Mission Devotional Day 5
READ: Psalm 67
Psalm 67 is a beautiful reminder of our dependence upon God and of how God’s faithfulness in our lives can make God’s saving power known to others. You may have noticed that there is not much in the Old Testament that looks like our conception of mission. The word mission comes from the Latin root meaning “to send.” There is not a lot of sending going on.
Read MoreMission Devotional Day 4
READ: Deuteronomy 10:17-22
In this powerful text from Deuteronomy, God asserts that he executes justice for the orphan and widow and loves strangers. It is God “who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear.”
Read MoreDAY 3
READ: Exodus 20:1-21
The story is told of a student away at college who asked his mother to mail his Bible to him. When the clerk at the mail counter asked if the package contained anything breakable, the mom replied, “Only the ten commandments!”
Read MoreDAY 2
READ: Genesis 12:1-3
What an amazing call God sets before Abram! What promises! Abram is to take his family to a place he knows not where – but God will show him the place. Abram and his family will become a great nation, a people who are in a special relationship with God. Yet this blessing is not something that is only for the sake of Abram and his tribe. God makes it clear that in (or through) Abram all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Read MoreDAY 1
READ: Genesis 3:1-10
If you read the morning newspaper or watch the evening news, it becomes quickly apparent that the world is not the way it should be. In Genesis 1-2 we find two different creation stories that assert God’s role as creator, the goodness of creation, and the responsibility of humankind. But something turns. Something falls.
Read MoreJoin The Outreach Foundation in July as we follow the 31 Day Mission Devotional written by Rob Weingartner. The devotional will be posted daily here on The Outreach Foundation blog and on our social media pages.
You can also click here to download the PDF of the full devotional to have at home.
Your gifts made a huge impact globally in 2020. Outreach Executive Director Mark Mueller wanted to take a moment to thank you for your generous support!
Read MoreToward the end of each year, The Outreach Foundation launches several funding opportunities for individual donors and partner churches to contribute to the global work of Christ. Once again, The Outreach Foundation will offer this year our Where Needed Most giving opportunity.
Read MoreWhat do these three things have in common?
See the video to hear from Lucy Battle and find out!
Dear friends,
In recent months we have learned what PPE is, what it means to flatten the curve, and how scientists develop vaccines. Many of us have practiced voluntary sequestering and social distancing. Layered on top of the health crisis, many are struggling to keep businesses afloat and to retain or find employment. These are challenging days. I will never think about the phrase “going viral” in the same way again.
Read MoreWhat does swimming have to do with The Outreach Foundation?
See the video to hear the connection from Mark and find out why he's wearing his swimming goggles.
The Outreach Foundation is not a traditional relief agency. One of our priorities is cultivating deep, long-term relationships all over the world. We work in partnership and when our partners are hurting, whether from an explosion or a pandemic or a war, we want to help. Help from us is usually swift and effective, thanks in large part to you, our faithful and generous donors.
But there is another reason we can be swift and effective in times of disaster and in our day-to-day operations, and that is our committed and passionate staff.
The Outreach Foundation was founded over forty years ago to call Presbyterians to a renewed commitment to God’s mission. What the founders did not realize in 1979 was that one of the greatest fruits of that founding vision has been in Egypt, a country rich in history and culture and 90% Muslim.
The Outreach Foundation began a mission partnership with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt in 1999. Our aim was to build the capacity of Egyptian Presbyterians to bear witness to the good news of Jesus in word and deed. Our offer was to help the Cairo Seminary train a professor of mission and evangelism. The Holy Spirit at work in our Egyptian friends did the rest. Today the Presbyterian Church in Egypt has 25% more congregations than it did in 1999. Egyptians are going to every corner of Egypt and beyond—to Gaza, West Bank; Basra, Iraq; and to Juba, South Sudan. It is a church on fire with passion for mission. And they are grateful to The Outreach Foundation for providing the kindling for the fire.
Dear Friends,
Have you seen the fascinating docuseries out right now called The Making of Frozen 2? It’s an up-close look at the creative and labor-intensive process of making this Disney blockbuster. Did you know that it took more than 800 people to make that movie? And that every single character had its very own animator? The series is basically a show about the credits — the tiny type that scrolls at the end as we’re all leaving the theater.
Whether or not you're a movie fan, we know you’re a fan of The Outreach Foundation — where there’s also a creative and labor-intensive process going on behind the scenes. It’s a process that animates Outreach’s life-changing work all around the world.
Read MoreFrom J.C. Pezini:
Hello friends, I hope you are all well, enjoying the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe you have been following the news about the pandemic here in Brazil. We can say that Brazil is the epicenter of the Latin American pandemic. It is true that the death figures are concentrated in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Manaus. In the other states there are deaths by COVID-19, but not as much as in the three big cities I mentioned above.
Read Moreby Jeff Ritchie
The history of The Outreach Foundation in Egypt is primarily a story about the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Egypt and how it has developed a vision for mission and evangelism from a “mustard seed” at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo in 1999 to the present explosion of new churches, churches undergoing revitalization, and mission beyond Egypt. There are many other aspects of this story that can be told. The final chapter of this history, however, will focus on how our mission in Egypt reflects some of the foundational mission convictions of The Outreach Foundation and how we have acted on those convictions in one part of the world over time.
Read Moreby Juan Sarmiento
Spanish is the second language with the most native speakers in the world. In recent decades Christians that trace their identity back to the Protestant Reformation have grown to be close to 20% of the total of the Spanish speaking world. The spiritual vibrancy of the current Hispanic Presbyterian movement flows out of the faithful commitment of many previous generations. Here are eight little-known historical facts:
Read MoreJuan Sarmiento
El español es el segundo idioma con más hablantes nativos en todo el mundo. En las últimas décadas, los cristianos que hablan español y cuya identidad de fe está enraizada en la Reforma protestante han llegado a ser casi del 20% del total. La vitalidad espiritual del movimiento presbiteriano hispano actual se deriva del compromiso fiel de muchas generaciones anteriores. He acá algunos hechos históricos poco conocidos:
Read MoreFrom the Shepherd Society - Bethlehem Bible College:
Dearest friend,
May fourth marked the 60th day of lockdown in the Bethlehem district. Though the situation regarding the virus is improving, the Palestinian Authority just declared another month of emergency precautions lasting until June 5.
Bethlehem Bible College is in its second week of being partially open. A small staff is working from the office four hours a day, three days a week. Even this small effort is making a difference. Our spirits are high and we are excited to be serving again.
Read MoreFrank Dimmock
Globally, as of 10:00 AM CEST, (5/4) there have been 3,435,894 confirmed cases and 239,604 deaths
Globally (as of 4/26 – 8 days ago) there were 2,804,796 confirmed cases and 193,722 deaths
In Africa, as of 5/4, there have been 47,131 confirmed cases and 1,845 deaths. Both of these numbers are likely gross underestimations as testing has been inadequate and deaths are generally reported from some health facilities.
Read More
