Mission Hits #70 (February 2026)
- From Every Nation (Chris Howles)
- Feb 27
- 8 min read
Welcome to Mission Hits, a monthly blog highlighting stimulating and significant recent resources related to world mission and world Christianity.
Welcome to Mission Hits # 70 (February 2026)
This month's edition explores global growth, gospel gaps, generational shifts, gospel integrity, and so much more!
So whether you’re sending, supporting, mobilising, migrating, praying, pondering, giving or going, there should be something here to inform and form you.
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
The 'Entrusted to the Dirt' blog is great at raising significant but under-discussed topics in missionary life. This piece asks when is it ok, and indeed not ok, to laugh at our own and others' cultural distinctives. That's an easy one to get badly wrong.
Essential for Church Leaders
How to involve the whole congregation in thinking and sending globally. From the Global Missions Toolbox website.
Essential for Christians Partnering as Senders
"In one palm, we cradle the tender delight of our child’s mission, while in the other we grasp the knife of separation." Heartfelt comfort for anyone feeling the loss of sending. Kristin Couch writing for DesiringGod.org
GENERAL (well worth your time)
"We in the West also need to pause and consider how to have relationships which do not seek to push or pull, give what is not sought, or take that which is not ours to take." A clear and helpful call from Jill Marrs (Global Connections, UK) to lament, listen, look, and learn.
Some have considerable theological concerns when guilt/innocence, honour/shame, and fear/power worldview paradigms are overemphasised. But these are common and extremely influential frameworks in missions practice today. This article gives a clear introduction to what this schema is and why it matters.
This substantial piece by Iranian Christian Hamid Hatami (Middle East Heritage Reformed Ministries) helps churches think carefully about Muslim engagement in Western contexts. The article tackles fear, ignorance, and misplaced confidence, while offering a theologically grounded and pastorally sensitive framework for patient, relational evangelism.
AUDIO/VISUAL (podcasts & videos)
I thoroughly enjoyed this uplifting conversation between Scott Dunford and Darren Carlson about the importance of listening to stories about how God is at work miraculously in the world today. "Drawing from Carlson’s new book, Witness: Missional Devotions from the Book of Acts, the conversation explores whether Acts should be viewed merely as a historical account or as an invitation to expect God’s continued unusual activity through the church."
Author's privilege! I was thrilled to co-present this seminar with my friend Chris Hawthorne at the 2025 FIEC conference. "The UK is now a receiver, not just a sender, of missionaries. How can we welcome those who come to engage in mission work in the UK, to help them best glorify Christ in their work, and help us do the same?"
"In 2025 Harvey Kwiyani published Decolonizing Mission, a book that traces the history of Christian mission alongside the history of empire. As he discusses what mission without imperialism would look like, Harvey unfolds the connection between colonialism and mission while inviting us to realign our missional methods with God’s will." 70-min deep-dive chat between Andy McCullough (Unreached Network) and Harvey Kwiyani (Acts 11 project).
DIGGING DEEPER (challenging but rewarding)
Just a single page of paper, but hours of fun! The annual set of stats outlining crucial demographic and religious data from 1900 to today, and now for the first time projected forward to 2075. From the Center for the Study of Global Christianity.
A defence of the legitimacy, veracity, and gospel faithfulness/fruitfulness of most church planting movements (CPM). Dave Coles writing for the Lausanne website.
"Some who are lauded as inspirational missionaries in this world will be wearing millstones in the next." A strong repudiation of those who trade verifiable discipleship for hype, numbers, and fundraising spin.
BOOKS (recent releases)
Links are to Amazon for best info/reviews. Other outlets are available...
Natalie Mullen Leisher & Mark Morgenstern (editors)
"In a world where cross-cultural ministry is more complex than ever, Essentials for Equipping and Growth of Global Workers offers a timely and practical guide for those who train, send, and support missionaries. This collaborative volume brings together seasoned practitioners and trainers to address the full spectrum of missionary development – from spiritual formation and emotional resilience to language acquisition, family care, and organizational strategy."
Matthew Burden
"Let the Earth Rejoice uncovers a surprising connection between worship and global mission. The 1700s began with a revolution in congregational singing and ended with the birth of the modern Protestant mission movement. Matt Burden argues that this missionary awakening was driven by the hymns Christians had been singing week after week for decades. These songs carried a bold theological vision and a call to the nations."
