Blog

Hope that Must Be Shared!

August 29, 2017

By Bill MacLeod, Executive Director

Not long ago I sat down with Jamie Winship, one of our plenary speakers for this January’s Mission ConneXion Northwest event. His coming to Christ prior to becoming a policeman in Washington, D.C. is intriguing enough, not to mention his learning dependence upon the Holy Spirit to share his new-found faith in an environment generally incompatible with Christian witness. Little did he know that the Lord was preparing him to spend over 25 years in the Muslim world, teaching people how to hear from JESUS and live in His Kingdom. Reflecting on our “There is Hope.” 2018 theme, he recently shared with me how hope transformed his own life, and what he anticipates for January…

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What is an “Unreached People Group”?

August 1, 2017

Some people groups have thriving, evangelizing churches already living among them. Odds are, if you are taking this topic in a local church, your people group falls in this category. We refer to these as reached people groups.

This does not mean that everyone in the people group is a believer. It doesn’t even mean that everyone in the people group has heard the gospel. It simply means that there are disciples and churches within the people group who able to finish the task. It means that lost people in that people group have access to the gospel, whether they have actually heard it or not. Disciples and churches within that people group can evangelize and disciple the people around them better than anyone else, and that responsibility rests on them.

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Why Your Call to Missions Matters & How to Find It

August 1, 2017

A guest article from our friends at TEAM.

Written by Jessica Hulbert

When you pair a longing for adventure with a desire to share the hope of Jesus Christ with the world, missions seems like the natural next step.

How can you discern whether your passion is leading you on the path to cross-cultural ministry work?

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On Hope, Worship, and 2018

August 1, 2017

By Bill MacLeod, Executive Director

I recently interviewed Paul Ramey who will be leading worship for us at this January’s Mission ConneXion Northwest event, when our theme will be “There is Hope.” I wanted to get a better feel for who he is as a man, and as a worship leader of one of Portland’s most dynamic fellowships.  His responses really touched me – so I thought you’d enjoy hearing his unique perspective on hope, worship, and this January…

Bill: What were the circumstances that ushered in the hope of Jesus into your life?

Paul: I grew up as a pastor’s kid

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Be a Part of Someone’s Story: Volunteer at MCNW!

July 3, 2017

Mission ConneXion Northwest 2018 seems like forever away, seven months will fly by before we know it!

As we look toward January, we are expecting a potential record number of attendees, and our Steering Team is already putting volunteer teams into place. Some positions require training in advance, and some can be easily summarized a few days before the event, but all of them require willing hands and hearts.

Since the plenary sessions and workshops are available for free following the conference, we are hoping that mission-minded people would be wiling to make the sacrifice and serve as needed.

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Mission ConneXion: Part of Their Story (Swanson)

July 3, 2017

Dear Mission ConneXion ,

Our journey of being called started when we attended Mission ConneXion Northwest. That week, my wife Gina told me that she felt like we were supposed to go be missionaries and that she had just seen on Facebook that Mission ConneXion Northwest was happening that weekend in Portland.

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Visiting a Missionary? How to be a Good Houseguest

July 3, 2017


An abridged article from our friends at SEND
Written by Josie Oldenburg

As the summer travel season creeps up, perhaps you plan to use your hard-earned vacation days to visit a missionary….I’m sure you want to be — and will be! — a delightful houseguest. Here are some tips that hopefully will help you deliver encouragement (not embarrassment) and joy during your stay (not joy once you’ve gone).

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Partner Ministry Highlight: Perspectives on the World Christian Movement

July 3, 2017

Be part of God’s plan for Him to be loved by every people.

“Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!” (Psalm 96:3)

Since 1974 Perspectives has been changing lives. Over 100,000 in the U.S.A. and 130,000 worldwide have taken the course.

Perspectives is a 15 week life and learning opportunity that will change the way you view the world around you.  In it, you will have your eyes opened to the heart and purpose of God, and how you can take part in His work all over the world… from the urban streets of America to the paved or dusty terrains of distant lands.

Each week a combination of international missiologists and instructors will challenge and inspire you with their personal experiences of just how big God is, and how much He desires that all might come to know Him.

Join friends from churches across the nation to experience the ever increasing momentum of God’s central priority – calling all nations into worship for His glory.

Classes are open for registration in Beaverton and Vancouver: Beaverton session begins August 29th. Early bird discount expires August 8th.  Vancouver session starts September 10th. Early bird discount expires August 10th.

Classes are also available online and around the country.

 

Why You Need This App!

July 3, 2017

By Bill MacLeod, Executive Director

If you’ve ever been in a setting where a country is mentioned and you wondered where you could turn to learn more about not only its location, people, or culture, but also about its spiritual condition, chances are you may have turned to Operation World (OW) – the “definitive volume of prayer information about the world”.

Seven editions of OW have been published. The original edition was produced in 1964, from South Africa, and was only 32 pages of basic information about 30 countries. Today’s most recent version is from 2010, which is a complete update of the 21st century edition, released in 2001.  It is a large, bulky encyclopedic volume, but now…

Operation World has its own App!

By simply typing “Operation World” in the App Store on your smart phone, you can now easily hold the free version of this world changing resource in your hand!  I recently downloaded it and found it easy to navigate to:

  • An Alphabetical Listing of all 196 Countries (and 7 Continents) in the world today – including Taiwan which many do not consider a country – that also shows when clicked on, a map of where the country is located on the globe.
  • Under “Status”, data is provided on a country’s population; total People groups, total languages, largest religion, the per cent of largest religion; the percent of the population that is Christian; the percent of evangelicals, and what the percentage is of those living in cities, called “Urbanites”.
  • Each country’s national flag is shown – all in color.
  • Under “More”, additional insightful facts are provided for the savvy believer who desires to see the gospel infiltrate every corner and people group of our globe.
  • Under “Prayer”, there is a brief synopsis for each country of how it can be prayed for…and you can see, on specific dates, how many people were praying for any country using the OW app!

Out of curiosity, I looked up a few of the “hotspots” that are often in the news, to see just how many people were praying, on that date, for these countries.  Here are some of the results I found:

Afghanistan: 24 people praying on Feb. 9th…Iraq: 4 on July 17…Iran: 2 on July 14…Somalia: 4 on Oct. 29…Syria: 4 on Nov. 14…United Kingdom: 10 on Dec 4…United States: 10 on Dec 7…France: 121 (!!!) on May 24

Ignatius of Antioch, an early Christian Bishop, is attributed with the saying: “Pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on you.” Hopefully, this Operation World App will help you to do both!

 

How To Pray for Missionaries

May 30, 2017

Pray for Open Doors (Colossains 4:2-3)

Pray that God will open doors of ministry, blessing partnerships and friendships.
Pray that those who serve will be led by the Holy Spirit and recognize open-door opportunities.
Pray that God will lead His people past barriers to hearts ready to receive his Word.

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