Heraclitus, the ancient Greek philosopher from the city of Ephesus was famous for saying “The Only Constant in Life Is Change.”

There is no doubt that we have all been through change over the last 3 years, so I was recently very encouraged reviewing some data on the state of the church since significant change took place.

A church leader in the African American community was invited to a MissionConnexion event with other mission leaders for the first time. She was not sure what to expect and knew very little about MissionConnexion.

At the close of this luncheon, while everyone’s heads were bowed for the closing prayer, another leader representing a mission organization that places workers into Central Asia felt the Holy Spirit saying quite clearly that they should approach and ask for help in mobilizing African Americans into Central Asia. Neither one knew the other, though they had shaken hands just before the lunch.

Recently I was asked if I thought MissionConnexion operated “with excellence”, i.e… “The fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence. An excellent quality or feature”. My first thought was to make a list of what things I thought we were striving to do with excellence. The kinds of things I listed included:
• being above reproach
• making Christ the lens through which we motivate our people

Have you ever thought about the spiritual heritage of the area where you currently live? For example, who was the first person to come to your city (or state) and share the Gospel? Or which church was the first one to get started?
While I was at church the missions pastor said something to the effect of, “we all can trace our spiritual lineage to a missionary who was willing to share the Gospel by crossing their own particular culture to a different context.”

While growing up in Ramsey, New Jersey, he attended church, but did not come to follow Christ until he attended a Billy Graham meeting in New York City on March 3, 1955.

On April 14th, George Verwer, the self-deprecating, visionary-missionary who founded Operation Mobilization (OM), launched four ships dispensing Christian literature around the world, authored 20 books of which millions of copies have been distributed worldwide, went home to be with the Lord after a two-month battle with cancer.

While growing up in Ramsey, New Jersey, he attended church, but did not come to follow Christ until he attended a Billy Graham meeting in New York City on March 3, 1955.

The Bible is full of references to feet and the role they play when it comes to the spread of the good news both in the Old Testament as well as the New. In fact, when the familiar verse Romans 10:15 talks about “beautiful feet” it is referring to Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 

But who cares for those beautiful feet?

Tory Ruark serves as the Chief Operations Officer of MissionWorks, the Director of MissionExcellence,
and leads our annual Short-Term Mission Connexion, event, which was February 24-25, 2023. For the first time ever, it was held in Seattle, Washington, and took on the theme “Journey Together.”

Tory said: “Short-term mission trips shouldn’t be one sided or one directional. Mission trips are the expression of partners journeying together for a common purpose–God’s glory! By learning to live and work together as one church, we can learn to plan mission trips that honor God, honor our hosts, and honor those we’re serving!”

Our “Here I am…What’s Next?” themed conference last month was very well received both by those looking to serve and those leading others to serve.

We had a couple of firsts in our 21 years of doing this conference. It was the first time we have ever had a plenary speaker cancel due to unexpected circumstances two weeks before the event. It was also the first time that we brought back a plenary speaker (Adrian Reeves of NAAMC) for the second year in a row.

Steve Richardson may live in the USA, but his heart and passion extends worldwide for those yet to be reached with the Good News of Jesus. He grew up in Indonesia where his parents took the gospel to a jungle people called the Sawi, a story documented in his father’s missionary classic, Peace Child.

William Franklin Graham IV (Will) is the third generation of Grahams to proclaim the Gospel under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The grandson of Billy Graham and the oldest son of Franklin Graham, Will has shared the hope of Jesus with more than one million people across six continents since beginning his evangelistic ministry in 2006.

You may remember 26-year-old missionary, John Chau who went to take the gospel to the people of North Sentinel Island but was killed by them in his effort to do so November 2018. His life epitomizes the theme for our Mission ConneXion Northwest January event: “Here I am…What’s Next?”

You may remember 26-year-old missionary, John Chau who went to take the gospel to the people of North Sentinel Island but was killed by them in his effort to do so November 2018. His life epitomizes the theme for our Mission ConneXion Northwest January event: “Here I am…What’s Next?”

In December 1952, Ted was a 21-year-old soldier on the front lines of the Korean War. Billy Graham was a 34-year-old evangelist on an eleven-day visit to Korea, and this was the only time he would be speaking to Marines on the front lines. While he had been raised in a Christian home, it was not until he faced life and death decisions that Ted gave his life to Christ at the invitation two days before Christmas there on the front lines in Korea. From that day forward everything changed.

Memorial Day exists to help us remember those who fought and died for our great country and our freedom. There was one who fought but did not die for our country, but who became a missionary to those who had made him a prisoner of war – so they might know the life and freedom Jesus Christ offers. 

When our oldest went to college in SoCal, his roommate was the son of a pastor in the area, so he began attending that church his freshman year. As our other kids began attending the same college, they joined their brother for services each Sunday. My wife and I always looked forward to connecting with this pastor and his wife when we worshipped with our kids there, and we became close friends as they looked out for our kids, and so many other college students who called this church their home away from home. Not surprisingly, they affectionately dubbed him “Papa Straws”.

Everyone loves a David and Goliath story. What has been unfolding in Ukraine since the end of February is both horrific and miraculous. Russia taking aggressive action against a sovereign, unsuspecting nation (the Number One Missionary-sending country to Europe and Central Asia by the way); includes the deliberate killing of ordinary civilians, over 4 million refugees fleeing to neighboring countries; hundreds of thousands Ukrainian citizens remaining to defend their country, all led by a President who is Jewish with a family history of resisting tyranny while he himself had previously been a career actor and comedian.

As Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border last weekend making their way toward the capital of Kyiv, the world watched in amazement at the resolve of the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and indeed the citizens themselves who took up arms to defend their country. Additionally, not only is Ukraine second in size only to Russia, but it is also the main missionary-sending country for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

With an urgency to both meet and engage with others eager to take the gospel ‘across the street and around the world’…our 2022 “it’s time.” Conference resonated in and through every aspect of this year’s 20th anniversary event! We were so very grateful for Village Church hosting us and allowing us to be “in person” for the first time in two years! 

Ten days from now Mission ConneXion Northwest (MCNW 2022) launches at Village Church Beaverton, and there could not be a more appropriate theme for January 21-22, 2022, than “It’s Time.”