Mission Hits #69 (January 2026)
- From Every Nation (Chris Howles)
- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Welcome to Mission Hits, a monthly blog highlighting stimulating and significant recent resources related to world mission and world Christianity.
Welcome to Mission Hits # 69 (January 2026)
It's great to be back with you for a new year and a new edition of Mission Hits. My apologies for the lack of a 2025 Christmas edition!
How much missions literacy should we expect from the average Christian?
Why does sending often cost more than going, and how can churches honour that?
When do compelling mission stories distort the work of God they claim to celebrate?
How should churches learn to receive, not just export, global worship and theology?
You’ll find resources in this edition that engage each of these questions with care, insight, and theological depth.
If Mission Hits helps and blesses you, would you do me a favour and share it with some others who it might also serve?
Have a mission-minded month ahead, and I'll see you again soon for the next edition,
Chris (Howles)
Director of Cross-Cultural Training, Oak Hill College (UK)
Doctorate in Intercultural Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary (US)
ESSENTIALS (if you only have time for one...)
Essential for Missionaries
Brad Bell told me this story of his time in Cameroon when we were together in London recently. It deeply moved me when I heard it, and I’m pleased he’s now shared it in writing: "The eldest of the room delivered the final indictment in a devastating rhetorical question: “Why should we trust you?”.....Ephesians 2 gospel ministry calls us to offer unhurried presence, to listen without defensiveness, to validate wounds, and to stay in the room when everything inside us wants to move on."
Essential for Church Leaders
Ted Esler (MissioNexus) brilliantly outlines four easy-to-understand concepts that could (should?) compose a basic literacy rubric for an average Christian: "Imagine if, in thousands of churches, average Christians understood these four basic ideas. What if preachers emphasized these four basic ideas from the pulpit, using their authority to instill a missions literacy into each Christian?" Church leaders, what do you think?
Essential for Christians Partnering as Senders
Nik Ripken, author of the best-selling 'The Insanity of God' acknowledges the costly obedience of those who send their family members and friends: "If you’ve ever put your child or grandchild on a plane for Jesus. If you’ve ever watched a friend or a sibling say goodbye to comfort and safety. If your heart has ever broken while your hands blessed…Thank you. You’ve done the hardest task in missions."
GENERAL (well worth your time)
"The best way to display the church’s global nature isn’t by flattening differences into one Western soundtrack but by highlighting the distinct gifts of each culture. We need each other…We need believers around the world to compose songs out of their histories and experiences walking with Jesus, and we need churches in the West to receive those songs, translate them, and sing them"
This is a lengthy but hugely insightful blog post from Jonny Pollock, arguing that any fascination for dramatic conversion stories risks sidelining the quiet, ordinary work of God over a lifetime. Missionaries and mission leaders will find this especially relevant as it explores the pressures of reporting fruit, telling compelling stories, and sustaining funding through amazing stories: "When stories become sales tools, the pressure to keep them exciting is enormous."
Ryan Shaw (Global Mission Mobilization Initiative) urges the global Church to rethink how cross-cultural mission is understood and practiced in the global south: "Let’s work to overcome the misunderstandings and false outlooks about cross-cultural mission by mobilizing the global south Church to lay down traditional, western models and instead take up and integrate Biblical, Spirit-led models of cross-cultural mission." An important read for anyone interested in mission mobilisation and contextual theology.
AUDIO/VISUAL (podcasts & videos)
Author's privilege! (and with my apologies for such a horribly croaky voice in this!!) "What does it mean for the local church to truly “send well”? In this episode of Oak Hill College’s Deep Roots podcast, host Chris Howles sits down with Bradley Bell and Larry McCrary from The Upstream Collective (USA) to explore what it looks like for churches to reclaim their biblical role in global mission. Together, they unpack the vision behind the Upstream Collective’s motto — 'The church sends, we help' — and discuss their “Periodic Table of Sending.”
A pastorally wise and practically-grounded seminar given at the recent FIEC Leaders' Conference in Blackpool, England. Michael Prest (UFM) and Anthony Adams (Radstock Ministries) encourage church leaders to 'Keep it Simple' and 'Make it Normal' when it comes to mission sending through local churches. Clear, generous, practical.
Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford reflect on Apple’s new AirPods Pro with live translation, explaining in this 30-min episode of The Missions Podcast why technology cannot replace the slow, intentional work of language learning.
DIGGING DEEPER (challenging but rewarding)
Author's privilege! I was pleased to get the chance to write this for Christianity Today magazine, looking at how modern trends such as migration, urbanisation, digital connectivity and globalisation are reshaping our understanding of unreached people groups.
Ted Esler (President, Missio Nexus) sets out the pros and cons of denominational mission agencies compared with non-denominational models. Particularly helpful for those involved in agency leadership, governance, or church–agency partnerships.
Tim Brookings examines how Chinese house-church missionaries, especially university graduates, are influencing global mission practice. He highlights their commitment to evangelism alongside growing attentiveness to culture, profession, and long-term presence. Particularly important reading for mission leaders seeking to understand non-Western sending movements and what they may teach the wider church.
BOOKS (recent releases)
Links are to Amazon for best info/reviews. Other outlets are available...
You may be interested to see this: Best Missions Books of 2025 by Catalyst Services. Lots of wonderful books here to get your 2026 going!
