Go. Serve. Love is loving this new series on downsizing to live overseas by Rebecca Skinner, who grew up as a missionary kid in Latin America, where she moved five times in seven years.
As an adult TCK, Rebecca has worked as a professional organizer with Simplified Living Solutions, helping people downsize, pack their belongings, and set up their homes after a move. She has the ability to step into a kitchen for the first time and tell you which drawer the silverware are in.
We’re all about bringing you tools you can use to truly go there, serve Him, and love them well. So we’ve partnered with Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission to bring you today’s (totally printable) infographic: 7 Standards of Excellence in Missions.
Then why do standards like these matter?
You might feel frustrated, too, by patronizing “help” that actually hurts. Or by work that makes us feel better but makes them worse. Or by global work that continues cycles of poverty. Maybe you’re angered by missions trips cannibalizing local employment, or blind to cultural norms so people are turned off to the Gospel. [su_pullquote align=”right”]Christianity, done well, doesn’t destroy culture. Christianity makes culture come alive–and development, too.[/su_pullquote]
We get it. The journey to overseas missions can feel like you’re trying to build a plane midair. With a root beer can, scotch tape, and a plastic flower. On the hard days, it’s possible you need some unshakable truth as you head overseas.
So today we’ve cobbled together a free printable infographic with some truths to hang your hat on, even if some days it feels like an overlarge sombrero. Post this in a cupboard, on a bathroom mirror, or tucked in all those books you’re reading for your training.
And chew on God’s promises for you in this journey.
After 30-plus years as a missionary, I have seen the wide and wonderful diversity in the people God calls to be missionaries! And everyone has different expectations about how they will go overseas and what kind of mission agency or “sending structure” they will use.
Some folks are so determined to do things their way, there’s no way they will survive working within a mission agency.
Editor’s note: Go. Serve. Love knows the decision and process for becoming a missionary can very quickly become complicated–even overwhelming. It’s why we’re thrilled to partner with the brand-new Mission App, a 15-20 minute application sent for you to mission agencies who match your chosen criteria!
We’re excited to welcome the Mission App today as they hand you their ultimate preparation checklist for becoming a missionary. Drumroll, please.
As we recently wrote, according to the Joshua Project, the world’s population of Muslims is estimated at over 1.8 billion. (With a “B.”) That’s 23.9% of the globe. Out of 3,734 people groups, 3,191 (85.5%) remain unreached with the love and hope of Jesus. Yet a brilliant, beautiful church in the Middle East grows steadily.
And more Muslims have turned to follow Jesus in the past 15 years than in the previous 1400 years combined.
With Ramadan upon us, could we as God’s people lift up the church in the Middle East?
Fact: According to the Joshua Project, the world’s population of Muslims is estimated at over 1.8 billion. (With a “B.”) That’s 23.9% of the globe. Out of 3,734 people groups, 3,191 (85.5%) remain unreached with the love and hope of Jesus.
Which means that currently, they will never hear of it.
Yet PrayerCast reports that more Muslims have turned to follow Jesus in the past 15 years than in the previous 1400 years combined.
