The following story was shared by Colin Neville, FN missionary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Colin and his wife Maida are serving as artists-in-residence, using their various artistic talents to develop relationships and illuminate Christ in a foreign mission field. In this story, Colin beautifully illustrates a strategy we sometimes call “releasing our agenda.” Missionaries meet thousands of people in their new communities. Some become life-long friends, but many do not. In the moment described...

Merry Christmas! I’d like to share a story from Lauren Christman, a Friends Network missionary serving in Seoul, South Korea.   Professor Guy Marquardt of Asia Lutheran Seminary recently visited Seoul to teach a class on Luther’s Small Catechism . Lauren attended and sat next to a young woman she had never met. During a break, they struck up a conversation. Lauren learned that this woman wasn’t a Christian, but she was genuinely curious about Christianity.   When Professor Marquardt taught...

When a living room is your sanctuary, and a dining table is your altar… This is   House Church . With no building, minimal budget, and just a handful of workers, how are you possibly supposed to start a healthy church? Maybe—just maybe—that is not the recipe for a lacking church, but the very key to a thriving one. Let me explain… Barriers: Today, many are spiritually curious, but often distrustful of religious institutions. And in Manila, it often seems like people’s only alternative to the...