News You Can Use

Craig Querfeld (LINC – Peru) has sent us the following invitation for all TEAM workers:

“Fellow  TEAMmates,

In order to fulfill the requirements for a Doctor in Ministry course of study, Craig Querfeld, church planter in Peru, is looking for 12-15 church planting teams to study that fit the following requirements:

·        The team consists of 4 or more people.

·        The team is actively working to establish a church.

·        The team has been together for at least two years.

·        The team is working in a culture different than that of its members.

·        The team has a designated leader.

 

If you would like to be part of this research or know of other teams that meet the requirements, please contact Craig at cquerfeld@gmail.com

The focus of this research is on the leadership of church planting teams.”

Paul Cochrane is running the first version of his online course on the key elements of leadership.

This new introductory course to the Leadership Foundations study runs from February 1 to March 12, 2010. Discussion boards will encourage you to bounce ideas off your colleagues around the globe, and short video clips or online readings will stimulate your thinking about leadership. To join, email Paul and he will send you a username and password for the course. Because Paul will be coaching each participant personally, this first enrollment is limited to 15 participants.

Nancy Nethercott ( Japan) earned her doctorate in Worship Studies in 2006. She and Paul are currently “Missionaries in Residence” at Judson University in Elgin, IL. Nancy has shared with NYCU a number of worship resources that she has found useful, in hopes that you might be encouraged to use them as you help your churches worship thoughtfully and joyfully. Check out these online sites:

“Here are my most trusted and most referenced sites in the area of worship:

 

Worship Ideas You Can Use – blog by worship leader, Steve Brown, with Messiah Lutheran Church, CT

http://sjbrown58.wordpress.com/

 

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship site with thoughtful and helpful resources for worship training, planning and leading

http://www.calvin.edu/worship/

 

Louis Giglio of Sovereign Grace Ministries – blog (2 sites)

http://blog.worship.com/

http://www.worshipmatters.com/

 

Worship Resources International – blog by Ron Man, Worship Resource coordinator for GEM (Greater Europe Mission)

MUCH written from a missional perspective. In particular, check out the tab for “Worship Notes” and look over all his “links.”

http://www.worr.org/

 

Worship Leader magazine’s blog and on-line source

http://www.worshipsource.com/

 

(a recent find) Jim Altizer’s blog (he is a fellow graduate of the Institute for Worship Studies)

http://roadmapsforworship.com/

 

Paul Baloche’s blog for worship leaders

http://www.leadworship.com/blog/

 

Worship Central blog out of Britain

http://www.worshipcentral.org/blog/guest/windows-on-the-cross

Barnabas International (started by Lareau Lindquist) announces their 2010 Transition Seminars for MKs who have just completed their High School experience overseas. Early bird rates are available through online registration. Seminar dates for 2010 are:

July 18-23rd @ Biola University in LaMiranda, CA

July 18-30th @ Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, WA OR

July 18-30th @ Cedarville University in Cedarville, OH

                           

Interaction International (started by Dave Pollock) is offering MK Transition seminars this summer in upstate New York and Colorado Springs.CO

July 17-23 in New York

July 31-August 6th in Colorado Springs

Many of us have been praying for Steve and Pat Mosely as they have walked with their son John through his battle with cancer. In a recent update from them, Steve shared a book that has been an encouragement to the whole family: “M. Craig Barnes wrote a book called When God Interrupts, Finding New Life Through Unwanted Change that has ministered deeply to John, Pat, and me. Extremely helpful.” Thanks for the suggestion, Steve. BTW, John’s post-op biopsy came back free of cancer cells! Praise the Lord!

John and Janet Certalic from the Meadowbrook Church in Wauwatosa WI (a daughter church of Stuart Briscoe’s Elmbrook Church) are part of an organization called Caring for Missionaries whose mission is to “increase the effectiveness of missionaries and reduce their attrition rate. We do this by caring for the relational, emotional, and spiritual needs of Christian workers so they can spread the gospel of Jesus Christ as effectively as possible, to as many as possible, for as long as possible.” Caring for Missionaries offers a week-long personal growth conference for missionaries specifically designed as “a highly interactive week of missionary debriefing, where past experiences are reflected upon for the purpose of growing and planning for the future. In addition, new relational tools are learned that can be taken back to the mission field to increase one’s effectiveness. This all takes place in a restful, relaxing, and distraction-free environment that enhances hearing from God.”

If you are working in the Spanish speaking world, here is an e-zine resource produced by Hispanics to encourage missions sending from the Latino world to the rest of the world (part of “from everywhere to everywhere.”)  The title “Vamos: Nos toca a nosotros” means “Let’s go: it’s our turn.” There are resources for churches, missionaries, and electronic discussion pages on the website, which is hosted by SIM (Sociedad Internacional Misionera, or in English, Serving In Mission).  Thanks to Les Hirst (former Senior Director) for this tip on a great resource.

TEAM, in cooperation with the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches (FEC) has named Doug Witzig (formerly of Asia) our new Business as Mission Coordinator for TEAM and FEC International Ministries. Doug started this work off with a bang (or was that a BAM?) by participating in the URBANA 2009 conference in St. Louis the week before. In addition to follow up of the many contacts made at the Urbana conference, Doug is looking to connect with individuals who have interest, ideas, or resources to share about BAM. For more information, you can write to him at dwitzig@teamworld.org.

First of all, let me be clear that I am NOT ready to join the AARP, and won’t be for several years yet!  But someone in the office who IS a member (for a significant donation, I might reveal who it is J ) sent me an article that has some great learning resources. How to Learn Just About Anything Online … For Free lists web based courses and materials that are available at no charge to anyone who wants to look for them. And AARP has already found a lot of them, and put them together in this easy to use article. They write:

“Years ago the Internet paved the way for learning online from schools that charged tuition for their courses. And they still do, for academic credit. But e-learning is different. Though it doesn’t earn you credits, it does allow you to learn pretty much on your own schedule, without spending a nickel on class fees.”

The site anticipates and answers many of the questions that you might have, and then provides an extensive guide to the various kinds of e-learning resources, and links to many of them.

Before you go surfing online to check out the range of material that the internet offers; from wild to wacky, from worthy to worthless, from wisdom to waste-of-time, you may want to spend some time exploring Chuck Colson’s Center for Christian Worldview on critical thinking and worldview. The varied and wide-ranging resources there can help you focus your mind on truth and Truth, and application of Truth to life. Colson’s articulate call to Christian excellence in thought and expression permeates the articles and resources. You’ll find this a stimulating and steadying way to orient your mind in order to engage with the online onslaught of ideas.