In the book “The Forgotten God” by Francis Chan, he poses the question, “If you could choose between Jesus beside you and the Holy Spirit within you, which would you choose?”

If you would say Jesus beside you, Francis would say that you probably do not truly understand the power of the Holy Spirit.* Don’t beat yourself up though; the original disciples of Jesus did not understand either.

Meet Patrick – A Grad from North Africa

Q: How/When did you know that God was calling you to missions?

A: I heard the gospel at a young age, but it wasn’t until junior year in high school where the Lord gripped me and I started walking in relationship with the Lord. Shortly after that I felt a strong pull/calling on missions. I started to look at what missions is according to the Bible. What does it look like to do work overseas? Cafe 1040 seemed like a clear next step.

Q: How did you find out about Cafe 1040's program?

A: I looked at several organizations that have 3-month programs. My missions pastor helped me find Cafe 1040.

Urbana is a five-day conference with 16,000 others who are showing up to be transformed, encouraged, challenged, and sent.

Dedicated to calling whole-life, whole-world disciples, Urbana is an eye-opening global missions conference, a sacred space for college and graduate students, faculty, and church leaders to hear God’s call.

Coming here, I had no real expectation as to what life would exactly be like. I share one bedroom with three other girls on a street where only one person understands our English charades. I live in an up-and-coming city—half-traditional, half-modern –but all full of culture. 

Pray for the Nations, Go to the Nations, Send to the Nations, Welcome Internationals, Mobilize to the nations

Are you in the process of moving overseas? The first few months of arriving in your new culture are crucial and you never get them back. Our friends at Pioneers have some great resources to check out before you make the move.

My team and I have had some sweet opportunities to build friendships with a few locals in the city we are living in.  They have taught us so much about how they live and how they view life.

There is no substitute for the lessons God teaches us through walking with Him. But you cannot grow into what you do not submit yourself to. 

You cannot become what you do not behold.

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, reads like the script of a weird science fiction movie. It’s the final showdown between good and evil, full of unusual imagery and seemingly cryptic messages. Even the author’s story sounds like the beginning of a Hollywood blockbuster. John was an outcast and part of a rag tag group of troublemakers called the apostles. He even wrote a book about his time as an apostle, which he creatively titled “John.” He fought for his cause his entire life, only to end up exiled on the island of Patmos, where he had a strange vision and encounter with the Lord. 

We have been going through a study called "Experiencing God" that has been teaching me what it looks like abide and seek intimacy with Him instead of only focusing on knowing His will for my life. It has also taught me that He is already at work - we have to believe that since the task is so overwhelming and we cannot fulfill it on our own. This study has been very convicting since most of the time I want to jump ahead to the conclusion instead of letting Him lead me in His timing!

Raising support to sustain a life of missions can be overwhelming. It can be a major obstacle that keeps people from ever obeying God's call on their life. We know God controls every resource in the world, but do we truly believe He can provide in this way for our life? We've put together a series of support raising stories from people in different stages and viewpoints of life as a way to remind you that God is at work and He loves to show off in this way.

This past week, my team and I traveled to the North and then backpacked through the beautiful mountains for a week. We were able to hike to remote villages and had the privilege of meeting some of the minority groups in our country.

Have you ever considered that God might have an end goal? Sometimes in life it helps to start with the end in mind. When you know the end goal, or the desired outcome, it is often easier to develop a plan that leads you down the right path. If your goal is “financial freedom”, the best way to start toward that goal is to clearly define the end result. 

Meet Abigale – A Grad From South Asia

Q: What was your biggest obstacle that you had to overcome in missions before going through Cafe 1040's program? 

A: I was lost because there were so many choices. Every agency has their different systems. I was really looking for the focus of the organization. I was careful to look at the mission’s values and what they believe about the Bible. I knew where I was in my faith and I knew what the Bible said and how the Holy Spirit would guide me to right organization. I looked a countless websites, blog posts, went to the Lord in prayer, along with my parents being involved in the process. 

My heart will forever be gripped for the people in the 10/40 window. For me they are no longer numbers of unreached statistics on a page. They are names with faces—friends I know and love deeply. They are visibly broken and lost hearts professing in false idols or nothing at all. They are beautiful people that our Father desires to be his own again.

Ramadan is 30 days set aside every year for Muslims to fast from sun up to sun down. For some places in the world, this could mean over 18 hours of fasting each day. Fasting is one of the five pillars in Islam. It’s a time set aside to focus on prayer and the reading of the Qur’an in an effort to seek God.

What could happen if Christians all over the world began to see Muslims the way God sees them?  What if we all joined in asking Ramadan to be a time Muslims sought God and found His Son Jesus for the first time?

2017 was the year I quit the comfort of a set salary with benefits, and the false security of finances shattered in front of me. It was the year I embarked on the greatest, craziest adventure of my life: support-raising. As with most missions organizations, we are responsible for raising funds to cover our salary and ministry expenses. God has led Cafe 1040 to this model of ministry funding and has provided in significant ways for many years. 

Written by a Cafe 1040 student.

I wasn’t expecting vulnerability here, but this culture is searching for something harder than anything I’ve ever seen. They have generations and generations of being deceived.

Q: Why did you choose Cafe 1040?

A: “After looking at Cafe 1040, I also explored some other organizations. It was really eye opening for me to see a mentorship is something people actually do.  Honestly, the reason I picked Cafe 1040 is I felt heard, and understood and identified with by Cafe, more than other organizations that have similar program.” 

What would it take for you to unapologetically, unreservedly decide to move your life to Saudi Arabia to share the gospel? We believe this next generation of missionaries is uniquely positioned to complete the Great Commission, but the ever-shifting roadmap of missions makes it a difficult task.