Strategic Mission Week Course Program

Strategic Mission Week is a short course for anyone keen to explore the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of contextual mission, both globally and locally.  The team of experienced mission practitioners and leaders will facilitate sessions from intercultural and local contexts.
 
The course runs from 13 - 17 July with four, one-hour Zoom session each day. You can join from home or watch and interact with others in face-to-face hubs in capital cities and regional areas.

Course Program Overview >>
Learner Reflection Document >>
 

Day 1 - God Before Us [Mon 13 July]

Session 1

9:00 - 9:50am (WA) / 10:30 - 11:20am (SA and NT) / 11:00 - 11:50am (East Coast)
Title: Roadmap for the journey
We set the scene for the week by unpacking and contemplating what it means to see vibrant faith communities following Jesus in their own distinctive ways

Watch Before: https://vimeo.com/435610386

Facilitator: Mark Holt
Mark is Global Interaction’s Intercultural Director and seasoned Strategic Mission Week facilitator. His experiences serving in South East Asia, walking alongside hundreds of intercultural workers and digesting millions of words of missiology and theology bring his stories to life. 
 

Session 2

10:00 - 11:00am (WA) / 11:30 - 12:30pm (SA and NT) / 12:00 - 1:00pm (East Coast)
Title: Missio Dei 1
This three-part deep dive into Missio Dei (the mission of God), lays a vital foundation of understanding mission. We don’t believe there are any God-forsaken places on earth. Since the beginning of time, God has been active in drawing all people to the Kingdom.

Watch Before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyrt5AAdljI
Extra Resource: https://vimeo.com/253751337

Session Recording >>
Session Notes >> 

Facilitator: Melinda Cousins
Melinda wears many hats (alongside the PhD mortarboard) - biblical studies teacher at Tabor College, Director at Baptist Churches South Australia, pastor, bible college teacher in Africa and China, blogger, traveller, thinker, ‘legend’ ….


Session 3

12:00 - 12:50pm (WA) / 1:30 - 2:20pm (SA and NT) / 2:00 - 2:50pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Missio Dei 2
It’s first and foremost God’s mission. Amazingly, God invites us (yes, us!) to participate in this mission. It’s not so much that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world.

Extra Resource: https://vimeo.com/253751337

Session Recording >>
Session Notes >>

Session Brainstorm: Biblical Basis for Mission and Six Acts of the Biblical Narrative

Facilitator: Melinda Cousins
Melinda wears many hats (alongside the PhD mortarboard) - biblical studies teacher at Tabor College, Director at Baptist Churches South Australia, minister, bible college teacher in Africa and China, blogger, traveller, thinker, ‘legend’….


Session 4

1:00 - 2:00pm (WA) / 2:30 - 3:30 (SA and NT) / 3:00 - 4:00pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Missio Dei 3
With an understanding of the Bible’s meta-narrative of mission, and the church’s call to participation under our belts, we’ll begin to explore why a contextual approach to mission praxis is essential.

Watch Before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izeiRjUMau4&feature=youtu.be

Session Recording >>

Facilitator: Geoff Maddock
Geoff has recently joined the Global Interaction team in Victoria and Tasmania. It’s been a smooth transition from his role as the BUV’s mission consultant, supporting place makers, church planters and pastors live out mission locally. Geoff’s master’s studies in missiology provide depth, perspective and some great quotes to ponder.

Day 2 - God Around Us [Tues 14 July]

Session 1

9:00 - 9:50am (WA) / 10:30 - 11:20am (SA and NT) / 11:00 - 11:50am (East Coast)
Title: Understanding the Culture we Carry
‘The gospel always comes to people in cultural robes’ (Bosch). What are these cultural robes? Why is understanding culture and worldview critical for mission, both locally and globally? We’ll consider how by understanding the meanings people apply to objects, actions and symbols, we take an essential step forward in building meaningful relationships.

Session Recording >>

Facilitators: Steve McAlpine and Dan McGrechan
Steve grew up in Northern Ireland, but apart from rolling his r’s, and talking too fast, is a West Aussie through and through. He’s a pastor at Providence Midland church. Steve loves writing and blogging, especially on matters of church planting and cultural negotiation for Christians in the West. He also works part-time for Third Space, a project of City Bible Forum, that aims to help Christians share the Good News of Jesus in an increasingly complex modern world.

