The Samaria Update is designed to help you identify resources available through the North American Mission Board (NAMB) as your church plans and implements a strategy to reach our continent for Jesus Christ. Previous editions of the Samaria Update are available here.

New Acts 1:8 Challenge Tools                                                       

Acts 1:8 Leadership Seminars Coming in 2008

The Acts 1:8 Challenge Leadership Seminar is one of several new tools available in 2008.

Starting in February, this all-day seminar will be piloted in numerous locations throughout the United States.

"The seminar is based on the eight commitments and the four fields of the Acts 1:8 Challenge," said Tim Yarbrough, Acts 1:8 Challenge coordinator at the North American Mission Board. "It's designed to help pastors and missions leaders get on the right track as they lead their churches to reach their community, region, continent and world for Christ."

Pilots of the seminar are being conducted by associations and state conventions, said Yarbrough. Following the pilots, a version of the seminar that any church, association or state convention can lead will be available. He expects a final version of the seminar to be completed for distribution at the Southern Baptist Convention in June.

Other new tools and strategies for churches being debuted in 2008 for the Acts 1:8 Challenge include:

• Church-wide Acts 1:8 curriculum
• Celebration, rally, renewal weekend and student weekend events
• Fed-Ex Kinkos Acts 1:8 Challenge document store where bulletin inserts, banners, posters and other items can be ordered
• Consultant/coaching network
• Podcasts
• An online missional assessment survey, MAPchurch (www.mapchurch.com), designed to be used by individual churches and Acts 1:8 Challenge field consultants

More information about these and other new tools for churches is available at www.ActsOne8.com.

Each Samaria Update highlights key Acts 1:8 Challenge Kingdom-growing responses to assist your church in fulfilling its Acts 1:8 Challenge commitment.

Prepare - Participate in SFC Vision Tours!

More than 100 new churches started over the next three years! That's the prayer of Vision San Diego www.visionsandiego.com, part of the North American Mission Board's Strategic Focus Cities initiative. Church planters are moving to San Diego from around the country, and many others are being called from within the county to start a new outreach to their community.

Come see how God is moving! By attending a Seeing and Serving Vision Tour, you'll have an opportunity to meet these church planters and others who are finding creative, meaningful ways to share Christ. Upcoming vision tours are filling up, so reserve your spot today!

January 28-30, 2008
February 25-27, 2008
March 24-26, 2008
April 28-30, 2008
May 19-21, 2008

Will you be part of a prayer network for San Diego? As part of the North American Mission Board's Strategic Focus Cities initiative, Vision San Diego wants to see new churches started, existing congregations strengthened, and thousands of volunteers mobilized to serve. But most importantly, we want to seek God's face so that we can join in how He is already moving. Within any effort to reach out to people with the love of Christ, prayer is foundational. The Vision San Diego initiative is no exception. If you'd like to receive regular updates of prayer requests and answers, log on to www.visionsandiego.com and click on Newsletters in the left-hand column.

For more information or to register, contact Anne Decker at 1 877 817-4777 or adecker@visionsd.org

Pray - Subscribe to the NAMB Prayer-Gram

Be a part of a mighty prayer force across North America by subscribing to the North American Missions Prayer-Gram.

The Prayer-Gram provides monthly updates on how God is moving across North America and how you can pray for our North American missionaries as they seek to make Christ known across our continent.

Subscribing is easy! You may download the Prayer-Gram directly at www.namb.net/PrayerGram or request a copy be mailed to you by contacting Elaine Helms at ehelms@namb.net.

Daily North American missions prayer requests are available by calling 1 800 554 PRAY (7729).

Give - Souper Bowl of Caring

The Souper Bowl of Caring has become an annual tradition among many churches across the country. On or near the Sunday of the Super Bowl football game (Feb. 3), dollars are collected in soup pots to help hungry and hurting people in local communities.    

The Souper Bowl of Caring has experienced explosive growth since beginning in 1990 in a South Carolina church. In 2007, more than 14,000 groups from all 50 states and several countries generated over $8 million for charities. This youth-led effort has generated more than $41 million since it became a national effort in 1993. 

How to Participate: Churches and youth groups can register at www.souperbowl.org and receive a free resource kit to help make their Souper Bowl event successful. More than 1,000 Southern Baptist churches have already registered to participate in 2008. Churches announce to their congregation that they'll be collecting $1 from each person on or near Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. Contributions are collected in soup pots on this date, and then sent to a charity of their choice such as World Hunger www.namb.net/hunger.

The Hunger Relief Ministry assists churches, associations and state conventions, so that in the process of distributing food, the gospel can be shared with people in need. Please consider World Hunger funds as a recipient of your Souper Bowl collection. Hunger Relief Ministry donations may be sent to: NAMB World Hunger Fund, Box 116543, Atlanta, GA 30368-6543. Please designate to "World Hunger."

Go - Missions Trip Opportunities

If you are looking to get families in your church involved in missions, check out Families on Mission www.namb.net/fom for opportunities for the summer of 2008. The pre-packaged mission trips are for families to experience missions together. Destinations and dates are posted on the web site.  

World Changers, celebrating its 18th year, provided ministry in 87 cities through the work of 24,092 volunteers in 2007. World Changers creates opportunities for students and their leaders to share the gospel by providing home improvement for substandard housing in the form of painting, roofing and other projects. More information about World Changers is available at www.world-changers.net.

Tell - New Evangelistic Resources

The Church Evangelism Group and Personal and Event Evangelism Team is working with field partners to develop two new cutting edge evangelistic resources:

• The first resource is a manual designed to assist churches in organizing evangelism events to attract unchurched people. The manual will include the how to's for revivals, block parties and comedy dinner theater, special holidays, felt need sermon series and many more ideas. The focus of the manual will be to create attractional events where the gospel can be shared.
  
• Another new resource on relational evangelism has been developed by the Church Evangelism Team. The resource, which is designed for use in a small group setting, is presented in written and video format. The tool will be 6 or 7 sessions long with ongoing lifestyle support through an existing small group, devotional material and interactive internet media.

More information on these and other evangelism resources is available by contacting Jimmy Kinnaird, Personal and Event Evangelism, at jkinnaird@namb.net.

Explore Other 'Kingdom-Growing' Commitments

Be sure to check out other Acts 1:8 Challenge Kingdom-Growing commitments here. Additional information about your church's Samaria response is available here. For questions or comments about the Acts 1:8 Challenge, email tyarbrough@namb.net or call 1 800 4 ACTS 18 (800-422-8718).

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