Ferdinand I. Okorie, Elizabeth W. Mburu & Abeneazer G. Urga (Editors)
"This introductory book provides readers with a glimpse of how African Christians read the New Testament text in their contexts by fleshing out themes that connect with African cultures. This volume is a valuable resource for anyone interested in African voices in biblical interpretation, as it provides an introductory platform for delving deeper into every book of the New Testament."
MISCELLANEOUS (varied but valuable)
Mike Easton (Upstream Collective) with a four-part Bible study that explores the church of Antioch in Acts 11–15, offering an in-depth example of a sending church. Designed for personal study or group discussion, it helps church leaders identify important patterns and principles for sending well.
A collection of top resources to help the parents of global cross-cultural gospel workers. Books, articles, podcasts. Who do you know who this might benefit and bless? From the 'A Life Overseas' blog.
Kudos to missionary.com for repackaging William Carey's still significant and readable 'An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens' into a nicely bound book (with a Kevin DeYoung foreword, and Mark Dever afterword)
QUOTES (wise one-liners)
(1) "If Scripture is the soul of theology, culture provides flesh and bones, enabling finite creatures to come to know and speak of the triune God in their own languages and in the context of concrete, local communities."
Stephen Pardue
(2) "The fact that Christianity is at home in a multiplicity of cultures without being permanently wedded to any one of them presents for Christians everywhere a unique opportunity for examining Christian identity and Christian theology".
Tite Tiénou
(3) "Mission means inviting all the peoples of the earth to hear the music of God's future and dance to it today."
Christopher J. H. Wright
GLOBAL INSIGHT (critical news & trends)
Jakarta has overtaken Tokyo as the world’s most populous city, according to the UN, which is using new criteria to better capture rapid urban growth. The Indonesian capital is now estimated at 42 million people, ahead of Dhaka with 37 million, while Tokyo slips to third with 33 million
A review of significant trends in African politics, economics, culture, demographics and foreign affairs from 2000 to 2025, by Chris O. Ogunmodede. This is a long substack post, but you're unlikely to find anything that better encapsulates some of the major forces shaping Africa right now. Important for mission-minded folk involved in Africa.
"Migration is not a problem to be managed. It is a new form of mission in the history of salvation. Vietnamese migrants are not just receivers of pastoral care — they are protagonists of the new evangelization"
TWEETS (short but significant)
STATS (noteworthy numbers)
(1) 19 of the 20 youngest (average age) countries in the world are in Africa SOURCE
(2) In 1950 just 20% of the world’s 2.5 billion people lived in cities (at least 50,000 inhabitants and a density of at least 1,500 people per km2). Now in 2025, it's 45% of the world’s 8.2 billion people, and growing fast. SOURCE
(3) By 2050 Brazil is expected to have a Protestant evangelical majority population. SOURCE
ONLINE EVENTS (Zoom webinars)
Missio Nexus is partnering with Gospel Mobilization to help bring mobilizers together for ongoing, practical conversations about engaging the next generation in global mission. Once-a-month gathering for mission mobilisers to learn, share, and sharpen one another around the real opportunities and challenges facing mobilization today. Next meeting is March 18th, then April 15th, May 20th, June 17th etc. 1-2pm EDT.
"If your work involves stories of poverty, crisis, persecution, or cross-cultural ministry, you’ve likely felt the internal pull between “what will raise money” and “what feels ethical.” This webinar provides a framework for communicating impact without exploitation or unnecessary security risk – helping nonprofits balance fundraising needs, ethical storytelling, and real-world field constraints." Hosted by Missio Nexus, 2-3.15pm EDT, Thurs March 26th, free for members.
Online course from Field Partner International, Move at your own speed or join with others. "You might be interested if you are involved with an NGO or sending agency, working with people from around the world, part of an intercultural church, in a cross-cultural marriage, or oping to connect with people from other cultures!" See here for an article about why Cultural Intelligence is important in contemporary mission and ministry and how this course can help. $50 for the whole course.
HIGHLIGHTS (Most popular from last month's Mission Hits…)
JUST FOR FUN (unrelated but interesting!)
Such a simple premise, but I find it endlessly fascinating. Click a button, and be taken to a new, completely random StreetView location from anywhere worldwide. What a world we live in.
50 pieces of advice to help us come off our screens - to be a person again, not a user.
Kinda silly, but great for 2-3 mins of time-wasting. Works best on a touch-screen: Can you draw a perfect circle (or square?)
Full searchable archives of all Mission Hits resources from edition #1
Questions, comments, or suggestions for the next edition?
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