Dan leads the Global Interaction team in Perth and also pastors The Sanctuary Community Church in Midland. When not out trail running, he is walking alongside people to discern what Jesus is saying and doing in their lives and equipping them to respond faithfully.
 

Session 2

10:00 - 11:00am (WA) / 11:30 - 12:30pm (SA and NT) / 12:00 - 1:00pm (East Coast)

Title: Becoming a Cultural Pilgrim​
Embracing our call to become ‘cultural pilgrims’ is part and parcel of the mission journey, whether locally or globally. We’ll look at how culture forms us, how we cope when cultures clash, how we develop resources for cultural encounters and how we find contentment in unfamiliar cultures.

Read Before: https://www.ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/24_3_PDFs/131-138%20Hoefer.pdf

Session Recording >>

Facilitator: Muana
Another 20-year intercultural worker, Muana and his family have served in rural and urban settings in Northern Thailand. Hailing from Mizoram in India, joining an Australian mission organisation and working in Thailand have given Muana a myriad of ‘crossing culture’ experiences to reflect upon.


Session 3

12:00 - 12:50pm (WA) / 1:30 - 2:20pm (SA and NT) / 2:00 - 2:50pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Growing our Participation in Communities
In both local and global contexts, becoming a listener, learner and intentional ‘grower’ into the culture is essential for effective ministry. We’ll talk about becoming ‘insiders’, ‘outsiders’ and the gold star ideal for intercultural work – ‘accepted outsiders’.

Watch Before: https://vimeo.com/437366413/4c60840b49
Extra Resources:
https://vimeo.com/437366960 (contact for password)
Culture and Language Workshop >>

Session Recording (contact for password) >>

Facilitator: Caz
Caz, hubby Dave and their sons have been serving in South East Asia for a whopping 20 years. Caz is a guru on all things ‘growing participation’ – that is, learning culture and language in ways that deeply embed intercultural workers in communities.
 

Session 4

1:00 - 2:00pm (WA) / 2:30 - 3:30 (SA and NT) / 3:00 - 4:00pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Case Studies
Case study presenters give us a context, a setting, a background and a juicy real-life story. In hub groups we reflect on various dimensions of contextualisation relevant to the story. With anticipation, we find out what happened next, then consider learnings and application for our various contexts.

Watch Before: https://vimeo.com/436379789/4504637c08
Read Before: Case Study Preparation PPT
Read Before: www.lausanneworldpulse.com/themedarticles-php/673/04-2007
Session Worksheet >>

Facilitator A: Sally
For the last three years, Sally’s been finding her feet in a rural village in Mozambique. She’s learning Portugese and Chiyawo and is discovering what it means to be an accepted outsider in Yawo village life. Sally’s been involved in some groundbreaking ventures involving telling Gospel stories in girls initiation ceremonies.

Facilitators B: Pete and Nomes
Hailing from Sydney, Pete and Nomes and their three little tackers have spent almost three years in Central Asia. Setting up home, persisting learning one of the world’s trickiest languages and building relationships has been tough… but their faithfulness hasn’t wavered.

Facilitator C: Karina Kreminski
Karina is passionate about forming reflective practitioners for service in the ecology of the urban neighbourhood. Alongside writing books and blogs, teaching at Morling college and speaking around the traps, she’s pioneered a mission venture in Sydney’s Surrey Hills.

Day 3 - God With Us [Wed 15 July]

Session 1

9:00 - 9:50am (WA) / 10:30 - 11:20am (SA and NT) / 11:00 - 11:50am (East Coast) 
Title: Invitation to the Kingdom
Jesus didn’t talk about the church, but he certainly went on about the Kingdom. What does it mean for us to ‘share the Gospel’ and invite people into this Kingdom? Is there really an ‘in’ and ‘out’? And what does that mean for today’s church in its many forms?

Watch Before: https://youtu.be/iwXFP1U7f5U

Session Recording >>
Session Notes >>

Facilitators: Mark Holt and Jono Ingram
Mark’s experiences serving in South East Asia, walking alongside hundreds of intercultural workers and digesting millions of words of missiology and theology bring his stories to life. 

Jono has more than a decade of experience in NFPs and community work, with a particular interest in community organised, place-based food systems, garden design and community empowerment. A Victorian Baptist version of ‘Costa’, he also helps church planters and place makers think about creative and effective community development.
 

