Please help to ignite the Great Re-Awakening in Europe

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Joey,
Glad to help as I can. We're still looking for that reference we used in Turkey, but I do recall now there was a section on the country and its people in one of the earlier books I had mentioned, "Praying through the gateway cities". You are correct about Turkey's ethnic diversity and the book does dive into that. It is a unique country due to that Byzantine heritage and the many Christian peoples within it, and many have been quite eager to re-connect with their Christian heritage.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Joey,
Not the reference we used initially but a link to a movement with particular focus on Christian missions in Turkey, supplied by one of my old mission associates I hadn't spoke to in about a decade. Turkey - Christian Aid Mission The focus as with our efforts is on indigenous missionaries who know the culture and people. Often including conversion of Turks working in Europe, who are able to bring the Gospel back to their home towns. To our surprise in many cases, there has been a great deal of openness to these efforts, in part due to awareness of the country's history.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Still not the original book I was thinking of from my own early missionary days but a valuable guide nonetheless, on ministries in Turkey and other important 10/40 Window countries, that popped up as I was searching through our updated directory of mission references:
Strategic Missionary Work: In the Pattern of Apostle Paul. This one is quite recent actually but it has a great perspective and focus, bringing Paul's techniques, organization and even his political leadership and insights into a modern context. A bonus is that Tarsus, Paul's own city, is in what's now Turkey and so the book has several references on this ancient city and its modern evangelical significance in the spread of the Gospel back into the Near East, carried above all by young and eager Turkish converts themselves. I believe some of its chapters are also online so worth getting a peek into it

 

[JoeySoley]

Thanks again, you guys have some excellent book and article recs. That Strategical missionary work book is full of good advice and perspective. It looks like recent published but still amazing we hadn't heard of it. I saw it just in a web preview at first but we're 100 per cent going to get ourselves a copy! We were back in Greece helping some of our mission partners and teams and could see the spirit of Paul in them, that drive and feistiness, feeling like every waking moment they had something special to spread and communicate.

 

[Pioneer3mm]

Strategic Missionary Work

I just started..reading the book.
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'Missionary Methods: St. Paul or Ours?'
- Ronald Allen
- Interesting/informative book
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Kindle ebook

 

[Inhocsigno]

It is indeed an excellent book, I confess to so far only having read less than a quarter of it. Yet it's so rich in information and useful ideas it's already helping to shape many of our current mission efforts.

 

[JoeySoley]

Same hear just starting it up. One of the other church-goers in my church also heard it's available on an e-book, maybe even audiotape. A lot of recent mission members are saying it's great, really has some specific things to help wherever doing the missions

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Joey,
Yes it is in ebook form now too, I first heard about it part because a missionary family on way to France, in one of the churches in our main network in Texas, got ebook copies that they basically read on the plane trips between the US and Europe as they moved to get settled into the French town. It's very well written and really engaging for a non fiction work, reads like a story in many places and pulls you in, connecting you to the history of the missions since St. Paul and the practical ways of doing ministry using those lessons today, including in many 10/40 Window countries.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Just wanted to also mention another book that our mission teams have been finding very helpful, in same kind of style and theme similar to Strategic Missionary Work. This book is called, On Mission Together by Richard Noble. The area of focus is a bit different, the focus is more at the level of church organization and the efforts by churches themselves to help sponsor and support missions abroad. But there is also a lot of discussion on things from the perspective of the ministers working abroad, and how they connect with the churches and congregations at home. Several of our mission teams in Europe and other mission stations have found this very helpful.

 

[JoeySoley]

Thanks for the new book tip! I only saw some intro things on it so far, and the book jacket description but looks right up our alley. We def have been looking at things, to help improve our overall coordination across the mission. It's whole lot of moving parts like they say. And, I really like these books that get into the basics from the inside of the missions, how teams actually solve problems and coordinate with each other

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Joey,
Yes that is indeed one of the best contributions of the book, that inside view with feel of "you are there". It really provides a birds eye view of what witnessing and evangelism actually feel like on a day to day basis, with an organization wide overview, something you rarely see even with the better missionary books.

