2015 - Page 3 of 4 - TEAM Christian Missions Blog

Finishing the Race in Missions | A Poem

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. -Hebrews 12:1

Sep 14 2015

Today on the blog, TEAM missionary David Weaver shares a page from his poetry collection with us. David and his wife, Joy, have served with TEAM in the Philippines since 1991, where they launched the Church Planting Institute (CPI) to equip Filipino believers for church planting in Asia. David is a gifted communicator and penned his poem “The Race” to express the unique endurance needed for a lifetime of ministry. As a missionary, I must always ask myself why do I do what I am doing? I must have the right motivation if I am to run the race all the way to…

Photo Journal: Australia

A South Carolina native, Kristen Kelly spent many summers serving overseas during high school and college. Now a Clemson University graduate, Kristen has spent the last five months serving as a ministry apprentice at a church plant in Adelaide, Australia. Check out the snapshots below from Kristen as she tells us in her own words about life and ministry in Australia.

God has been gracious to combine my love for learning, travel, and culture with my desire to serve Him and spread the Gospel. I am currently five months into serving as a ministry apprentice (intern) at Trinity Bay Church, where I serve in the young adult and women’s ministries. Words cannot describe how God has provided for me, guided me, and taught me more about His love for me and His people since the day I felt led to do overseas mission work in South Australia.

God has been so good to provide me with whatever I have needed in Australia. A non-Christian Irishman who owns a bike shop down the road lent me his very own bike to ride around. Who does that? I use this to go to and from the church office and for joy rides along the coast.

I have learned that every Australian birthday has to have fairy bread. Fairy bread is literally a slice of bread cut into fourths, covered in butter, and then dipped into color-coated sprinkles. So, sugar bread.

The young adults at my church put together a concert to share the story of Jesus’ death and bodily resurrection through song. It was amazing to see God’s people using the gifts that He has given them to their full potential.

I was blessed with the opportunity to go on a road trip through the Australian outback. There was nothing for miles and miles and miles. Under cloudless nights and the Milky Way, I saw God’s grandeur, His creativity, and how awesome He is up close. I couldn’t miss it.

I have not convinced myself to eat a kangaroo burger yet, but I have had a kangaroo and emu pizza. You can pretty much convince me to eat anything that is on a pizza.

I co-lead some of these women in our women’s growth group. For Easter, we hosted an event where women could come into a welcoming environment and make chocolate eggs and grass crosses.

Paying with plastic has a whole new meaning here. Australian bills are not only plastic, but are different colors and sizes, so you know exactly what you are getting when you pull out a bill. I love it.

I wrote a report on Ayer’s Rock in 6th grade for Ms. Roberts. Who knew that I’d travel to see it eleven years later?

I threw a USA game night for the church youth complete with baseball, country music, Cracker Jacks, Hershey’s chocolate, and Moon Pies.

Want to connect with Kristen? Follow her on Instagram or check out her blog.

PRAY

Pray for Kristen to have clarity and authenticity in her discipling relationships with young women in Adelaide. Pray also that these women will be led of the Spirit to disciple others.

While Australians have access to the gospel, the prevalence of post-modern pluralism has led to the decline of the evangelical church. Less than 8% of Australians engage in weekly Christian worship. Pray for a revival of the Australian church.

Pray that God will send more workers to Australia.

GIVE

You can help TEAM send more missionaries like Kristen by supporting the Global Outreach (GO) Fund. Click here to give!

SERVE

There is a great need for workers in Australia. Missionaries are needed for teaching, discipling and church planting. Click here to learn more about TEAM’s ministries in Australia and view service opportunities in Adelaide.

Sep 11 2015

Why Local and Global Missions Need Each Other

We are desperately in need of a more nuanced conversation around the topics of local and global mission. Photo courtesy of Melissa Barber

Sep 04 2015

Mission agencies like TEAM exist because of our conviction that mission is incomplete if it ignores those beyond our immediate geographic reach. A critical aspect of the agency’s task within the church is to remind the larger community of far-flung needs that might otherwise be forgotten. We have beaten this drum loudly and persistently. In our passion to keep the global unreached in the North American church’s vision, however, we have sometimes encouraged the belief that international mission is of a higher order than domestic mission. We have inadvertently created the belief that international missionaries are the hardcore, the totally committed,…

There are beneficial things you can do to help yourself thrive after a short-term missions experience. Photo by TEAM

Aug 14 2015

All short-term trips are supposed to end. But having a return ticket in your backpack doesn’t make the journey home a breeze. Below are six simple steps you can take to weather one of the toughest parts of going overseas: coming home. 1. RESUME YOUR OLD ROUTINE Your body doesn’t know if it’s 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., your pantry is empty and your clothes are tangled at the bottom of a suitcase. After a season of adventure, it might sound like the last thing you want to do, but getting back into a normal rhythm of life is crucial. Sleep…

The Pagaragans work in Japan.

