospel message. The Gospel has power because God's Spirit empowers it. We are called to proclaim it without apology and without needing to defend it. Simple Gospel proclamation has power in and of itself.

If we are willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus by helping to meet the massive social needs of Europe's cities. People are far more likely to hear the Gospel when they have seen the Gospel in action. If all men and women are made in God's image, however marred, we ought to care about them and their needs. Simple acts of kindness and help go a long way in authenticating the words of the Gospel.

Many people are pessimistic about God's ability to penetrate Europe once again. I am not.... with these qualifiers.

A sobering assessment of Middle East events for the safety of missionaries globally

The following statement from Assist News Service is an important one for all missionaries and agencies in light of the events of the past week around the world and particularly in the Middle East. I am quoting it in its entirety (with permission). These events should be a cause for increased prayer for missionaries and for our Christian brothers and sisters who are today at greater risk given the animosity between the Christian and Muslim world and the Muslim world and the West.

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Saturday, September 15, 2012

‘The World Changed Today for Christians,’ says Mary Marr, Founder and President of the Christian Emergency Network
She gives vital recommendations of how Christians and missionary groups can protect themselves and their staff during this time of unparalleled violence

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

PHOENIX, AZ (ANS) -- In an unprecedented and well-organized attack on over 21 U.S. and German embassies this week, the loss of security and sovereignty represented by each embassy is a “world changing” event for Christians, churches, and missionaries around the globe.


This is the view of Mary Marr, Founder and President of The Christian Emergency Network (CEN), who spoke to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) today (Saturday, September 15, 2012) in an exclusive interview.

She began by saying, “These events beg the questions: If the U.S. cannot or will not defend embassies, what will be defended? If the embassy staff, in Libya or elsewhere, is not defended, what will the aid be to any U.S. citizen traveling in a country who may be at risk? Apart from domestic security in the U.S. what does this mean for Christians, churches and missionaries around the globe?

“Missionaries have long lived with an eternal perspective in that each day their lives may be at risk in many countries where they minister. And, those with U.S. citizenship may have long relied upon the belief the U.S. embassies were not only symbolic, but bastions of security, while traveling or residing in another country.

“However, the events of this week are putting that assumption into question. As responsible caring believers, we must not refuse to examine the consequences for Christians (or any U.S. citizen) living or traveling abroad after this week nor to ignore the consequences domestically.

“It is not a matter of simply making ‘a statement’ with our wallets by curtailing tourist travel as some in the media have called for, or demonstrating anger over a foreign sovereign country not securing our embassies called for under international law. It is a matter of realistically assessing the security of our citizens. And, that includes Christians and missionaries residing around the world.”


Marr went on to say, “This cauldron has been simmering for a very long time. Anyone can readily see this level and highly organized outrage was not simply because of one movie as anything may have triggered the outrage in countries angered with the U.S. for one reason or another. These are highly orchestrated protests with historic and current security consequences for all Christians and missionaries, as well as citizens of the U.S. and other countries who consistently defend their citizens when traveling around the world.

“Historically in times of battle when a fort is taken a victorious flag rises as a symbol of defeat, such as we have seen with the U.S. flag in many countries being replaced by a black Islamist flag in recent days.

“When Francis Scott Key was awaiting word on a British or U.S. victory, he began writing what was to become the American National Anthem with the words, ‘And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there….’ This was a symbol of victory and an inspiration for a fledgling new nation standing for the freedom, including a nation built upon religious freedom for all faiths.”

Marr, who founded CEN after Sept 11, 2001 to “help the Body of Christ respond more biblically, intentionally and collaboratively to national emergencies,” went on to tell ANS, “During WWII, when fellow soldiers raised the flag over Iwo Jima the infamous photograph was formed into a memorial, which still stands as a remainder and symbolic declaration of strategic victory inspiring the war was at an end. Just as words have meaning, flags have meaning.

“And, just as the Christian flag has meaning for followers of Christ, so the Islamic flag has meaning for many Muslims around the globe. Erecting the Islamist flag over our embassies has meaning in that it makes the statement the Islamist flag has replaced the sovereignty of the country and it is no longer recognized as a place of security and defense for that country or the citizens who reside in those countries.

“The boldness of taking down one flag of an embassy of a sovereign nation and replacing it with a religious flag should not be minimized as bold consequences may follow as result. Just this week the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a rare security bulletin putting faith-based organizations on alert as the situation escalates in the Middle East and beyond.

