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Article from William Bjoraker - FREE eBook

  • Posted on: 11 April 2014
  • By: ION Gatekeeper
The "People of the Book” are the People of the Story:  Storytelling in Contemporary Jewish Ministry
By  William Bjoraker,  PhD
Director of Operation Ezekiel
FREE eBook
I have been involved in storytelling in Jewish ministry for a few years now, and participate in ION.
I want to submit the attached article I wrote, for public sharing. 
 
Thank you,
Bill Bjoraker
 
William D. (Bill) Bjoraker, PhD
Associate Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies & Contemporary Western Culture
William Carey International University
Pasadena, CA

The Foundation of Prayer

  • Posted on: 23 September 2013
  • By: ION Gatekeeper

Our prayer teams have come a long way from the original prayer conference call as our only tangible way to serve in prayer with ION. When Avery Willis asked our teams to come alongside him in prayer we really had no idea where it would take us. What a journey our teams have been on! 

When we began, we were meeting to pray for the work going on in Executive Board Meetings with the Great Commission Partner Groups that eventually led us to covering and being involved in prayer with ION. For our team, this past conference in St. Louis marks the beginning of our 8th year of conferences and the beginning of the 10th year praying for the work behind the scenes. God is on the move in an even greater way as we are linking in so many new ways to the finishing of the Great Commission.

One of the priorities of our team has been to raise the level of awareness for praying for UUPGs. If you have not already done so, may we ask you to pray about adopting a UUPG in prayer. You can do that at the Finishing the Task website where we help to share the need for many intercessors to pray in the harvest of the Lord.

Prayer for UUPGs - Unengaged Unreached People Groups  

Commit to Pray

You and your church can commit to pray for one of these Unengaged, Unreached People Groups. To commit to pray click here. If you would like to place a link from your web site to the commit to pray tool, you may find instructions for doing so here.

Sign up at: http://Prayer.FinishingTheTask.com/

 

THE CHALLENGE OF “FINISHING THE TASK”

We usually say,
“I’ve got to see it to believe it.”

We need to say,
“I’ve got to believe it to see it.”

There are only 4 UUPGs left to be adopted from that original 639 List, but the work of prayer is far from finished.

Many more need to be involved in prayer involving the current list of targeted UUPGs.

Another way to be involved in prayer is to join the Praying for the Unreached People of the Day through the Joshua Project website- you will see they many times that they focus on UUPG - Unengaged Unreached People Groups and adding a widgit to your blog or website from http://www.joshuaproject.net/upgotdfeed.php

 

 

Mandaean of Iran

The Mandaeans are descendants of Jewish-Christian Gnostics (AD 150), and may be the only sect from late antiquity to identify themselves as Gnostics. Sometimes Mandaeans are called Christians of Saint John. Until recently, Mandaeans lived mainly in Iraq and Iran, but many have now fled Iraq and settled in other countries. "A very strange and singular people, in terms of their rituals, lives in the desert near Baghdad....they are a very simple people and they claim to possess a secret law of God, which they preserve in beautiful books." Ricoldo da Montecroce, c 1290. Mandaeism is based more on a common heritage than on any set of religious creeds and doctrines. They venerate John the Baptist, and baptism is their central sacrament.

Ministry Obstacles
After centuries of isolation the Mandaeans are quite insular and protective of their society and their religion. Christian resources are limited in their mother tongue.

Outreach Ideas
Mandaens now reside in some western countries, and access is easier than in the past. Christians should reach out to befriend these people, and find out more about their culture, their religion, and their world view. There are likely bridges to this people given their ancient roots in Christianity.

Pray for the followers of Christ
There likely are no Christian believers among the Mandaeans, but pray those who will soon find Christ will be able to clearly understand the Good News of Christ, especially the grace He offers.

Pray for the entire people group
Pray the Mandaen diaspora peoples will be able to integrate into the cultures and societies where they now reside, and will be open to new world views.

Scripture Focus
"How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:14-15

 
 
People Name: Mandaean
Country: Iran
10/40 Window: Yes
Population: 7,600
World Population: 27,000
Language: Mandaic
Primary Religion: Other / Small
Bible: None
Online Audio NT: No
Jesus Film: No
Audio Recordings: No
Christ Followers: Few, less than 2%
Status: Unreached
Progress Level:
1.1

Joshua Project

Tour the ION Website

  • Posted on: 2 May 2013
  • By: admin

Welcome to International Orality Network's new website – orality.net. All of ION’s information from previous websites and other networks, like Community, including your log-in and password, have been migrated to orality.net.

Here’s What’s New

The first thing you’ll notice is ION has a new logo. In order to successfully represent all of the organizations within ION, a new logo with colors was birthed. Simply click the Resources tab and select ION Global Network logo and colors to understand meanings and representation. If you wish to use the ION Logo and or link with ION's new website, please contact [email protected].

 

The new features this website offers are:

  • The home page, you’re looking at, has relevant information with active links.
  • There is an Audio and Video link on the home page showcasing ION presentations.
  • Under the Prayer tab select Calendar which accommodates ION related events and encourages prayer for that event.
  • You can now make donations to ION through National Christian Foundation. Under the Get Involved tab select Donate.
  • On every page (excluding the home page) you will find a tab titled Refer to Friends. When sending to a friend, simply click and you will have multiple options for sending that page.
  • The new website works across all mobile platforms enabling you to access and interact with resources on-the-go!

 

Coming Soon

We will have a full events registration page.

If you have an article or prayer request to submit or need graphics from the branding guide, go to the Networks tab and select e-mail. Your request will be sent to [email protected] for review.

 

Please enjoy the new tools and improvements that have been made to ION’s website to serve you and the network better. We look forward to your involvement.

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