Jul 30 2015

Meet Team Kibou: Jeff, Kelly, Taylor, Bailey, Kendyl, Reagan, and Colson Pagaragan. Originally from Hawaii, they are a fun, bubbly family serving with TEAM in Japan. The Pagaragan’s vision is to “bring hope for the future to the unreached in Japan by spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ everywhere.” In Japanese, “kibou” means hope or a belief grounded on substantial evidence. The Pagaragans are a perfect example of the hope of the gospel and grounded belief that comes from trusting Christ. Jeff and Kelly are in language training and will be working with the Tokyo Metro Ministry Initiative…

There are many ways that you can care for the missionaries you are sending and impact the kingdom for good. Photo by TEAM

Jul 15 2015

As believers, we are all called to reach the nations. This might mean a personal call to go, send, welcome, train or any number of other individual tasks. In all likelihood, we will each be called to serve in different ways at different times in our lives. While each of these tasks can feel a little daunting if we’re un-experienced, it is the “sending” role that leaves many of us particularly baffled. If you are in the role of sender, you may find yourself thinking, “There has to be more to this than simply writing a check.” You are so…

Photo by Giorgio Raffaelli, Copyright Creative Commons License 2.0.

Jun 23 2015

Prospective missionaries often get the impression that mission agencies are looking for perfect people. They can certainly be forgiven for this feeling. After all, we require forms to be completed, essays to be written, references to vouch for you and tests to be passed — all before we even let new members into the organization. There are good reasons for all of these steps in the assessment process, and they ultimately lead to healthier mission agencies, healthier individuals serving overseas and healthier ministry itself. Even so, I am yet to find a mission agency that isn’t deeply aware of the…

Glenn Skala works in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Jun 02 2015

Each month, we will feature a TEAM missionary in our new Photo Journal series. See what it’s like to live and work overseas through the eyes of the missionaries themselves. Don’t forget to check back each month for a new missionary and ministry area! Meet Glenn, a TEAM missionary in Guadalajara, Mexico. Glenn grew up in Illinois, and his missions experience began during high school, when he went on four short-term mission trips with his youth group. During college at Taylor University, Glenn continued going on mission trips, organizing and advocating for missions at his school. “It was through these experiences…

Retirees, former missionaries, supporting church members, appointees and staff gathered in Dallas for the first of eight Anniversary Events celebrating TEAM’s 125 years of history. Photo by Joel Hager/TEAM

Apr 08 2015

This year, TEAM is turning 125, and as we celebrate around the world, it’s got us asking some questions: “How are we holding up?” “Where are we going?” “What are these stones?” That last question may seem a little odd, but it’s one God expects his people to ask, and its answer has great power. In Joshua 4, God told the Israelites to make a memorial: one stone for every tribe that crossed the Jordon River on dry land. When their children asked, “What are these stones?” Joshua explained, they should share what God did for them, “that all the…

Church must be defined by the way believers function when they gather together and not by the organizational structures that facilitate the gathering. Photo by Robert Johnson/TEAM

Mar 31 2015

We asked Charles Davis, a retired TEAM missionary and author of Making Disciples Across Cultures (IVPress), to share about the modern understanding of church. This opinion column also appears in the spring 2015 issue of Horizons magazine. How can we go to church if we are the church? When we do go to church, how do we know a church is actually there? How can there be many churches when there is only “one body?” The modern understanding of the word “church” is flawed. For starters, it rarely appears without another adjective, such as mega, multi-site, small, universal, invisible, cell, emergent,…

Archive - 2015

Finishing the Race in Missions | A Poem

Photo Journal: Australia

Why Local and Global Missions Need Each Other

Six Steps for Thriving After Your Short Term Mission Trip

Photo Journal: Japan

7 Critical Points When You Can Serve Your Missionary

How Broken is Too Broken?

Photo Journal: Guadalajara

125 Years of TEAM: Celebrating Stones of Remembrance

Just Church