The Mission-Centered Life: Following Jesus into the Broken Places, Study Guide

by Bethany Ferguson

In this in-depth study on missional living, Bethany Ferguson draws on her fifteen years of missionary experience to examine the reasons believers should pursue lives of service and evangelism. The Mission-Centered Life explores why holistic missions is needed, how God's grace empowers us to serve in places of need, what to do when we fail as missionaries, and how to cultivate hope in the midst of a broken world.

For Christians who long to serve God in broken places but aren't sure where to start, The Mission-Centered Life speaks to the "whys" and "hows" of missional living.

Designed for personal reflection and small group discussion, Ferguson provides Scripture study, profound application and questions, as well as essays and personal stories to illustrate the importance of missions both for the missionary and the community being served by the missionary.

Several books on missions tend to focus on the adventure or challenge of living cross-culturally. Others focus on the number of conversions as the primary measurement of success. The Mission-Centered Life offers instead the option to explore how our weakness and need is what prepares us to serve a needy world. Ferguson invites readers to take on a posture of humility, which is vital for the church desiring to be relevant in the world. This invaluable resource urges others to see how we are like those we come to serve and how we can learn from them.

Find confidence in God's missional purposes in the world and a deeper understanding of life with Jesus, who pursued the marginalized as shown throughout the New Testament. Anchor your hope to Christ, who moves us out of our comfort zones to care for the needs of the world.

130 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2019

About the author

Bethany Ferguson, MA, has spent most of the last fifteen years serving with Serge in Uganda, South Sudan, and Kenya. Her cross-cultural work focuses on promoting education and mental health care for children and adolescents in under-resourced areas. She is currently pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anderson has spent 15 years in cross cultural ministry in Africa, and has written a guide that will help anyone considering what it means to live in a mission focussed way. It’s not only for those who are considering cross-cultural mission, although there certainly is an emphasis on that. However, anyone who wants to be challenged how they consider mission in any context will benefit.

Designed for small group use, there are ten chapters. Each starts outlining the big idea, there is a short bible study, a few pages of written reflection and questions to discuss after reading it all. For those who want to push a little further, there are another few pages by the author at the end of each chapter, and further options for discussion or private journalling.

She covers a wide range of topics, including going, prayer, service, suffering, repentance, joy and identity. She was honest about her own struggles with sin on the field, and how God grew her in faith and understanding.

It could be used for personal reflection, but I think there would be real value in doing it with at least one other person. There would be benefit for bible study groups and the like to also work through this material together. It would be eye-opening and challenging, whether or not anyone in the group was considering overseas service. Couples or family units considering cross cultural work could do it together with great benefit as they ponder Christ, the gospel, world mission and their potential place in it. As such, it could be a resource to assist with decision making to enter the mission field and further training. At the same time, I suspect those already on the field could benefit as well as they take a step back and reconsider the truths of the gospel in light of their service, and reconsider their own hearts in it.