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Here are some featured resources from OC mission workers, associates, and partners. Enjoy!

Aligned: Flourishing in a World of Choice – OC’s Annette Gulick helps you answer this question, What can I do to fulfill my purpose and become the fullness of what I am designed to be? The Activities for Alignment let you discover and try out what it looks like for you to live a more fruitful life: Generating, Cultivating, Celebrating.

Mobilizing Movements – OC’s Murray Moerman provides realistic expectations of what it takes to facilitate a movement and how to gain the support of various partners needed for long-term success, resulting in whole-nation church planting saturation.

Prepare for Impact: Cross-Cultural Readiness – Following the story of a young mission worker in each chapter, Jeff relates his own experience and then discusses possible areas of preparation for the reader to consider. This book is a launching pad for your own research and discovery to prepare to engage your world in an effective way.

Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Friendships – Everyone wants to do something to improve race relations, but many of us don’t know where to start. Lifelong friends Gary Chapman and Clarence Shuler will show you how. You will learn how to begin and grow authentic friendships across racial and ethnic barriers.

31 Days for the Kingdom: A Devotional for Global Impact – 1 Days for the Kingdom (A Devotional with Global Impact) is a devotional focused on preparing you for impact in your community, your nation and your world. The book covers a range of topics over the thirty one days, asking questions to allow the reader to go deeper and guiding the worshiper in prayer for some part of the world each day.

The Colors of Culture: The Beauty of Diverse Friendships – In The Colors of Culture, MelindaJoy Mingo models reaching across cultures. Through vivid stories spanning several countries, Mingo shows the beauty of diverse friendships in her life. She takes risks and learns from her mistakes, recognizing that relationships are worth the cost.

Church Interrupted? Or Church Reset?: What Will the Post-Covid Church Look Like? – In this book, OC’s Paul Siaki seeks to ask two life-changing questions: Has Church simply been Interrupted as we wait to return to life as usual? Or can this pandemic be an opportunity for the Church to Reset?

Persecution in Revelation: The Privilege of Martyrdom – This book develops the theme of persecution in the Book of Revelation. It has, in addition, some historical fiction that describes the feelings of the people in the church in Smyrna when they first heard the Book of Revelation.

Pinnacle Truths for Pandemic Woes: 28 Heavenly Realities Which Covid-19 Cannot Change –  In this book, Robert Rasmussen takes us into the letter written by a prisoner (the apostle Paul) to one of his beloved churches (Ephesus). As we unroll his parchment, we discover a high range of peaks — spiritual possessions reserved in the heavenly places for every believer.

Obedient Nations: What’s So Great about the Great Commission? – In this book, OC’s Stephen Spaulding sees a clear line of thinking and action running from the Bible’s patriarchs and prophets through the life and teachings of the Anointed One, Christ. He continues to trace this line through the apostle Paul’s calling and career.

What We Can Learn From Tree Stumps, A Devotional Guide – This is written by Ralph Anderson, One Challenge Mission Pastor (1995-2020). Ralph says, The following is a message I shared at a One Challenge Day of Prayer. God used it to bless the group that day. Afterwards, I was encouraged to write down my thoughts.

Course of a Mentor: Empowering Protégés to Fulfill Their God-given Potential – Bill and Laurie Keyes (long-time OC mission workers) unpack how God taught them the value of mentoring as a way of investing in the lives of others. Their story and learnings will inspire and encourage you to invest in mentoring relationships for the rest of your life.

Across the Street and Around the World – Jeannie Marie shows us we can change the world right where we already live, work, play, and study—by learning to grow genuine, spiritually deep friendships with people from other countries, cultures, and faiths. In a refreshing “you-can-do-this-too” style, Marie leads us by the hand with clear steps, try-it sections, and beautifully crafted prayers.

Karis – All I See Is Grace – You may not face the extremities of loss and suffering—or of adventures and delight—that Karis did. You may not have been born with a rare disability, or have grown up in a different country, or be one of the first in the world to undergo two intestinal transplants. But you can let Karis create a pathway for you to God’s throne of abundant grace. He’s waiting for you there.

Becoming Church Unusual -Because church as usual won’t cut it anymore, this book relates the story of one of the early “fresh expressions of church” in South Africa and the many growing pains that a new church faces. The Church Unusual model that Paul talks about addresses the changing times and the need to “go to them” rather than expecting them to “come to us.”

99 Powerful Questions for Christian Leaders – Having coached and trained thousands of Christian leaders, Steve Ogne and Dave DeVries have learned firsthand that asking powerful questions often accelerates personal insight and forward progress. Yet, what makes a question powerful? The most powerful questions cause self-reflection and discovery.