“Rather than retreating in denial or avoidance, as those without the 'Hope of Christ' as we have been prone to do, the situation before us means a vital question must be decidedly answered.”

When asked what Christians, churches, Christian ministries and missionary organizations specifically should do right away regarding to their own global security from a Biblical perspective, she replied, “First, they should not minimize the consequences of the security risks of their Christians missionaries in countries around the globe. Prayerful and intentional decisions need to be made by the missionary organizations, apart from their traditional decision-making processes, since these are unprecedented times.”

Marr said that the U.S. government "may be distracted, unable or unwilling to be efficient in aiding missionaries, so it is incumbent upon the missionary organization itself to ask tough questions.”

She then listed them as:
1. Is the current environment in a given country secure for Christians and missionaries? What does security mean to your organization?

2. Are the missionaries “in country relationships” reliable, silent, less valuable, or becoming less constrained related to matters of security?

3. Do we stay the course as a missionary organization regardless of the security risk and cost or pull our missionaries out for another day when they may minister more effectively? 

Two Scriptures, which may apply in making this decision, are: “Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, ‘I am strong!’” (Joel 3:10 NIV) or, “He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4 NIV).

Marr continued by saying, “When Rome was encountering the plague, many Christians stayed to assist those in need, for the cause of the Gospel. There is a place biblically for the first responder, as we know full well, and the soldier who sacrifices his life for the lives of many. Yet, the ultimate sacrifice should not be given without cause. Self-sacrifice is not always called for as there is also the biblical perspective to survive another day and fulfill the mission by going on.

This perspective is in fact the first recommendation! However, God is the only one who is able to guide us in which biblical principle applies in every situation.

“However, regardless of which Scripture and biblical perspective applies to any situation the primary responsibility for securing Christians within the church facility while in worship is the church itself for example. And, the primary responsibility for securing missionaries is the mission organization itself, not the missionary in the field. Regardless of risk and cost, whether it is Church leadership, ministry or missionary organizations Christian leaders need to make prayerful, intentional, and deliberate decisions based upon the reality of the situation, as no decision is a decision, and the most dangerous decision of all!

“We cannot stand idly by and wait for government to address the security of our churches, ministries or families whether domestically or abroad. The responsibility primarily resided with us. What should churches, missionaries, and Christians do right now whether they are clearly in an 'at risk' situation abroad are this week or domestically in the future?"

Marr added, “To assist you, your family, church and local Christian community to assess your level of biblical readiness, develop emergency operations plans, build spiritual, emotional, mental and physical resiliency to biblically respond in crisis of all kinds, CEN (www.christianemergencynetwork.org) provides three helpful training programs - ReadyChristian, ReadyChurch, and ReadyCity.”

She then suggested the following immediate steps for churches, ministry and missionary organizations:

* Train staff to be aware of unusual activities such as loitering or taking photos of facilities

* Sign up for CEN Alerts ongoing for timely updates on unfolding crisis

* Develop emergency operation plans

* Establish safe rooms, shelter in place actions, and communication plans

* Post sentries during events and worship services who rotate and rove

* Establish relationships with local law enforcement and report suspicious any activity immediately 

* Limit vehicle access to the perimeters of facilities

* Lock windows and doors, use fencing and gate locks

* Review your faith-organization’s website for any information that may be sensitive

* Identify entry exits clearly to emergency evacuations and conduct an evacuation drill

Mary Marr’s expertise is in providing a unique Christian worldview to emergency preparedness and response, working with Department of Homeland Security and FEMA faith-based initiatives, developing the Biblical Readiness Standard, and offering a biblical perspective on any crisis situation provides a unique and valued service to the Christian community worldwide. In addition to being a seasoned radio broadcaster, educator, speaker, and author of Lighting the Way, Mary is also the author of CEN's three core ready training programs: ReadyChristian, ReadyChurch and ReadyCity.

She concluded by saying, “Every Christian should be ready to respond biblically to emergencies large or small. Christian Emergency Network unites Christian volunteers, community leaders and emergency professionals in equipping the Church to be aware and ready to respond in emergencies large and small. 

To learn more about how you or your Christian organization can be prepared to respond to emergencies go to www.christianemergencynetwork.org.”

Note to the media: If you would like to schedule an interview with Mary Marr, please contact her at: mary.marr@christianemergencynetwork.org. Also you can contact: Misti McHatton, CEN's Public Information Officer (misti.mchatton@christianemergencynetwork.org) or by phone at either (800) 260-5637 or 480-326-9132.

