Links
Here are links to various resources, including our church, organization and ministry, as well as some thought-provoking articles about development work and missions and evangelism, maybe even a few links to our friends as well.
Sending/Working:
Sanctuary – A Life Connection Community - our home church in Jenks, OK
Emmaus Road Church - previously our home church in Tulsa, OK (also the “daughter church” of Sanctuary), through whom we’re also ordained
Youth With A Mission (YWAM) International – the umbrella organization for our group in Madagascar. They do a huge variety of missions and other Christian work, all over the world.
YWAM Madagascar – the specific group we’re working with, mostly led and managed by Malagasy people themselves.
Africa Inland Mission (AIM) International – the missions organization we’re partnering with to start a new work among the Antakarana people on the remote island of Nosy Mitsio.
Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) – a ministry / sub-group of AIM, through which new long-term missionaries receive a solid foundation for missions principles and skills while reaching out to an unreached people group. We’ll be leading a TIMO team in the new work among the Antakarana on Nosy Mitsio.
Good Articles on Missions / Development / Evangelism:
The Church on Mission: A Subversive Kingdom excerpt - Excellent article! This is a great short article detailing the exact same kind of stuff Lora and I love to teach/preach about, the church’s role and individual Christians’ roles as citizens in the Kingdom of God. In God’s Kingdom, we’re ALL sent!
How Much is Left to Do in the Great Commission – An excellent short article. It’s doable, even now. But people have to do their part.
Indian Church Planter Once Thought Ministry Was a Failure – An excellent article by the IMB (International Missions Board). This is the exact sort of thing that Lora and I have as the goal of our work! Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, but the message of Jesus (and discipleship) spreading rapidly by the locals. We’ve been using very similar techniques ourselves (with YWAM Tamatave) and we’ve seen it happen! So now we want to bring it to Nosy Mitsio and the Antakarana people there. And timelines in Africa are often different than Asia, because the population density is much lower and obviously there are significant cultural differences. But with this sort of thing, it just needs to get to a point of momentum and then it keeps growing! Just like the early church!
From a Missionary to the Local Church – A great simple article about “5 Ways the Local Church Can Serve a Missionary”. Oftentimes, home churches just don’t realize some of the realities of missions life and the unique needs missionaries have. This article offers simple ways that local churches can do their part.
Throwing Our Hats Over the Wall – An excellent article about the sort of effort and determination it takes, as well as the need to reject our typical ambitions, to reach out in the last reached places of the earth. The most poignant part to me is near the end of the article, where they describe how commercial enterprises (like Coca-Cola) have been much more successful and determined at these efforts than Christians have.
Why You Should Consider Cancelling Your Short-Term Mission Trips – A great article detailing many of the problems with popular short-term overseas ministry today, including how many of them do far more harm than they do good. But rather than just the negative, be sure to read the same author’s follow-up article called: Toward Better Short-Term Missions
How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire – about changing philosophies and style of work in missions over the last century, including its current state today.
As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God – The author of this article makes a case for Christianity’s ability to achieve in Africa what non-Christians have not.
Links about Madagascar:
Madagascar Facts – our own website’s page with more detailed info about Madagascar, and further links
Madagascar News – an aggregate of news related to the country of Madagascar, powered by Google News search
Malagasy Language – Wikipedia’s interesting article about the Malagasy language, including quite a few short phrases that can be learned
Malagasy Water Supply – Only 44% have access to drinking water, and only 7% have access to water at international standards
Madagascar: A Poor Country Gets Poorer – An interesting article on the current state of Madagascar’s economy
Madagascar: Sentenced to Malnutrition – About the lack of fair trials and frequent starvation in Madagascar’s prison system
The Willards are missionaries to Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island, located off the southeast coast of Africa. They strive to work for the Kingdom of God where it's not yet known, spreading the abundant life of Jesus through church planting and sustainable community development.
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See if a church in your coummnity is going on a more local mission trip. A group from our church is going to Missouri to work with inner city children (have “sports camp, feed meals etc) It would be a good experience to go more local before going overseas.References :
You can’t plan which trip you will go on or who you will go with, but you CAN start preparing fialcnianly, physically and mentally. I rejoice with you over your desire to go on a mission trip like this. You will learn alot, and grow in Christ.References :