Five Fishermen – Bob has served with OC in the former Soviet Union and Asia doing sports and camp ministry, leadership training, and marriage and family seminars. Bob, who is an avid fisherman says, “Fishermen, hear this! You’ll never catch a fish unless you throw your line out. Fishers of MEN … you’ll never catch a “fish” unless you’re willing to drop your nets and follow Jesus. To receive a copy of this book (only shipping fees), contact bobhilts@oci.org.

Wilderness Wanderings: Learning to Live the Zigzag Life – The Much popular thinking sees the wilderness as bad, something to be avoided at all costs, but, when we understand the true meaning of the wilderness, we see it as hard but good. Just as Israel pursued a zigzag line across the wilderness to the Promised Land, so we must pursue a zigzag life toward God’s fruitfulness for us.

Healthy, Resilient, & Effective in Cross-Cultural Ministry – This book has been designed to help leaders of sending agencies and churches in creating a comprehensive care plan for their members in mission. This includes the why and how-to of setting up a member care plan for cross-cultural workers. It also covers the challenges cross-cultural workers are dealing with and what member carers (church, friends, agency) can do.

A Cry for Intimacy with God – This book is by OC Africa’s Willie, David, and Karl. What are the training needs of South Africa’s Christian leadership? In what areas do the nation’s church leaders want to grow and develop? The answers to these, and many related questions, are now known after an extensive research project conducted by TOPIC (Trainers of Pastors International Coalition) Southern Africa. A Cry for Intimacy documents the responses from 800 pastoral leaders. Read more about this book on their website at: OC Africa.

The Calling of the Knowledge Steward – This book is by Jon Hirst (OC Board). Christians are called to be good stewards of time, talents, and treasures. Jon Hirst also urges believers to steward knowledge, an abundant resource few of us handle well. “There have been plenty of books and sermons telling Christians what to think,” says Hirst. “We need to explore how to think, and how to steward the knowledge we have to reach more people for Christ.”

40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life – This e-book is by Brian Kluth. Brian’s life was transformed by Jesus Christ as he learned to live and give generously based on the truth of God’s Word. This ebook includes: Giving Ideas, Bible Readings, Inspiring Articles, Weekly Worksheets, Discussion Questions… Today, his generosity materials have been distributed in over 150 countries among pastors, leaders, and people in thousands of churches. Brian is a pastor, speaker, and he is frequently interviewed by national media. He lives with his family in Denver, Colorado.

Serving God in a Migrant Crisis – This featured resource is this book by Patrick Johnstone. Some people are angry about today’s global refugee crisis. Other people are scared. Pioneering mission researcher Patrick Johnstone sees the blessings hidden away inside the largest human migration patterns in the history of our planet. It’s an opportunity for Christians in the more developed world to change the world by practicing the virtue of hospitality.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Seven Churches and to us – This book is written by OC’s Dave Hagelberg. The Lord Jesus, ascended and glorious, appeared to the Apostle John, and John wrote down that vision for us. But what are we to do about it? We must respond, but how are we to respond? In the seven messages of chapters two and three the Lord Himself answers that question for seven very different congregations. Read more from Dave at www.hagb.org.

Ready Set Go Sports ministry handbook Download – This publication (not for resale) contains training sessions, leader’s information and a menu of sports movement resources. This ReadySetGO Multiplication Kit is given to you freely to help you make disciples for Christ in all nations in the world of sport and play. These materials have been written by hundreds of people from every continent. For more info, please visit their website: www.ReadySetGO.ec

Safe in His Sanctuary – This book is by OC’s Bob Rasmussen, Field Director of Near Frontiers, formerly called One Challenge USA. See www.nearfrontiers.org. This book takes doctrine from the top shelf and blows the dust off to reveal practical and exciting truths about the identity and privilege of every believer. It opens up the volume of truth on our position “in Christ”, and helps us discover that we have been given every spiritual blessing possible, and that the only appropriate response is a life of obedience and praise.

Missiographics 1.0 – This book is by GMI, now hosted by Missio Nexus. Based on GMI’s popular Missiographics series, this book presents the best available data on the spread of the gospel through compelling visuals that help Christian servants, mission leaders, mobilizers, teachers, and students see the world through new eyes. In an age of data and information overload, images are a great way to tell the story of global missions. The topics range from literacy, poverty, women’s issues, Christianity in the Middle East, global Scripture usage, the country of Indonesia and online trends in recruiting mission workers.

