The Greek verb “apoluo” (to send away) is used in a positive sense in Acts 13:3 when the church at Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. This blog is designed to help churches select, train, and send missionaries to the harvest fields of souls.
A second primary factor is a shift in thinking among donors and potential donors. Many younger donors in particular dislike giving institutionally. Giving to an institution, be it a church or an organization, seems very impersonal and takes the control for how donations are used out of the hands of the giver. Therefore, a growing…
It takes money to do missionary work. It takes money to get to the field, stay on the field, work on the field and return from the field. This is true for both short-term missions and career missions. Since the dawn of the so called modern missionary era in the time of William Carey, most…
Note: Originally posted October 2014. Deputation is a word that strikes fear into the heart of many people looking at the missionary enterprise. Some have said, “I wouldn’t go around to churches and people begging for money.” Others look at missionaries as people who can’t make it anywhere else so they go looking for well-meaning…
Spending most of my career and ministry in education and training, I often hear “This person is not doing X. Please arrange some training for them.” After the training was delivered and generally well received, it was not uncommon that the person in question still wasn’t doing X. Obviously, training wasn’t the only issue. In…
Note: Originally posted October 2014. According to Greek mythology, Achilles was a brave hero of the Trojan War. The story line is that his Mother, Thetis, attempted to make him immortal by immersing him in the river Styx. She held him by the ankle and dipped him completely. The only part not touched by the…
Recently it was my privilege to take the APOLUO seminar that BMW provides to North American sending churches to a group of leaders in Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina. (Note: a search in this blog for “Apoluo Workshop” will result in several articles on the content of the Workshop). There were three church leaders in attendance…
“Pastor Marcos, I want to lead the singing in church. I love music. I am a musician.” So said Roberto, a middle aged man in the all Hispanic congregation that I had planted some months previous to this conversation. Since I had basically been a “one man show” up to that point, leading the singing,…
American churches and missionaries should encourage national churches in other countries to become sending churches so that they send their missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission. Especial consideration should be given to challenging national churches to send their missionaries to the places where American (or Western) missionaries cannot go; to unreached cities, unreached people groups…
A simple definition for culture is “the way we do things around here”. We accept things as normal when it aligns with our culture. It shows up in every facet of life… the way we eat and what we eat. The way we greet each other. The way we talk and the words we use….
The Christmas season is a unique time. It combines intense busyness and stress with instances of reflection and sentiment. Searching for Christmas gifts creates a conflict of emotion that mixes the tension of finding the perfect gift with the joy of giving the perfect gift. For Christians though, it is a time to love God…