Beyond the Crisis: Mission Amid Persecution 🌍
Church Resources
The Church - the body of Christ - is where the mission of God's required obedience to the Great Commission receives its support and personnel. When the body is strong, it can reach out. Below you'll find resources to help your church fulfill the Great Commission, whether it be through Prayer, studies about your part in the mission, or videos to inspire. We recommend the movie The Distant Boat for every church - it takes a hard look at uniquely African challenges in doing missions, and is entertaining to watch. Find it below, as well as our very useful resources of note.
Featured
In Nigeria, Christians suffer from a severe combination of ethno-religious hostility, Islamic oppression, dictatorial paranoia, organized corruption, and criminality. In the midst of all that persecution, the Church is still thriving! In our highlighted resource today, this paper from the Lausanne Movement explains the state of the Church in Nigeria in detail.
Resources
Short-term missions that avoid long-term harm - 1
Short-term missions that avoid long-term harm - 2
How mobilizers can duplicate themselves
Why go? The biblical basis of missions.
GEMA misions handbook
What we mean by mission mobilization
Is God serious about missions?
The Gap - the Global South must fill it
Why African Christians should engage in missions
Resources you shouldn't miss
The GO Movie from YWAM
Based on true events, the movie shows the real life or death origin story of YWAM in Nigeria. GO Africa depicts first hand accounts of faith overcoming militant violence and healing victims of persecution in Nigeria. God's triumph is sure, but the war is a reality faced by many. WARNING: this movie is graphic and should not be shown to children.
The Distant Boat
The Distant Boat tells the fictional story of Max, a young urban Kenyan who has it all: a dream job, a best friend, and a girl he hopes to marry. In the midst of a crisis, Max has a radical encounter with a poor Muslim fisherman named Yusef. Max’s whole life and perspective is challenged when he realizes that Yusef and his people have no church and no Christian witness. After taking time off work to visit his family, Max shares with a wise old uncle his heart for Yusef’s people, and in the process, Max realizes that God may be calling him to be a missionary.