The Call to Abraham

While

Genesis 18:17-19New International Version (NIV)

Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

 

Studying: Developing Mission Strategy @Biblegateway

From Developing A Strategy For Missions by J.D. Payne: 

“First, a team must assume the Great Commission. Jesus gave his followers this great mandate. While the account in Matthew 28:18-20 is generally the most popular version, variations are given in Luke (24:45-47), John (20:21-23), Acts (1:8), and in the disputed section of Mark (16:15)…Like all commands it comes with the expectation that there will be results. As a result the general response of mission teams should be to develop strategies that seek to reach the largest number of people in the shortest possible time, while remaining absolutely faithful to the biblical principles for healthy evangelism and discipleship.” (64% – Kindle Version)

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As a church secretary for almost ten years, I often felt that evangelism or missions was results-driven. A former pastor once said that conversion was a Holy Spirit miracle. In my years online, I have learned that Jesus and his disciples taught through relationships. Social Media is about relationships.

As I dissect the above paragraph, it also says, “…the general response of mission teams should be to develop strategies that seek to reach the largest number of people in the shortest possible time…” Technology and social media have given us the gift of spreading the Gospel in the fastest possible way.

This is a screen print from a webinar I took on how to use social media for business via Hootsuite. Examine this graph from the perspective of a missionary or an evangelist. What do you see?

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This graph doesn’t go into country or culture or people groups. But this might help you.

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What is Diaspora?

“The world has increasingly become ‘borderless’ due to globalization, technological communication, and accelerated migration or diaspora (ie scattering or dispersion of people from their homeland), towards the end of the second millennium. These diasporas have created tremendous opportunities and challenges to evangelize and disciple millions of people who, just a century ago, were living in isolated countries and regions of the world described by missiologists as ‘closed’ and ‘restricted’ to Christian missions. Thus, the 21st century reality of mass movements of people requires the global church, here after referred to as the ‘whole church’, to respond.”

– Lausanne Movement 

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Diaspora is an integral part of my ministry as a missionary. It is a field that I am learning about so I can do online missionary work better as I understand how to build bridges to other cultures. As I learn about it, I will post about it here, too. It is my hope to help you understand how our world is growing smaller and the unreached is quickly becoming more accessible thanks to technology. 

Articles to Read: 

  • Around the globe, 232 million people live as immigrants. The United States alone hosts the largest amount of immigrants compared to other countries, with 45.8 million migrants living here.VIEW FROM THE TOP: REFLECTIONS FROM MISSIO NEXUS
  • The United States has an estimated 360 unreached people groups, making it the country with the third largest number of unreached peoples. Canada has an estimated 180 unreached people groups, making it the country with the fifth largest number of unreached peoples. Given these present realities–in light of Acts 17:26-27–how should we now live? In this episode, I discuss the movement of the peoples and how reaching them in North America can also open doors to reach them in other countries. READ MORE
  • Saudi Arabia women had their first video gaming convention. This is a great opportunity to teach our youth and those who love video games to interact with these women through sharing the Gospel via avatars and chat rooms. READ MORE.
  • Mobile Ministry Forum reported how a private website is offering discipleship materials in Arabic to arabic countries via SD cards or mobile phones. READ MORE.

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First Church Project Update

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The Cozy Corner: Encouraging Others Through Good Literature and Movies was a church blog project started in collaboration with Christian Academy of Prescott and Solid Rock Christian Fellowship in Prescott, Arizona.

It began publishing December 1, 2015 and has been slowly gathering volunteers. We’ve been getting a lot of volunteers over the age of 50. Reminds me of the Copyblogger article from here where they said:

“According to Socialnomics the fastest growing population on Facebook is 45-55 year olds with almost 55% of this population now active users on Facebook. That’s elder Generation X, younger Baby Boomers. They shouldn’t be on Facebook? They should be reading the newspaper, listening the radio and waiting for the postman to drop off the day’s mail. Isn’t that the characterization we lay upon this population?”

It is so important for Senior Adults to get involved in projects like this. Their voices hold years of wisdom our generation could benefit from. It is not enough for them to leave the responsibility of missions online to the next generation coming up. In fact, it’s irresponsible.

The next generation needs to have that guidance from the Senior Adults. They don’t know they need that guidance yet. Words and story have always held a certain power over the world. That’s why movies and books have a higher influence on people than anything else. The Bible is a great example of the power of words. If you hate what is happening in the world, it is up to you to change it through prayer and your words through mentoring face-to-face or online.