Accountability for missionaries - rethinking the paradigm

It is time to rethink how we hold missionaries our churches support accountable and how we collect that information. What usually happens today is that every church has their own forms that need to be filled out annually creating significant extra and unnecessary work for mission personnel. 

I recently had a senior ReachGlobal leader mention that he was working on an eight page evaluation from one of the churches that supports him. Now consider doing the same for the other nine major supporting churches and you get an idea of what it looks like to satisfy the needs of multiple churches.

Many of the accountability paradigms for missionaries grew up in a day when they worked relatively alone and had little direct supervision from their mission organization. Today for most organizations it looks very different. All personnel, for instance in ReachGlobal operate with annual Key Result Areas, an Annual Ministry Plan that is connected to the team that they work with. In addition, they have a monthly mentoring/coaching meeting with their supervisor and an annual review.

In ReachGobal, for instance, there is actually a higher level of both empowerment and accountability than is found in staffs of many churches. A best practice for mission committees is to find out what the reporting structure is for the mission their missionaries work for and coordinate the information they ask for with what the mission requires so that there are not unnecessary redundancies in reporting that a staff member needs to do.

If mission committees asked for three things – the job description, the annual plan and what was accomplished on that plan they would have a great deal of information. And, it would cut down on the duplication of systems that missionaries must satisfy for multiple churches that support them.

The additional complication with generic forms to be filled out is that it does not take into account the actual job of individual missionaries. The three pieces of information above are what we use to evaluate a staff member so if a church asked for the same three pieces of information it would have more relevant information than they often get without requiring their missionary to do extra and unnecessary work.

The both/and of Missions: Gospel and Compassion

In the early 1900’s there was a major clash in the American church between the liberals who emphasized good works at the expense of the Gospel and the evangelicals who insisted that good works by themselves would not help people find Christ and experience His grace. In simple terms, what followed was a divide. The liberals jettisoned the Gospel for a religion of good works while evangelicals, in an over response often jettisoned good works for a sole emphasis on the Gospel.

What the liberals lost was the life changing message of Jesus while emphasizing Jesus concern for people. What the evangelicals lost was the concern for people’s needs with a sole concern for their eternal destinies. What both lost was the both/and of the life of Jesus who was always concerned about their situations but never addressed their life issues without also addressing the core issue of the heart.

The example of Jesus in the Gospels ought to be our guide: He cared deeply for people and their situations. That is why people followed him. That is why He healed them. That is why he talked to them non-judgmentally about their sin. But He never left it at that. He always talked to them about their hearts.

In fact, if you look at church history it was Christians and missionaries who founded hospitals, schools, took care of the sick, buried the dead in the plagues, and were known for their good works. My own background was that of a Missionary Kid of a doctor who founded a hospital that took care of the sick regardless of their ability to pay – and also shared the Gospel with each patient – connected with a strategy of church planting in Hong Kong.

There are innumerable stories of evangelism efforts, literature distribution or other ministries done in the name of Jesus that have almost no lasting impact because while people made professions of faith, there was no church left behind for them to be nurtured and to grow. When you separate missions from church planting, you no longer have missions in a Biblical sense but simply compassion ministries. That is why Paul always focused on church planting while always encouraging believers to be the hands, feet, compassion and love of Jesus.

One of the guiding principles of ReachGlobal is that we are holistic in our approach. We want to care for the whole person and are deeply involved in ministries of compassion, education, medicine, caring for those who come out of sex trafficking, AIDS orphans and many other ministries that minister to the whole person as did Jesus. But front and center and at our core we are about multiplying transformational churches. We must leave behind the Bride of Christ to make disciples. The church must reclaim the concern of Jesus for the whole person but must not lose the centrality of multiplying His church in the process.

What is missions? Be careful how you define your mission efforts

This may seem like a simple question to some but there are many churches today who are redefining missions in ways that are problematic. To answer this question we need to look at the mandate of Jesus to the church and the strategy of the Apostle Paul in the early days of Christianity as he applied the Great Commission in his mission travels.

Remember the words of Jesus to His followers: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).

His mandate was to make disciples of all nations, to baptize people in His name and to teach them what it meant to be a follower of His. Perhaps the most important part of His command is “Therefore, Go.” It is taking the Good News beyond our circle to all nations on the face of the earth.

