The Missions Show

English-speaking churches in cities like Dubai or Bangkok don’t appear to be the most missiologically strategic—at least on paper. But as with any local church, there’s more to international churches than meets the eye. Dr. Michael Crane returns to the show to share the beauties, challenges, and unique blessings of expat fellowships abroad and multiethnic churches at home.

Michael and his wife moved to Southeast Asia working in a variety of roles with development agencies. During this time, Michael completed a Ph.D. in urban missiology. Michael Crane (M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D.) loves cities and loves the church. Michael has lived in a number of global cities (Taipei, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and San Francisco). He serves as faculty of two different seminaries and is a co-director of Radius Global Cities Network, an urban research think-tank that assists the church in seeking the welfare of the city. In addition, he is involved in training and equipping church planters through City to City. Michael has contributed to a number of books and articles on topics related to the city.

Watch the video version of this episode on the ABWE YouTube channel.

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The Missions Show is a ministry resource of ABWE. Learn more at abwe.org.

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In our next episode, missiologist Dr. Michael Crane returns to the show to talk about international churches and the unique intersection of missiological issues they unearth.

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What should missionaries do when a sending church withdraws their support? If we value submission to the local church as much as we value missions, the answer isn’t always easy. This week, Scott Dunford and Alex Kocman discuss how overseas workers can address rifts with their home church. 

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Coming up this week, we’re having a candid conversation about what happens when a missionary’s church withdraws his or her support. Stay tuned.

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What do missionaries need to know about apologetics? Veteran author, speaker, and apologetics Josh McDowell reminds us about our commitment to defending truth—and sharing the evidence.

Josh McDowell has been at the forefront of cultural trends and groundbreaking ministry for more than 58 years. He shares the essentials of the Christian faith in everyday language so that people of all ages and stages can know Christ, understand what they believe and why it is true, and learn how to live, share and defend their faith.

Well-known as an articulate speaker, Josh has spoken to approximately 46 million people in 139 countries. Josh has written or co-authored 152 books with some translated in 128 languages. These include More Than a Carpenter with over 27 million copies distributed. He also authored Evidence That Demands a Verdict, named by World Magazine as one of the twentieth century's top 40 books and one of the thirteen most influential books on Christian thought of the last 50 years. Evidence That Demands a Verdict also won the 2018 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association award in the Bible Reference Book category.

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Christians in the US and across the world live among people that are hostile to truth. Are we equipped to defend our faith? Veteran apologist Josh McDowell asks some penetrating questions in this week’s episode.

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The generation now coming of age is fraught with anxiety and feeling isolated. What will it take for missionaries and church leaders to motivate Generation Z towards cross-cultural missions? We explore this fascinating question with Dr. Jolene Erlacher, author, speaker, consultant, leadership coach, and teacher.

Dr. Jolene Erlacher founded Leading Tomorrow in 2014 with the aim of equipping churches, businesses, schools, missions agencies and other organizations for effective inter-generational leadership in an evolving culture.  Her passion for equipping a new generation of leaders emerged from various leadership experiences in education and ministry. 

Watch the video version of this episode on the ABWE YouTube channel.

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This week, researcher Dr. Jolene Erlacher shares the differences between mobilizing Millennials for cross-cultural missions and motivating Generation Z.

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Steven Chmil serves as a surgeon and church-planting missionary in Togo. Now returned from his first term overseas, Steven shares the unique challenges, blessings, and opportunities of ministry in an Islamic context where precision—theological and medical—matters.

Learn more about Steven’s ministry or support him and Bethany here.

Watch the video version of this episode on the ABWE YouTube channel.

Support this podcast and impact God’s mission.

Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].

What does healthcare have to do with theology? Missionary surgeon Steven Chmil shares why having surgical precision is essential in both domains.

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Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].