Seeing Your World – This book is by GMI, now hosted by WorldChristian.com. Here is a tool to help you be a more effective Kingdom partner. The earth’s people are experiencing unprecedented shifts. For the first time ever, more people live in cities than rural areas. Wars, famines and natural disasters cause an unprecedented 150 million migrants. Islam continues its spread, while Christians in many areas suffer persecution. People post cell phone photos of protests, police actions and tragedies for millions to see. Serving God effectively today requires understanding how these key global shifts are rapidly remaking our world.

Dreams in the Medina – This book is by Kati Woronka, an OC partner in Europe. From the heart of Syria, this book is a coming-of-age tale which explores the aspirations, passions and tragedies of a group of young Syrian women, who on the surface seem to have nothing in common, but who are brought together in the deepest of bonds as they study and live together at the University of Damascus. A podcast listener says: “”This is an amazingly accurate, insightful, and forbidden-feeling peek into the lives, thoughts and aspirations of female university students in Damascus.”

The Paradox of Happiness – This book is by René Breuel, serving with OC’s Sepal Brazil in Italy. If you’re looking for happiness, forget about it. Literally. In an engaging, paradigm-shifting book, René Breuel deconstructs our consumerist models of happiness and proposes a radical, Jesus-based alternative: we don’t find happiness when we try to fulfill our desires—we find it when we stop looking for it and start focusing on serving others. By letting go, we find; by giving, we receive.

Future of the Global Church – This book by Patrick Johnstone, author of six editions of the phenomenal prayer guide, Operation World, draws on his fifty years experience to challenge us with his bold vision of the global Christian church. Patrick also played a part in the formation of Global Mapping International (GMI) and the Joshua Project and its listing of people groups.

This book weaves together the strands of history, demographics and religion to present a breath-taking, full-color graphical and textual overview of the past, present and possible future of the Church around the world.

Declare His Glory Among the Nations – This book is by OC’s Russ Mitchell. Psalm 96 is one of the most amazing missions passages in the entire Bible. It provides us with the mandate, the motives, the message, and the model that we need to understand our part in God’s plan to be glorified among the nations. These meditations on Psalm 96 offer an eye-opening perspective about how we can “tell of his glory among the nations” in the 21st century. Russ shares, “We are living in one of the most exciting times in the history of the church and mission movement. The number of people born-again globally since 1985 exceeds that of previous centuries.”

Operation World – As we focus prayer on the world, OC’s Kathy Copley recommends using Operation World as a prayer guide. Operation World is the definitive global prayer and mission handbook that will help focus your heart and life towards God’s passion for this world. Operation World has been used by more than a million Christians to pray for the nations. Included in this updated and revised 7th edition:

• Geographic information, People groups within each country
• Economic information, Political information
• Religious make-up of each country, Daily Prayer Calendar

Touch the World through Prayer – This book is by Wesley Duewel. OC’s Russ Mitchell says: “As I have been in regular contact with Christian workers from around the world during the past few months, I have noticed how frequently the subject of prayer comes up, usually in the context that it is so essential to the work of God’s kingdom and that realizing this we need to be much more devoted to prayer. This observation reminded me of this book. When I first read the book about 20 years ago, I was struck by the boundless reach of prayer.”

The Missional Journey – Multiplying Disciples and Churches that Transform the World… This book is by Robert E. Logan and OC’s Dave DeVries. Dave says: “…discipleship, Christian living, leading groups, church planting… There are very few books that are about all of these things—and how the pieces fit together. But that’s what this book is all about. Everything is crammed into that subtitle: making disciples, starting churches, multiplying at every level, and making a difference in the world around us. Together, all of this adds up to a renewed vision for what the church could look like, from the grassroots up.”

Faith Promise and Beyond – This book is by Keith Brown (OC mission worker to Asia since 1958) with John W. Hoover. It explains “faith promise” and ways to present it to your congregation. How Does It Work? Because a Christian’s overall purpose is to glorify God, I as a Christian should want to give to advance his kingdom throughout the world. A faith promise for missions is an expression of my obedience to Christ’s command to “make disciples of all people.” Committing to a faith promise gives me a new perspective on my assets and priorities. I begin to see that everything I have belongs to God. I look for ways he provides, so I can give more for his cause. When I commit to give in faith, I do not rely on my limited resources, but on God’s UNLIMITED resources. Free brochure here.

The Amazing Potential of One Surrendered Church – This book is by Robert E. Rasmussen, Field Director of Near Frontiers, formerly called One Challenge USA. In a day when successful churches are too often defined by large attendance and excellent facilities, leaders need to regain a healthy perspective on the unique contribution of each and every church. By studying the dynamics of the church at Antioch, today’s leadership teams will be encouraged to learn that by surrendering to God-given opportunities their church can accomplish truly amazing outcomes.