The next generation won’t come to you. You have to come to them. That means you need to adapt to how they communicate or the generation gap that Barna reported some time ago will continue to widen. We’ll lose that precious connection between older and younger, and the enemy of this world loves that.

Wake Up from Your Sleep
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.Ephesians 5. 

Would you like to commit to the vision God has given me as a missionary? 

Quarterly, Monthly, or Yearly Commitments

One Time Gift

FREE CHURCH BULLETIN COVER: Christmas and New Years

So I created this for Sunday, December 27 bulletin cover at the church I work at, and I liked it so much that I want to share it with you. I have created two graphics–one with words and one without.

Because December 27 is between Christmas and New Year’s, the photo shows remnants of Christmas–Christmas cards that people sent, a wayward ornament that fell off the tree, and a bow left over from Christmas morning.

So enjoy! This is copyright free.

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Sedona Air Tours #Christmas

I am working on using video as a way of telling God’s story. So, sometimes, on my Youtube, you may find fun videos like this one. We were looking at a skimpy, if non-existent Christmas, but thanks to the generosity of Tony’s job and Solid Rock Christian Fellowship (Christmas Offering), we were able to have a generous Christmas to celebrate an incredible year. Thank you.

Should You Send Them a Holiday Card?

Holiday Card Flow Chart Infographic1

Holiday Card Facts (Graphic and Info Courtesy of Grammarly)

  • Americans send 1.6 billion holiday cards annually [source]
  • Women purchase an estimated 80% of all greeting cards [source]
  • E-cards have become an environmentally friendly alternative to paper cards [source]
  • Christmas cards originated in London, where Sir Henry Cole commissioned the first in 1843. [Source]
    • Two batches totaling 2,050 cards were printed and sold that year for a shilling each. [Source]
  • Despite the separation of church and state, it’s customary for the President and First Lady to send White House Christmas cards each holiday season. [source]
    • Calvin Coolidge issued the first official Christmas message to the American people in 1927. [source]

About Grammarly

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As a company, Grammarly’s mission is to improve communication among the world’s more than 2 billion native and non-native English writers. Millions of registered users worldwide trust Grammarly’s products, which are also licensed by more than 600 leading universities and corporations. Grammarly is an Inc. 500 company with offices in San Francisco and Kyiv.

When linking to Grammarly, please use: https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check

One Way to Support Missions

Kroger Stores Helping
WorldVenture Missionaries
(That includes me, too!)

I have over a hundred Kroger gift cards with a $2-2.50 credit on them. When running ministries, you always have expenses that come up, and this card will help me cover those expenses.

Here is how they work:

  1. Ask me for a gift card (as many as you wish).
  2. It works at any Kroger store including Frys and Food 4 Less (listing is on back of card).
  3. Go to customer service or the cashier and load cash from a debit, check, or cash (not sure about credit card) onto the card.
  4. Buy stuff.
  5. At the cash register, if it is Fry’s food store, use your phone number to get your discounts.
  6. Use your preloaded gift card to pay for your groceries or purchases instead of your card, check, or cash.
  7. 5% of Kroger’s profits from that sale, not your cash, goes to WorldVenture and helps to benefit me in ministry.
What Can You Do?
  • Help a person in need by pre-loading a card with cash and give them one. Just tell me how many cards you wish to have. Let them know it is reloadable. For a homeless person, this might be safer than carrying cash.
  • Give one to someone who is learning how to budget. From a Dave Ramsey perspective, I have found it helps to stay on budget.
  • You can use this card at the Starbuck’s in Frys.
  • If you run a ministry at your church and you shop at Fry’s or Food4Less (or any of the other stores listed) where you buy ministry supplies, consider using this card every time. You will help me lead and train people to serve others online and spread the Gospel.
  • Tell people about these cards and have them contact me to get them.
  • If you are going to propose to someone, buy the ring at Fred Meyer’s and use this card to pay for it. You’d be helping spread the Gospel and making your bride very happy.
  • Teach a young adult how to budget by giving them this card so they start life out on the right foot by not getting into credit card debt or overdraft fees.

Request one from nikolehahn@thehahnhuntinglodge.com. Please include a mailing address where one can be sent. Thanks for you help.