 

[Inhocsigno]

One of my specialist publisher friends confirmed that On Mission Together is in fact, apparently available in many of the major Christian bookstores and has circulated into some of the smaller ones too. With as I understand, several translations either already available or in progress, which can be of great use for the teams in Europe that have recruited in locals.

 

[JoeySoley]

Wow thanks! A bit sheepish to admit, I hadn't even though of looking for the book in Christian bookstores, we've made it a habit to order online or find a copy in the library. But, it sounds like On the Mission Together is recent enough it might still be in circulation. There's a great Christian bookshop near our old hometown, sounds like it's worth making a phone-call next time in town to see if they might have what we're looking for. Great addition to our mission library and reading list.

 

[MandyandDave]

Just wanted to chime in here with a suggestion for a related book Short-term Mission Team Essentials, from a couple years ago but a couple of the mission families ahead of us found it very useful. The European missions of course are not short-term in that we're re-locating there permanently with our families. But a lot of the book's advice was still useful in talking about the preparations and how to build relationships both before and after we get there. It's an easily neglected part of mission when you're busy and working so feverish to get everything else in order for the mission.

Another thing, like we brought up before the visas and immigration issues can be a headache and get in the way of what you're going there for, the bureaucracy and managing all the details, and the book does a good job of getting into those basic details. It was intimidating for us starting out because we don't really start out with the special skills you often hear about the countries in the EU recruiting for that makes it easier to get a visa. And when we our charting out our roots to get a visa based on ancestry, our family connections were scattered enough that we didn't know what to start. Books like this make it a lot easier and less intimidating, by keeping your mind well and truly focused on the practical things you need to handle the move, you can then focus more with your family and mission group on prayer, connections and the spiritual aspects of what you're reaching out to the people in the destination countries with.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Mandy,
Thank you for adding this suggestion to the discussion. I must admit I had not heard of this particular book nor have others in my mission coordinator team, however I did just see it on the catalog of resources of one of the Texas mission information summary pages. It does indeed look to be of interest from a first glance, so rest assured you have sparked our interest and we will soon be obtaining a copy to report on!

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Mandy,
Just wanted to follow up that one of our small teams was able to procure a copy of the Mission Team Essentials book you recommended, I've only gotten about half-way through the 1st chapter but I can say we're already impressed! It has a to the point and breezy style that still is packed with the information that teams need, and it above all becomes clear early on that the authors are passionate about missions and it shines through. Looking forward to diving further in.

 

[JoeySoley]

We were able to order a copy of the mission essentials book ourselves after you all rec'd it here. It's due to come in tomorrow and it from your comments so far, we're brimming with anticipation. It's a real gift to have a book that gets into the minds of the people doing the missions day by day

 

[JoeySoley]

So far so good. It's a short book, not much over 50 pages or so on STM (short term missions) but even though we're doing longer term missions in Europe, chock full of good thoughts on the collective thinking and organization that works. A real emphasis on teamwork and preparation. Got another book recommendation when we mentioned it to one of the mission trainiers, Mind of a missionary that we're also interested in looking into.

 

[Inhocsigno]

Greetings Joey,
Yes The Mind of a Missionary is something of a classic for us, it's a bit long, over 300 pages but well worth reading every page. We read selected chapters and excerpts from it shortly after it came out a few years ago and still benefit from its lessons. I'm glad you brought it up because it's back on my agenda to read it cover to cover. Particularly useful for missions like ours in Europe with a longer term commitment and actual relocation with our families to the mission countries.

 

[JoeySoley]

Managed to get a trial sample of part of the Mind of a missionary book, it's great! The chapters are organized around basic tenants of missionary work, like motivation and, expectations. They get into the history and how people on mission think and plan. And there's a lot of great history, one example is Nikolaus Zinzendorf they talk about, one of the German religious reformers who shaped alot of what mission is and how it's practiced today. It really does give you a picture on how we're connected today, to those traditions.