Mission Hits #75 (October 2026)
Welcome to Mission Hits, a monthly blog highlighting stimulating and significant recent resources related to world mission and world Christianity.
Welcome to Mission Hits #75 (October 2026)
There is something wonderfully humbling about global mission: just when we think we’ve found a neat framework, the world becomes more complicated.
Several items in this month’s Mission Hits offer particularly striking examples of how the landscape is changing:
The definition of an unreached people group is being rethought
Chinese missionaries are increasingly appearing in places like Thailand
Mission colleges are restructuring for a different landscape
Migration is creating new windows for gospel witness across Europe.
Traditional sending and receiving categories are breaking down
If you find Mission Hits valuable, I'd love your help in growing the community by recommending it to others who share a heart for God's global mission.
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
"I am thankful for people writing and sharing their experiences with reverse culture shock, rebuilding their lives, and coming to a new understanding of their identity and calling. Yet what about the experiences of those of us who stay, who are left behind? These losses add up and break our hearts, too." This will resonate hard, and helpfully, with many missionaries.
Essential for Church Leaders
Churches can easily accumulate mission activity without ever quite deciding what they are trying to do. Justin Schell (Lausanne Movement) names several shifts that can help, from reactive to proactive, siloed to integrated, and accidental to intentional. It's the first in a series, but stands perfectly well on its own as a useful diagnostic for reviewing your own church’s current approach.
Essential for Christians Partnering as Senders
I wouldn't normally include a book here, but this seems so relevant for senders: A book of prayers to "provide senders with a practical and applicable tool for expressing the challenges, losses, and sacrifices that come with supporting those we love as they settle in far-away places…these liturgies are a source of encouragement, as well as a way to cultivate communion with Christ in the joy and sorrow of sending." Have a look at the contents page on Amazon, and have a think who (you?) might benefit.
GENERAL (well worth your time)
Most of us will have seen several incredibly shocking videos from Nepal last month. Perhaps the most horrific shows the massive border post building being swallowed up. Nathan Sloan from The Upstream Collective was there 19 years ago, and has an amazing story to tell…"I watched people and this building being swallowed by water, mud, and debris, and then it hit me. I’ve been there. I know that place. I saw God at work in that very building.
Good missionary care often begins with asking good questions. 'How has your new environment and culture changed you?', 'What are your neighbours like?', 'Who are some people you are seeing the Spirit work in?', 'Where have you encountered frustrating fruitlessness?' and many more. Amanda Rae Taylor gives questions designed to deepen conversations with mission partners in meaningful ways.
Drawing on interviews with 10 long-term pioneers, Tim Keesee (writing for DesiringGod.org) identifies some of the key traits shared by those who remain in difficult, gospel-destitute places and keep pressing on with patient, long-term witness.
ADDITIONAL: FIXED LINK. This article was included in Mission Hits #74 but the link was broken soon after sending. It's such a helpful article that I'm including the correct link below.
For those of us in the West, apparent church decline here can feel like the decline of Christianity itself. Australian missiologist Graham Joseph Hill invites us to enjoy the depth and breadth of the global church, whilst also rightly warning against the dangers of romanticisation. This is an excellent introduction to the demographic and theological significance of global Christianity today.
AUDIO/VISUAL (podcasts & videos)
Hosted by Bradley Bell and Nathan Sloan (The Upstream Collective), I've very much enjoyed all 6 episodes thus far - they respect your time by keeping episodes short and 'full', and are wise, humble, generous and thoughtful. I'm not sure which episode to recommend above others. Maybe start with last week's 'Why Should We Trust You?” Lessons from Kenya on Global Sending'
Another new 2026 missions podcast, with 11 episodes so far. I've been enjoying some of the questions they ask, such as 'Whether missionaries should serve as elders in indigenous local churches on the mission field', 'What kind of missionaries the global church wants', and 'How missionaries should apply the Book of Acts'. In this linked episode above, Justin Schell shares some of the insights from his book 'The Mission of God and the Witness of the Church'.
Four main platform talks from the Missio Nexus Mission Leaders Conference 2026 are now available to watch online, including Bob McNabb's opening address on 'Why the Great Commission needs both evangelism and discipleship', and Ted Esler's closing address 'Why Discipleship Doesn't Scale'.
DIGGING DEEPER (challenging but rewarding)
Mission begins not with missionaries, churches or strategies, but with the God who sends. Chad Vegas, writing for Missionary.com, offers a richly Trinitarian account of mission as flowing from God, carried forward by his church, and culminating in the nations knowing and enjoying him.
For decades, the familiar 2% evangelical/5% Christian thresholds have shaped how mission agencies identify unreached people groups. Now Joshua Project and several major mission networks have developed a more nuanced framework, incorporating eight phases of gospel progress and five levels of engagement strength. This is potentially a massively significant development in how the global missions community understands and prioritises gospel needs worldwide. The main link introduces it all. This link explains it all in much more detail.
I know many of you are interested/involved in mission training and education. You might be interested to read this from Tim Young at All Nations College in the UK explaining how they are in the midst of a massive readjustment and restructuring to try and meet the changing landscape of missionary training.
BOOKS (recent releases)
Links are to Amazon for best info/reviews. Other outlets are available...
David J. Smith (editor)
"In a world where the call to missions can feel distant or reserved for a select few, [this book] presents true stories of ordinary believers demonstrating extraordinary faith in some of the most challenging places on earth. These stories tell of adventure, challenge, sacrifice, and victory in taking the gospel to the nations. Each story is paired with a meaningful Scripture passage, making this book an ideal daily devotional for families and church groups."
