August 2010

Reader Story: Patience and Persistence Pay Off is the very practical story of one person’s journey out of debt. Leftover college debt has been remarked on as a major barrier to missionary service. This article has some excellent tools well worth sharing.

The article As the reborn Kindle proves, looks dont count for everything in the Observer examines the role of an integrated strategy in Amazon’s continued dominance of the ebook market, despite Apple’s splashy iPad. Some estimates suggest Amazon ebooks on the Kindle are  outselling iBooks by 60-to-1. You don’t have to have the best looking or most popular micro-mission or mission agency. But here’s the question: do you have an integrated strategy to accomplish your vision? And here are some questions to ask: what does God want? what do the missionaries you are recruiting want? and what does the customer/consumer who [...]

“The killing of 10 aid workers with the International Assistance Mission in Afghanistan underscores the suspicion Christian-affiliated groups can face from some Afghans and government opponents. Such groups point to codes of conduct they follow in the country.” via Afghanistan aid workers’ deaths highlights delicate position of Christian-affiliated groups – CSMonitor.com.

Translated from the Caritas Sweden website, here is an interesting description of a (potential) international swarm most of my readers probably haven’t heard about – the Roman Catholic aid agency Caritas International: “Caritas Internationalized with headquarters in Rome unites Caritas organizations in 201 countries. It is an international network with unique opportunities for rapid information exchange and cooperation across borders. Virtually every Catholic diocese – there are currently more than 2500 worldwide – has its own organization within the Caritas network. All Caritas Swedens development and disaster relief efforts are in partnership with cooperating organizations in place that has knowledge [...]

David Peach interviewed me for his excellent Missionary Talks. You can listen to the 20 minute chat, and also check out the other talks and chats he’s had.

BBC News look at people who have literally gotten rid of everything – except their digital equipment. This trend has ongoing implications for missions. (H/T Michael Jaffarian).

(This deserved additional comment:) “THE American clergy is suffering from burnout, several new studies show. And part of the problem, as researchers have observed, is that pastors work too much. Many of them need vacations, it’s true. But there’s a more fundamental problem that no amount of rest and relaxation can help solve: congregational pressure to forsake one’s highest calling. The pastoral vocation is to help people grow spiritually, resist their lowest impulses and adopt higher, more compassionate ways. But churchgoers increasingly want pastors to soothe and entertain them. It’s apparent in the theater-style seating and giant projection screens in churches [...]

via Fear and Loathing in Nairobi | Foreign Affairs. “Kenya was once Africa’s poster child for stability and growth. Then, in late 2007, it descended into ethnic violence. The current coalition government has not solved the underlying problems of corruption and inequality, and ethnic resentments are likely to remain until Kenyans elect a clean and inclusive government.” The church should be playing a role in reconciliation. There are well over 100 mission agencies that I know of active in Kenya (175 listed in Operation World), and that doesn’t count Roman Catholics or Orthodox.

via Wave cancellation: Google gives up on next-gen messaging platform. Google has decided that there hasn’t been enough adoption of Wave, so it’s suspending all further work on it. It will be kept open through the end of the year but then may be shuttered. This is an excellent case study in when to give up. For related reading, Seth Godin wrote an interesting little book along this topic, called The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick). Note that Google is not giving up on its core mission and vision! Rather, it’s giving up [...]