A series of Bible studies looking at some characteristics of sending and supporting churches. If you are a church leader, feel free to use these in your church!
I’m ashamed to say that the COVID-19 lock-down came as rather a blessing. While acknowledging the trauma of this time for many, it felt strange to be breathing a sigh of relief to be able to take a break.
It was 2015 in northern Sierra Leone, when Duba, a churchgoer with no personal relationship with Christ, had a dream, “God spoke to me with the message that I was to leave all to follow him”.
Transitions are a normal part of human experience, but for TCKs and their families they tend to happen quite often and be major cross cultural transitions.
Myanmar is a country in South East Asia, previously known as Burma. It is hot and humid, with a monsoon season, and is known for its friendly people and stunning natural landscapes. The country is covered with grand golden pagodas and has a long rich history.
Here in Eastern Europe, people have for decades faced many different struggles in believing what they are told by people in authority. Today, this creates huge barriers to gospel belief.
Complete curfew here in Turkey started on Easter Sunday. The only people I could visit were those in my own building. So I brought Easter gifts to three families. This has led to a closer relationship with them, and I was thrilled to receive some freshly baked bread from one.
UFM in the USA (UFM Worldwide (USA)) was first established in August 2013 with an office in Birmingham, Alabama. The OneHundredFold team had become part of UFM in 2012, and we needed to provide the services our mission workers who are American citizens required.
‘Would you ever consider going abroad to be, you know, ... a missionary?’ Two years ago, if you had challenged with me with that question, I would probably have just laughed.
It costs a lot to send short-term workers overseas. But is it worth it? Would the money be better spent on long-term mission workers or supporting national workers?
You know how certain lessons linger in the memory? I recall a sermon just after I moved to the Midlands to work with Christian Unions. I don’t remember the passage, though it could well have been Mark’s Gospel. Instead of trying to recruit us to follow Jesus by describing how amazing Jesus’ teaching was, the preacher simply wanted us to listen to Jesus’ own words and follow him.
Six of us were huddled over a blank canvas. One of us had stayed up late the night before to sketch a basic calendar for the year ahead. Every little box for every day of the year represented an opportunity – an opportunity to do our job and to reach the campus for Christ.
With TCK families across the world facing school closures in respone to COVID-19, UFM Worldwide has compiled some articles, helpful tips and recommended resources.
Supporting and resourcing the local church in mission is what UFM is all about. So often mission agencies can be viewed by local church leaders as always wanting something from them: their people, their finances, their prayers, their meetings.
Radicals approached the shopkeeper and complained that the New Testament was prominently displayed in his shop. Although he is a Muslim, he told them in no uncertain terms that he would continue to display the Injeel prominently.