Matthew Bennett
"Sometimes, mission efforts focus so much on getting quick results that they drift away from sound, accurate teaching. Other times theology can become too abstract and disconnected from real life. {This book] shows how they belong together - true doctrine naturally leads to missions, and missions should always spring from careful theological reflection. He explores all the main areas of Christian teaching (like the nature of God, humanity, or the church) and reveals their direct implications for mission work."
(3) Ecclesiology and Mission: Exploring the Church's Identity and Calling in a Changing World (2026)
Evelyn Hibbert, Kenneth Nehrbass, & Abeneazer G. Urga (Editors)
This year's collection of papers from the Evangelical Missiological Society: "Scholars and frontline practitioners stress the need to reintegrate mission with church life. Case studies from Azerbaijan, India, Thailand, and Canada show how mission thrives through relationships, family networks, hospitality, and adaptive faith, even under persecution. The authors in this volume highlight a trend toward simpler, networked, relational churches that can flexibly navigate modern complexities."
MISCELLANEOUS (varied but valuable)
The Bible Access List (BAL) identifies where access to the Bible is most difficult and where shortages among Christians are greatest. "Developed by the Bible Access Initiative, a collaborative of Bible agencies, it provides a structured, data-informed framework to support strategic planning, distribution, and advocacy for Bible accessibility and addressing Bible shortages." The FAQ page explains how they put this together in great detail.
Originally written in Chinese by Sun Yong, but translated by ChinaSource.org into English, this is an absolutely fascinating snapshot of one aspect of the global polycentric mission movement we hear so much about today: Chinese missionaries in Thailand. Its size, struggles, scale, motivations, challenges and growing pains…really worth a read for anyone wanting a more nuanced understanding of the Chinese church's growing involvement in global mission.
Missionary.com has produced a six-part documentary series on figures including Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael and William Carey. The first (43-min) film has been made available free online and explores Tyndale’s life, martyrdom and conviction that ordinary Christians must have access to Scripture in their own language. Hosted by Brooks Buser and Chad Vegas, featuring interviews with John Piper, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever and more.
QUOTES (wise one-liners)
(1) "Churches closed to the leadership and wisdom of migrant Christians impoverish themselves."
Harvey Kwiyani
(2) "The only place on the globe people aren't coming to Christ are the places we refuse to go."
Nik Ripken
(3) "Do not be so busy with work for Christ that you have no strength left for praying."
Hudson Taylor
GLOBAL INSIGHT (critical news & trends)
This is a brilliantly articulated, coherent and cogent argument for the goodness of thinking about migration routes worldwide today and how well-timed, well-placed, well-considered ministry can bear remarkable fruit: "The young Tunisian who lands in Marseille or Milan has stepped outside the family, mosque, and neighborhood that sustained a nominal Islam he was already questioning…Before he re-embeds in a Tunisian diaspora enclave that reconstitutes the home religious structure, there is a window, often a matter of months, when he is lonely, administratively vulnerable, and open to whoever shows practical love."
Ukrainian Mykhailo Brytsyn (writing for Vista magazine) shares the findings of his research into why some Ukrainian Protestant churches have experienced remarkable growth during the war, identifying six contributing factors including courageous leadership, Christ-centred preaching, and practical social ministry.
Some of you will remember, or have heard about, the horrific murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons in India, who were burned alive in their car by Hindu extremists in 1999. More than 25 years later comes this extraordinary story of Chenchu Hansda, who was 13 when he took part in the killings and who, after years of imprisonment and suffering, eventually became a Christian. A remarkable story.
STATS (noteworthy numbers)
(1) There is scripture available (at the very least, portions) for 96% of the world's people in their first language. SOURCE
(2) Of the world’s 33 megacities (over 10 million inhabitants), 19 are in Asia and 27 are in the Global South. India has the largest number, with five. Europe and the US have 3 each. SOURCE
(3) Africa now has 88 cities with populations over 1 million, up from just two in 1950, while the continent’s urban population has risen from 33 million to 670 million. SOURCE
ONLINE EVENTS (Zoom webinars)
"Join us for the relaunch of the Lausanne Integral Mission Network. Integral mission invites us to consider how different dimensions of the church’s calling belong together—including proclamation and demonstration, word and deed, and evangelism and social action. Whether you are new to integral mission or deeply engaged in its history and practice, we warmly invite you to join the conversation and connect with others seeking a more integrated and faithful participation in God’s mission." 1pm GMT, 3rd November 2026. Free.
(A) The Phases of Engagement Toolkit: How to use this multi-org framework to track and understand where a people group stands. (B) Data Tools on the Joshua Project Website: Learn how to navigate our data tools to inform your mission strategy. (C) JP+ is a deeper analysis of people group data: This resource delivers the intelligence your leadership team needs to act with precision. Each webinar runs about 45–60 minutes with time for questions. 11am EST on 5th and 19th November and 3rd December. Free.
'Mobilization 101' is a new 15-session online course from Dave Jacob at Gospel Mobilization designed for missions agency mobilisers, pastors, missionaries, and any believer who wants to help send more missionaries. Self-study for $99, or take it as part of a cohort (with weekly coaching from the course leaders) for $499. The next cohort runs from January to April 2027.
HIGHLIGHTS (Most popular from last month's Mission Hits…)
JUST FOR FUN (unrelated but interesting!)
Can you identify cities around the world from a satellite image? Each wrong guess zooms the view out further.
A fascinating interactive map exploring the different stories cultures around the world tell about where we, and everything else, came from.
A quirky window into what the world is thinking about…discover each day's most popular Wikipedia article and the story behind its sudden popularity.
Full searchable archives of all Mission Hits resources from edition #1
Questions, comments, or suggestions for the next edition?
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