I was looking up the proverb "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves." I was pretty sure that Benjamin Franklin originally said it. However, that eventually led me (as so many roads do) to the Wikipedia article and Wiktionary article, "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves." There I found that Benjamin Franklin was not the first …
Month: January 2023
Ten Common Missionary Roles
Gailyn Van Rheenen lists fen common roles or activites of long-term missionaries in one of his books on missions <Gailyn Van Rheenen, Missions: Biblical Foundations and Contemporary Strategies, 2nd ed. (Zondervan, 2014), Chapter 6>: (1) Traditional church planting in unreached areas (Pioneering) (2) Training local church leaders in order for a church planting movement to …
Reflective Thoughts on “Reverse Missions”
I have been doing a bit of thought on 'Reverse Missions"--- this is missionaries who depart from New Sending Countries (countries that traditionally received missionaries), and serve in Old Sending countries (countries that traditionally sent missionaries). These reflections are pretty off-the-cuff. I will hopefully be able to fill out these ideas later. #1. Reverse Missions …
Types of “Great Missionaries”
What does it take to be a great missionary? I think there are different types of missionaries and there are different ways they can be seen as good. Innovator. Barnabas. Some missionaries do something that is highly innovative and as such establish patterns that guide missionaries long after them. Barnabas appears to be a great …
Theming Reading, Writing, and Teaching in 2023
It feels like it is the time to throw myself into reading and writing and teaching in 2023. 2020 through 2022 were the years of pandemic and family issues. It looks like the pandemic is over (being replaced by endemic) while most of our family challenges are becoming ironed out. In fact, two major challenges …
Continue reading Theming Reading, Writing, and Teaching in 2023
Nicholas Kassatkin
I am putting together notes and presentations and video for a Missions History class I was asked to teach. One of the values of doing this is that one gets the opportunity to relearn how little one knows. I keep learning how little I know. Going through "Encountering the History of Missions" (by John Mark …