Everyone has a place and role in the Great Commission. God wants to use you for beautiful things! Here are some things you can do right now to start reaching the nations whoever you are, wherever you are.
What works against you in grasping Christ's love for you? When I think about this question, my answers create a long list, sadly. My sin, fear of rejection, not being good enough, not being faithful enough, being a burden, seeing and experiencing broken relationships, feelings of shame.
During my time with Cafe 1040 in Europe, our group navigated the city through a "buddy system," ensuring no one ventured out alone. When a teammate sought a companion for a rendezvous with a girl she had met at a local Korean Festival, I volunteered without hesitation, completely unaware of what God would do from this encounter.
Have you ever wanted to sit down with a Cafe 1040 grad over coffee and hear about their experiences? Each of them has been impacted in a significant way by our overseas mentorship program and has many stories to tell.
Over the years, we have sat down with numerous mothers, fathers, friends, cousins and coworkers talking about international missions. Inevitably by the end of the conversation, we have ventured onto the question of safety.
Is missions safe? Is where you are living safe? Do you feel safe overseas? Will my son or daughter be safe in your program?
The question comes in many forms but the heart of the question remains the same.
An Interview with Cafe 1040’s Executive Director
"Recently, I was invited to attend a seminar at a church for people considering becoming missionaries. The church does this event annually to help its members navigate the process “from the church pew to the overseas location.” Friends, this is a treacherous journey. I have heard many missionaries say “getting there was harder than being here!”
In the last few years, there has been a new wave of opportunities for people to leverage their jobs for gospel advancement. Often called “Marketplace Missions,” this idea refers to taking your career and moving it to a strategic location for the mission of God.
Are you passionate about photography? Do you get excited thinking about a degree in Nursing? Are you pursuing a degree in law?
Missions is not just a topic that is referenced in specific places in the Bible, but instead is a theme can be found from Genesis all the way to Revelation. “Since creation, God has been interested in redeeming all peoples to himself.” From God’s first command of Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28), God has intended for the earth to be filled with worshippers.
We live in an anxious world. In our fast-paced culture, it’s easy to let our minds take control and live by feelings rather than the Word of God. I would argue that anxiety is one of our greatest debilitating factors we face as Christians. It keeps us from ever truly finding rest. It keeps us from moving our lives where God may call us. It keeps us from walking across the street and meeting a neighbor.
Cafe 1040's mission was formed around the reality that there are almost 3 billion people who have little to no access to the gospel. That’s 42% of the entire world’s population and the majority of these people groups all live in one area of the world – the 10/40 Window.
Today, we get join together for the International Day for the Unreached.
American Dream, Support Raising, Church: these are a few of the many obstacles that young adults experience in going overseas long-term. These were also my obstacles, but when I was 23, I did not know that I had obstacles. In fact, the term “obstacle” was unfamiliar to me. However, through a series of experiences overseas, this term revealed itself to me in a way that I was not prepared for.
As an organization that desires to see all people groups reached with the gospel of Jesus, we want to empower the next generation of missionaries to go and tell the story of Jesus in some of the least-reached places.
We, along with the rest of the missions world, have noticed a disturbing trend: the general absence of men on the mission field.
Long skirts with tennis shoes, shaggy, unkept hair, khaki cargo pants, don’t act like you’ve never pictured a missionary this way before.
We’ve all fallen prey to this stereotype. For so long, “missions” was just a department in the church where people who can’t fit in with their own culture try out a new one.
As I sat across from Zara, my mind was flooded with thoughts. I’m face-to-face, deep in conversation with a young Muslim lady about what it means to follow Christ. My husband and I had moved our lives to the Middle East to have opportunities like this and now, here I was getting the opportunity in a tiny mountain town in the United States.
“The sun is always shining, it’s just above the clouds sometimes.” This thought struck home after five days of backpacking through miserable, stormy, overcast weather. The life lessons abounded – no matter how stormy or dark things look, the Son of God is still there, even when we can’t see or feel Him.
Have you ever tried to explain something to someone and you simply could not connect the dots? When I was first married to my wife, we oftentimes had this problem. We came from different families and had different assumptions. She thought that cleaning the table meant putting the dishes in the sink. I thought it meant washing them or putting them in the dishwasher.