Session 2

10:00 - 11:00am (WA) / 11:30 - 12:30pm (SA and NT) / 12:00 - 1:00pm (East Coast)
Title: Storying the Kingdom
How we tell the truth is just as important as the truth itself. We look at the vital place of storytelling in communicating God’s narrative. We consider the cyclical phases of drawing out another’s story, telling our story and sharing God’s story.

Read Before: http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/jacksonwu/files/2012/11/How-Would-Jesus-Tell-It-Crafting-Stories-from-an-Honor-Shame-Perspective.pdf

Session Recording >>

Facilitators: Sally and Ben
Sally and Ben are members of team Yawo in different parts of Mozambique. They love sharing stories while sitting in a marketplace, dancing and singing at initiation ceremonies or walking along a dusty village path. They are continuing to learn how stories can be learned, carefully chosen, thoughtfully crafted and effectively communicated.
 

Session 3

12:00 - 12:50pm (WA) / 1:30 - 2:20pm (SA and NT) / 2:00 - 2:50pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Creation Care
‘God is Earth’s landlord and we are its tenants’ (C. Wright). We explore the mandate for ecological concern in scripture and how it can be applied in missional contexts. Creation Care demonstrates God’s provision and redemptive purposes in practical ways that are welcomed by communities traditionally resistant to the gospel both locally and globally.

Session Notes >>

Facilitator: Andy
Andy and his family spent 8 years in South East Asia and were involved in establishing pioneering creation care projects. They found working alongside Muslims who shared a passion for the environment opened up great opportunities. Andy is a Global Interaction Director and is often found cruising along a suburban cycling track.

 

Session 4

1:00 - 2:00pm (WA) / 2:30 - 3:30 (SA and NT) / 3:00 - 4:00pm​ (East Coast)​
Title: Contextual Theological Reflection
What does theological reflection look like in today’s world, and today’s places of ministry both locally and globally? We’ll explore the impact robust, well-grounded and creative theological reflection have on mission and how it requires us to account for our own culture, the cultures of others and the cultures of Scripture.

Read Before: http://rosslangmead.50webs.com/rl/Downloads/Articles/TheologicalReflection2004.pdf

Session Recording >>
Session Notes >>

Facilitator: Scott Pilgrim
Scott is a natural leader and teacher. He’s managed organisations, pastored large and larger churches and supported pastors and leaders across the Baptist movement. Oh, and he’s the newish Executive Director of Global Interaction. Throughout, he’s been unwavering in his personal practice and commitment to theological reflection and he champions others to discern, think and act from this place.

Day 4 - God In Us [Thurs 16 July]

Session 1

9:00 - 9:50am (WA) / 10:30 - 11:20am (SA and NT) / 11:00 - 11:50am (East Coast)
Title: Spiritual Practices for mission
Kicking off our ‘God In Us’ day, we explore practices that enable mission workers to be sustained, grow and thrive! We’ll hear stories of how practitioners approach professional development and learning – not as a tick-box exercise but a valuable spiritual practice.

Read Before: http://www.dwillard.org/articles/individual/personal-soul-care

Session Recording >>
Session Notes >>

Facilitator: Dan McGrechan
Dan leads the Global Interaction team in Perth and also pastors Perth’s Sanctuary Church. One of the best parts of his role is walking alongside intercultural workers for many years as they grow in their faith, their relationships and their skills for mission.
 

Session 2

10:00 - 11:00am (WA) / 11:30 - 12:30pm (SA and NT) / 12:00 - 1:00pm (East Coast)
Title: Contextual Spiritual Practices
This fresh take on spiritual practices looks at how life-giving and transforming it can be for mission practitioners to be attentive to God within their contexts. Participants will reflect on their own expressions of spirituality and develop an understanding of private public expressions from Biblical and present day stories.

Session Recording >>

Facilitators: John Davis and Derek Bradshaw
John has been involved in intercultural mission for decades and spent many years in South and South East Asia. He recently completed a PhD in sustainability, consults to mission teams around the world and loves being on of Perth’s best beekeepers!

Among other things Derek is a pastor, a muso and a champion of pioneering local and global mission. He’s the founder of Now and Not Yet café, a creative and contextual venture to connecting with a unique community in Warrandyte (VIC).
 

Session 3

12:00 - 12:50pm (WA) / 1:30 - 2:20pm (SA and NT) / 2:00 - 2:50pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Attentiveness to Power Encounters
‘Spiritual warfare’ is a bit on the nose in many Christian circles today. We don’t much like talk of battles, armies and spiritual attacks. Yet, we know that our mysterious God still draws people to Jesus through dreams, visions and not-just-a-coincidence events. How do we be attentive to these in ourselves and others and what impact can this have in mission?