Our best example of what this meant is to examine the ministry of the Apostle Paul. He and Barnabas were not only the first missionaries sent by the church (Acts 13) but it is obvious from the careful record of his missionary journeys in one of the longer books of the New Testament (Acts) that we are to pay attention to what happened.

Paul’s strategy was very simple. He was focused on establishing churches, training leaders for those churches and setting them loose to live out the Christian life and be the Bride of Christ in their community. At the core of his strategy was establishing local churches. The methodology of establishing churches was the intensive discipling and training of men and women who responded to the Gospel.

In fact, some of the well known New Testament books  were written to churches that he had established. In addition, Timothy and Titus were pastors that he had trained.

It is interesting that in some places where Paul planted a church there were already Christ follower present. This was true in Ephesus according to Acts 19. The presence of disciples, however, was not enough for without proper teaching and fellowship those disciples were unlikely to grow. Thus, Paul gathered those Christ followers, taught them intensely for three years and the church that was planted had an impact in a wide area of Asia minor.

Paul calls the local church, the Bride of Christ. The point I am making is that biblical missions may involve many things but at the center and core it is about establishing the church so that those local expressions of the Bride can continue to reproduce themselves therefore reproducing Christ followers and committed disciples. There is no concept in the New Testament following the ascension of Jesus of Christ followers who were not connected to a church.

In our own day there is sometimes a de-emphasizing on the establishment of the church for a focus on other ministries that are called missions. These include ministries of evangelism, compassion, orphan, sex trafficking, caring for the poor, literature, illiteracy, micro-enterprise, education, medical ministries and others.

All of these are good in themselves and worthy of being a part of our missions paradigm but they are not the core of what we are called to do. As long as these efforts are connected to the establishment of transformational churches they are deeply valuable and reflect the heart of Christ. However, when they are not connected to the church, they are often compassion without the Gospel.

Short Term Missions - Doing it Right

Short term missions is a widely popular practice to give our people a means of connecting with the larger world. Done well it has many advantages. Done poorly it can actually create more issues that it helps. Here is the key to successful short term missions: Putting as much attention on what it will produce for those you are serving as you do on what it will do for those who go.

Those who go on a well done short term trip experience life in ways that they have often never experienced in their own culture. Often they face poverty they have never seen before. They may be in a culture that is neutral or hostile to Christianity. And they are exposed to a radically different culture than their own, something many Americans do not often experience. I have personally seen major paradigm shifts take place in those who have participated in short term missions.

The West is a can do culture and too often, we enter into these short term adventures with too little cross cultural preparation which can result in team members doing things that they don’t realize have negative ramifications in their host culture. 


Long term missionaries have seen the best and worst of the impact of short term teams which has left them wary of teams that have not been trained for the context they are going to or have not worked with them to ensure that the experience leaves something positive rather than something negative.

The United States is a very open culture with a wide latitude for behaviors. This is not true in many other cultures. For instance, one would never point their feet at another in Thailand (a major insult), and one always defers to their elders in many parts of the world. Loud speech in some parts of the world is offensive while in others it is the norm. Understanding the basics of the culture you are going to is 101 in short term missions.

Then there is the issue of money and how it is used. How money is used in short term missions is a huge issue. To give one well known example, places like Haiti are black holes of dependency, in large part because American agencies and ministries are not discerning about how they use money.

Equally important is working with the receiving hosts to ensure that what you intend to do and how you intend to do it will actually help them rather than complicate their lives and ministries. Remember that your hosts have their own work and ministries into which you are entering for several weeks. Think of adding the hosting of a short term team on top of what you already do in a typical week and you get the picture.

It is critical to work with your hosts to ensure that the team is a long term help to them rather than a short term distraction. Teams can be wonderful leverage points for workers on the ground – if there is mutual understanding as to what is needed rather than a team autonomously making its own decisions which rarely works well for long term personnel.

When considering a short term team experience, consider the following:

1. What spiritual and cultural training do we need to do in order to ensure that our people are ready for this ministry experience? If possible, use someone who has had cross cultural experience for this portion of the training.

2. Ask your participants to read, When Helping Hurts. It will open their eyes to the issue of resources, money and how it can help or hurt your efforts. This is imperative when coming from a country of wealth and doing ministry in a country of relative poverty.

3. Do some training in the area of spiritual warfare. They will likely encounter it and you want them to have some handles on how to respond.

4. Be sure that you have worked out a ministry on the receiving end that will help your hosts in their long term ministry. Ask them what you need to be aware of, what the team should avoid and what their expectations are of the team.