Abeneazer G Urga, Edward L Smither, and Michael P Naylor (Editors)
"Few works on Revelation emphasize its missional element. Reading Revelation Missiologically aims to fill that gap, showing that this final book of the Bible is deeply missional - calling God's people to witness, worship, and endure in the face of suffering...Revelation is replete with the theme of God's love for the nations, and it calls God's people to live as a foretaste of the coming new creation. Global voices offer fresh insights for Revelation as a powerful missionary declaration."
Shonna Ingram
"A compassionate and practical guide for global workers and those who care for them. Through a trauma-informed approach, Shonna Ingram outlines four key phases of re-entry and the emotional landscape of each. She then offers tools for churches, organizations, and friends to provide meaningful support. Whether you're stepping off the field or walking alongside someone who is, you'll find insight, hope, and resilience for the road ahead."
Denny Spitters & Matthew Ellison
"With approximately 550 churches for every single unreached people group, a critical question arises: What's truly hindering us from sharing God's love with those who desperately need it? Discover what happens when churches move missions from being a part of what they do to being the heart of who they are—a congregation ignited with purpose while actively participating in God’s global plan."
MISCELLANEOUS (varied but valuable)
Ted Esler (President, MissioNexus) with the five stories he feels got the most attention in the missions community in 2025, including AI, revival, and Christian persecution. I wonder what the list will be this time next year?
These look great. Playing cards with lovely illustrations and basic facts about some of the world's largest unreached people groups worldwide. No end to the creative ways that these could be used to catalyse learning and prayer!
The new year provides opportunities for new habits, learning etc. This is a neat: a 30-day journey through the hugely significant 1974 Lausanne Covenant, reading a section each day, followed by a brief reflection, question, and prayer, with Bible verses.
QUOTES (wise one-liners)
(1) "The church does not merely send missionaries (as important as that is), but the church itself is God's missionary, sent into the world as Jesus was sent into the world."
Craig Ott
(2) "God is calling us to place less priority on our beloved home country—a country that will one day fall—and more priority on a global kingdom that will last forever."
David Platt
(3) "The only place on the globe people aren't coming to Christ are the places we refuse to go."
Nik Ripken
GLOBAL INSIGHT (critical news & trends)
"The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) is preparing to launch a major new global missionary initiative, signaling a renewed commitment to the international mission of the Church and the sustainable deployment of Thai missionaries beyond national borders."
The 100 countries in the world with the most 2025 new babies. India is so far out ahead it's extraordinary. Only one Western country in the top 30, vast majority are in Africa and Asia.
Gospel Coalition article: "Chinese Christians don’t have money, power, or freedom. But they have Christ. Their gospel-based mercy is motivated by gratitude. Thus, Huang says, mercy ministry brings joy and peace—not burdens—to those who practice it. That’s freeing for Chinese believers, who can’t build large-scale ministries. Instead, they walk, one by one, with the hurting."
TWEETS (short but significant)
STATS (noteworthy numbers)
(1) Over half the Christians who have ever lived have been born since 1900. SOURCE
(2) Of the top 30 countries with the most babies in 2025, 26 are in Africa or Asia, and there's only one country from the West. Nigeria alone had more babies than the whole of Europe combined! SOURCE
(3) Approximately one-third (208 out of 650) of players involved in this year's African Cup of Nations tournament were born outside of Africa - more were born in Paris than any one African country. SOURCE
ONLINE EVENTS (Zoom webinars)
"Our theme, Imago Dei, invites us to rediscover what it means to see every person as made in the image and likeness of God. This truth reminds us that every culture, story, and face reflects something of God’s beauty. In a world often divided by difference, Imago Dei calls us to build bridges of understanding and embody the love that unites us all." 13th January, 2-3.30pm GMT.
"Missions didn’t start at the end of Matthew and it's not just for a select few - it is for the entire body of Christ. In this webinar, you'll learn that missions was God’s purpose from the beginning! Join author Nicole Parks (Cafe 1040) and Dave Jacob (Gospel Mobilization) as they unpack the missions story in Genesis." 1pm EST, free.
"Online Training for Cross-Cultural Ministry to the Least Reached. Providing a complete road map to the first 90 days so you can confidently lay a firm foundation for a lifetime as a faithful, fruitful world changer. 7 module digital course spread over 10 weeks of self-paced learning with videos, peer accountability groups, helpful handouts and coaching from course leader." £300 ($365) from Equipandinspire2go
HIGHLIGHTS (Most popular from last month's Mission Hits…)
JUST FOR FUN (unrelated but interesting!)
Choose from one of almost 2,000 live webcams all over the world, and see what's going down! From a robotic warehouse in China to a national park in Kenya, from a busy street crossing in Bangkok to a Laundrette in Russia. The ordinary has never been so extraordinary!
Mercator projection feels too charged? Peters just too wacky? This might be for you: The equal-earth projection.
Up until about 2 months ago, I could pretty easily call out AI when I saw it. These past few weeks, there's been several occasions where I've got it very wrong. This is clearly only going in one direction. But let's have a little fun as we ponder the very frightening implications of all this: can you detect what's real from what's AI? Try here with videos, images, and music...
Full searchable archives of all Mission Hits resources from edition #1
Questions, comments, or suggestions for the next edition?
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