Session Recording >>

Facilitators: Jonno and Scott
Jonno, his wife Heather and five kidults have lived in Malawi and Mozambique for almost 20 years. Teammate Scott, his wife Bek and their five little kids (must be something in the water!) have been in Mozambique for eight years. Being embedded in communities influenced by animism, folk Islam, poverty and African spiritualities, Jonno and Scott have seen plenty of ‘out there’ stuff. As a team, they navigate their way through integrating their Aussie Baptist perspectives with their African experiences.
 

Session 4

1:00 - 2:00pm (WA) / 2:30 - 3:30 (SA and NT) / 3:00 - 4:00pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Case Studies
Case study presenters give us a context, a setting, a background and a juicy real-life story. In hub groups we reflect on various dimensions of contextualisation relevant to the story. With anticipation, we find out what happened next, then consider learnings and application for our various contexts.

Watch Before: https://vimeo.com/436379789/4504637c08
Read Before: Case Study Preparation PPT
Read Before: www.lausanneworldpulse.com/themedarticles-php/673/04-2007
Session Worksheet >>

Facilitators A: Glenn and Liz
Hailing from Perth, Glenn, Liz and their three boys have spent the last few years in Northern Thailand. They’ve been working hard at learning language and culture and building team with their colleagues.

Facilitator B: Craig and Kim  
Craig, Kim and their four kids have been living in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for the last few years. Working with a relatively new team, they are looking, listening, learning and discerning some creative ministry opportunities that fit well with the local culture and context.

Facilitator C: Pip Miner
Pip served in Cambodia with Global Interaction for close to a decade. Now working for Global Interaction NSW & ACT, Pip also heads up a small mission team in her local Baptist Church. She loves working with others to develop strategies for intercultural mission locally and globally.

Day 5 [Fri 17 July]

Session 1

9:00 - 9:50am (WA) / 10:30 - 11:20am (SA and NT) / 11:00 - 11:50am (East Coast)
Title: Hub Discussion 1
We’ve had 16 hours of content and discussion. In these sessions we take the time to pause, reflect and discuss how all this learning applies to our various contents. Online and face-to-face facilitators will guide us through a clear process to make the most of this valuable time.

Session Worksheet >>

Facilitator: Various
 

Session 2

10:00 - 11:00am (WA) / 11:30 - 12:30pm (SA and NT) / 12:00 - 1:00pm (East Coast)
Title: Wholistic Gospel (optional)
Either keep working in your reflection hubs or join John for this session.

Wholistic… holistic… integral mission… development… social Gospel… you get the picture! We’ll identify the cultural dimensions of patron/client relationships and scratch the surface of foundations of good development.

Session Notes >>

Facilitator: John Davis
John has been involved in intercultural mission for decades and spent many years in South and South East Asia. He recently completed a PhD in sustainability, consults to mission teams around the world on community development and loves being on of Perth’s best beekeepers!
 

Session 3

12:00 - 12:50pm (WA) / 1:30 - 2:20pm (SA and NT) / 2:00 - 2:50pm​ (East Coast)
Title: Hub Discussion 2
We’ve had 16 hours of content and discussion. In these sessions we take the time to pause, reflect and discuss how all this learning applies to our various contents. Online and face-to-face facilitators will guide us through a clear process to make the most of this valuable time.

Facilitator: Various

 

Session 4

1:00 - 2:00pm (WA) / 2:30 - 3:30 (SA and NT) / 3:00 - 4:00pm​ (East Coast)
Title: That’s a wrap!
We started the week with a desire to unpack what it means to see vibrant faith communities following Jesus in their own distinctive ways. In this session we recap what we’ve heard, highlight what we’ve uncovered and commit ourselves to the continuing journey of listening, learning, discerning and taking action… for the sake of the kingdom.

Watch Before: https://youtu.be/0Dw2q7dtUKw

Session Recording >>
Session Notes >>
Ted Loder Prayer >>

Facilitator: Mark Holt
Mark is Global Interaction’s Intercultural Director and seasoned Strategic Mission Week facilitator. His experiences serving in South East Asia, walking alongside hundreds of intercultural workers and digesting millions of words of missiology and theology bring his stories to life.