5. Raise up a prayer team well in advance of your trip to pray for those you meet, for spiritual protection and for God to work in the hearts of those you will encounter. Be sure that concerted prayer is part of the team preparation so that it is natural on your trip.

6. Where possible use leaders who have had experience in the context you are going to before – or at least in a cross cultural situation.

What are you and your church doing to raise up workers for the harvest?

In a significant passage related to ministry and missions we read these words. “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:35-38).’”

One of the marks of Gospel centered churches is an intentional effort to pray for and to raise up those who would answer God’s call for full time ministry. And to provide mentoring and ministry experience to them to ready them for a lifetime of service.

When was the last time you can remember corporate prayer in your church that God would raise up those who would give their lives to full time service? Yes Jesus asked us to do just that.

This is not to indicate that God has an A team and a B team – those in full time ministry and those who are not. It is to respond to the words of Jesus that there are many in our world who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd and He is asking us to pray that individuals will step forward to share the Good News.

The minority (wealthy world) is often driven by careers, salaries, a secure life and the avoidance of danger. Those who choose to work outside of their own culture often pay a significant personal price for doing so. Yet it is one of the primary ways that the Gospel is spread and eternal destines determined. Congregations that encourage their people to consider a life vocation in ministry and who are willing to mentor, encourage and stand behind those who fit the qualifications and are ready to go multiply their ministry influence in huge ways.

As the letters to the seven churches in Revelation indicates, God not only evaluates our individual lives but he sees the spiritual vibrancy or lack of it in congregations as well. How we view our passion for the Gospel becoming well known in our community and world would certainly be an indicator of both our obedience and our passion – as well as the joy we together enjoy in the journey.

Generous churches, like generous people, see beyond themselves and their mission is not primarily about themselves but about impacting lives, communities and the globe with the Gospel. They give away their time, energy, resources and love so that the name of Jesus is lifted high and His name becomes well known. They love on their community, they love on the unloved, and they love on the unsaved. So much so that whole communities know that they are a congregation of love.

Generous congregations love when people come to them but they are focused on going to others, meeting them on their ground and ministering to them on their turf. They look for ways to meet needs, share truth and love people in the name of Jesus. They don't wait for people to come to them but find ways to go to others including sending their own and reaching beyond their borders.

Life is not about us but about Jesus. It is true for us personally and it is true for congregations. Just as many Christ followers don't get that, so many congregations don't get that. But those who do see the fruit of their generosity as people and communities are impacted with His love and we are energized by our Christ centered actions and God's smile on our lives.

How many people found Jesus through the ministry of your congregation in the past year? It is worth keeping track of and working to see it increase. How many people has your congregation sent into full time ministry?  It also is worth counting and keeping track of. It is one of the markers of a Gospel centered church and it is what Jesus longs for.

Mission Agencies: Choose wisely

One of the things mission supporters pay too little attention to is the agency that a missionary is or intends to serve under. Mission agencies vary widely in the due diligence they use in vetting potential staff, clarity of direction, quality of strategy, level of empowerment or control, and personnel health. Not all agencies are equally healthy, effective or empowering.

Because of the investment we make in missionaries, it is critical that we evaluate both those we support carefully as well as the organization with which they serve. If either are substandard, the investment is problematic and should be reconsidered.


The most important thing to consider is whether they have made the shift from the Black and White to the Color World - as described in The Nine Shifts. This will tell you much about whether they are leveraged for significant influence in today's world. 

Here are some other markers of good mission organizations:

·  They vet potential staff with great care and are ready and willing to say no or not yet if there are issues with spiritual, emotional, relational or skill health.

·  They deal proactively with health issues of their staff in a redemptive way.

·  They have clarity of direction that is understandable and makes sense.

·  They place people on healthy teams for maximum health and synergy.

·  They stress ongoing learning and education for all their staff.

·  All staff operate with an annual ministry plan and have monthly coaching meetings with their supervisor.

·  They operate with healthy, empowering and strategic leaders.

·  They mandate that their staff raise enough support to ensure that they have a decent standard of living, have adequate health care and are putting aside money for retirement (for long term staff).

·  They want to work closely with the local church when there are personnel issues.

·  They love to work with local churches to help them achieve their mission vision with good missiological practices.

·  They are committed to strategies of multiplication and are developing, empowering and releasing healthy national leaders wherever they work.

·  They are deeply committed to personal, team and leader health.

·   They are innovative, entrepreneurial and empowering of staff.