Mission Ministry

Leaving Western culture and their German home far behind, Amiira Ann and her husband, Chris, responded to the prompting of God to move to one of the most thoroughly Muslim cultures on earth, Yemen. The 9/11 attacks in the United States created the dangerous backdrop for reaching out to their Yemeni hosts with the love of Christ. With a commitment to work in relief and development, they would find, despite the threat of death, that their hearts would be forever knit together with this people so different from themselves.

The character of the times in which we live is such as to call forth from us even this admonition, that we ought not to be astonished at the heresies (which abound) neither ought their existence to surprise us, for it was foretold that they should come to pass; nor the fact that they subvert the faith of some, for their final cause is, by affording a trial to faith, to give it also the opportunity of being “approved”. - Tertullian

In "GO", Mark will unpack the common challenges that hold Christians back from GOing and the joys that we can find in taking the Good News into all the world. If your life can't be described as "crazy good," then listen to this encouraging book and go buy a plane ticket!

What is there about a dying church that brings glory to God? Mark Clifton's convicting answer is "nothing". Because a local church is intended to represent the work of God in a community, when that church "loses it saltiness", not only is God's work pictured as irrelevant in that community, but also dishonor and disrepute may well become associated with God's name as a result.

When God wanted to act on his promise to save the world, he started with a family and gave them a mission. He spoke to Abram and his household, and they became a family on mission. We see Jesus operating in the same way, gathering an extended-family-like group of disciples around himself before embarking on his mission. Jesus needed a family on mission.

In early November 1834, an aristocratic young couple from Savannah and South Carolina sailed from New York and began a seventeen-year odyssey in West Africa. Leighton and Jane Wilson sailed along what was for them an exotic coastline, visited cities and villages, and sometimes ventured up great rivers and followed ancient paths.

A chilling behind-bars encounter with a killer unfolds. Step into the heart-wrenching world of his victim’s grieving mother. Can the unforgivable be forgiven? As Tammy Horvath grapples with the weight of depression following her profound loss, she discovers that no amount of exercise or travel can completely mend her shattered soul. The quest for genuine healing takes a courageous turn as she confronts the murderer, unraveling the haunting mysteries behind Luke’s tragic death.

An essential guide for maintaining integrity and preserving the good standing of your church in the face of a crisis, Church on Trial will teach you how to maintain and earn congregational trust and unity; safeguard your church's reputation preemptively and proactively before it crashes and burns; implement best practices for crisis prevention and recovery; build relationships and collaborate with trusted legal advisors; and gracefully handle negative media attention and publicity.

The Cup of Our Life is available to anyone seeking a more intimate and disciplined life of prayer. Author Joyce Rupp illustrates how the ordinary cups used each day can become sacred vessels that connect listeners with life and bring them into closer union with the divine. She explores how the cup is a rich symbol of life, with its emptiness and fullness, its brokenness and flaws, and its many blessings.

The impact of The Prayer of Jabez has been phenomenal - with reports of changed lives, expanded ministries, and massive spiritual breakthroughs among believers everywhere. Now teens can also receive extravagant blessing as they discover, in peer-based stories, supporting scriptures, and interactive questions, how to pray the remarkable prayer of the obscure Bible hero in I Chronicles 4:10.

He or she could be the neighbor who is perfectly happy without God. Or the coworker who scoffs at Christianity. Or the supervisor who uses Jesus’ name only as profanity. Or the family member who can’t understand why religion is so important. Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary is an action plan to help you relate the message of Christ to the people you work around, live with, and call your friends.

There's got to be more to church than this. People around the world are seeking a community that focuses more on others than on themselves. Yet most don't know where to start. Drawing from his own journey, Brandon Hatmaker reminds us that serving the least is not a trendy act of benevolence but a lifestyle of authentic community and spiritual transformation. In Barefoot Church, Brandon offers practical ideas for creating service-based, missional communities and explains how the organizational structure of a church can be created or restructured for mission in any context.

While "missions" used to be the territory of experts and missionary professionals, globalization has made the issues and needs of our world accessible to average Americans. Many American Christians feel overwhelmed by the scope of the brokenness in the world and conclude all they can do is go on with their lives. Others respond by giving and praying, and still others want to do more. What Can I Do shows that global mission is something we all can be part of in tangible ways.

How and why did the McAuleys prepare for the trip-of-a-lifetime to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania with an elevation of 19,341 feet/5,791 meters? Their inspirational travelogue began with a planned meeting with their sponsored child, Beatrice, a young teenager they’d written to for nine years through Compassion International. It ended with meeting servant leaders who brought them in and out of Kilimanjaro National Park in August 2017. Cheryl hopes this book will help others who may be considering sponsoring a child or climbing Kilimanjaro, two activities that are worth the effort.

In the Cold War years, the very name Russia seemed sinister; and then the unimaginable happened: The Iron Curtain came down! Great and effective doors opened all over Russia and Ukraine. An evangelistic explosion took place, and more than 5,000 receptive hearts were saved. This is the dynamic story of how it happened!

People must be led. When there is a leader, he is followed. The spiritual leader is the one who has made the most progress in knowing God and is serving Him. Such a person has authority with God which no one can take away from him. No one can remove him from leadership. No one can put him into leadership. His intimate knowledge of God, his close walk with Him, his sacrificial service for the Lord and His people, put him apart from the others, and those who want true spiritual leadership turn to him. This is my understanding of spiritual leadership.

Being Real is a memoir of a Christian "Journey of Discipleship". It is a collage of stories interwoven with principles learnt over an extended period of 40 years in missions and local church ministry.

In 1986, Ken and Julie Vaughan were living the American dream: good education, interesting career, nice home, and healthy, bright children. When God called them to teach in Africa, they turned their backs on financial and physical security to accept the challenge of living in a third world country. Through a series of God-initiated events, the Vaughans found themselves living in Cote d’Ivoire, teaching at an international boarding school. In 1997, Ken faced a bout with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. After completing treatment, Ken and Julie returned to Africa to resume the life they loved.

Darla’s story of how she rescued street children and transformed their lives by the power of God’s love will grip your heart. Agape’s Children is the heartwarming story of how an ordinary woman responded when confronted by child beggars in Kisumu, Kenya.

With characteristic humor and insight, author and pastor John Ortberg invites us to follow the biblical story of Esther and her example to courageously choose to embrace the mission God gives. Like Esther, we can lead without feareven in threatening circumstancesbecause we know God is always at work in unseen, unknown, and unlikely ways.