What's New Archives - 2001
Here's What's New for the Week of November 19, 2001!
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We added several new languages to Bibles in Your Language, including Kyrgyz, Nuer, Hmong, Punjabi, and Slovak.
Week of August 27, 2001
Ethnic Harvest is delighted to offer two new FLASH ANIMATIONS created for us by a talented volunteer graphic designer. Don't miss these beautiful animations of Romans 15:7 and Isaiah 49:1, including soundtrack!
The North American Mission Board (NAMB) has published an excellent online article, "Planting a Multicultural Church".
Our Mission Links page has a new link to International Teams, an interdenominational group that organizes long-term and short-term ministry teams in urban settings in the USA and around the world. (They also have the best-designed Christian website I've ever seen.)
Week of July 23, 2001
We hope you'll take a minute to read, Ten Steps Toward Cultural Sensitivity, practical advice that will improve all our relationships.
Week of July 9, 2001
Ethnic Harvest has a new page on worship and music, including sources for multicultural, African, Asian, Native American and Spanish hymnals.
One resource that stands out is the Worship Arts Network, which has an excellent site on ethnic worship music. These are just two of many articles on their site:
Week of July 2, 2001
The Mailbox Club mails out free Bible studies in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese to children, teens, or adults. Over 2,000 USA ministries use Mailbox Club lessons as
follow-up in children's ministries, Sunday Schools, crisis pregnancy counseling, prison outreach, American Indian work, etc. The lessons are available worldwide in over 100 languages. For more information, visit their website or send an email to email@mailboxclub.org.
Songs of Praise is a great idea - praise songs online in Afrikaans, Chinese, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish. Download midi and MP3 files for personal and nonprofit use.
Week of June 18, 2001
This week we celebrate two milestones: our site has been online for 18 months online and our counter just passed 100,000 page visits. Thank you for your encouragement and support, and for all the ministries who link to Ethnic Harvest!
Speaking of links, this week Ethnic Harvest was featured in Internet for Christians, a biweekly newsletter from gospelcom.net:
We thank the good people at Gospelcom.net and Internet for Christians for such a nice write-up.
This week we added a link to Read Carry Share, a ministry of the Pocket Testament League. Their mission is to encourage Christians everywhere to READ, CARRY and SHARE the Word of God. When you sign up for a free membership you can request free copies of the Gospel of John in English, Spanish or Simplified Chinese. Since 1908 the Pocket Testament League has given away more than 95 million Scripture portions.
Our thanks to the Association of Nazarenes in Social Research for permission to reprint Urban Cross-Cultural Church Planting Models, by Jerry L. Appleby.
Week of June 11, 2001
 I've recently added gospel resource pages for Cambodian, Dutch, Hebrew, Hmong, Kirghyz, Turkish, and Yiddish (and updated many others). Visit our sitemap for a complete list.
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The North American Mission Board website has a wealth of online publications for ethnic church planting. One of the best is the 14 page Guide for Planting Multicultural Churches, available as a free download in .pdf (Adobe Reader) format.
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We've published a new article on "The Process of Cultural Assimilation" which discusses how to meet the very different needs of first generation immigrants and their second generation (American) kids.
I-AM.org is offering free Real Audio downloads of gospel messages in 41 languages. (The messages are produced by Global Recording Network, a ministry which provides recorded gospel messages in over 4000 languages.)
One New People: Models for Developing a Multiethnic Church, by Manuel Ortiz (Intervarsity, 1996) "is an invitation to open the
treasure chest of multiethnicity and rejoice." Offering both presonal stories and time-tested models, the author He
urges us not just to put aside our differences but to celebrate them and to embrace them in a way that draws us closer to each other and closer to God. |
Week of May 28, 2001
The free monthly email journal: Monthly Missiology Reflections, features the writing of Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen, professor of missions
at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX. This is not dry and academic: it is lively "must reading" for everyone who is serious about sharing Christ cross-culturally. The site includes an article achive, quotes, a dictionary of missiological/church planting terms, and more.
To sample Monthly Missiology Reflections, try these recent articles:
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This week I rediscovered the classic missions book, Peace Child by Don Richardson. Peace Child is a powerful story of how God planted seeds for the gospel in Papua New Guinea through traditional customs. When warring tribes of head-hunters made peace, they each exchanged a child, just as God gave His Son for us. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.
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Week of May 21, 2001
Dr. Philip Yancey has given us permission to reprint an excerpt from his book, Beyond Black and White: Reflections on Racial Reconciliation, published by Baker Book House in 1996.
There are lots of e-groups being formed to provide news and build community among people with specific ministry interests. My new "E-groups" page lists a number of groups, some academic, some practical or personal, designed for missionaries, Native American Christians, families in cross-cultural settings, and others.
What Color Is Jesus? How Can We Present Jesus to a New Culture without Bringing Our Own?, by David Learner, is reprinted here with permission from Mission Frontiers, the magazine of the U.S. Center for World Mission, 1997-07-01.
Week of May 7, 2001
The Biblical Studies Foundation publishes free online Bibles studies in Albanian, Chinese, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.
freedict.com offers free online dictionaries in English-to- Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, and Swedish.
Have you heard about Talk Time? College ministries at several churches in the Seattle area host informal Talk Time evenings, inviting international students for an evening of food, fun and conversation, so they can practice their English. For more information, visit speechtree.com for dozens of conversation starters and Talk Time topics.
Conflict Resolution in Chinese Churches, an article by Johan Fu, is reprinted here with permission from Chinese Around The World, March 2001, pages 6-11.
Biblical 'Man of Peace' Approach is Key to Effective Outreach, by Erich Bridges, is reprinted here with permission from Baptist Press.
Week of April 30, 2001
The U.S. Census Bureau has released Census 2000 population statistics for every state, reported by Race and Hispanic/Latino origin.
You can find a table for your state and counties in Who Lives in Your State?
(More detailed Census statistics are scheduled for release later this year, including ethnic origin and foreign languages spoken.) |
A new addition to our Recommended Articles page is Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF), publisher of:
PFF also gave us permission to reprint The Immigrants Creed.
Week of April 2, 2001
I've updated our directory of Bibles in Your Languages to include sources for print, audio and online Bibles in 170 languages! |
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One exciting find is Bibliaonline.com.br, published by a 19-year old brother from Rio de Janeiro. It allows you to basically build your own bilingual Bible online! Choose a chapter and 2 languages (from Albanian, Chinese, English, Greek, Hebrew, Portuguese or Spanish) and it will build a custom page to display the passage in two parallel columns.
Another find is Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) which distributes audio New Testaments in over a hundred languages. (Bibles in Your Language now lists them all.) FCBH also has a program called Operation Evangelism where they'll do a bulk mailing of an audio Gospel of Mark from your church to every residential address in your zip code for just $2.50 per address.
BOOK OF THE WEEK:
God's Global Mosaic:
What We Can Learn from Christians Around the World
by Paul Gordon Chandler, John R. W. Stott
Intervarsity Press, 2000
"You will want to read the interesting (sometimes surprising, often moving, many humorous) stories and
illustrations in Paul-Gordon Chandler's book, God's Global Mosaic. It is my prayer that you will be
blessed, encouraged and challenged as you read about your Christian brothers and sisters in cultures
vastly different from your own, and yet all joined together in one family of God!" BILLY GRAHAM
"My friend Paul-Gordon Chandler leads us around the world and introduces us to the Christians with
whom we'll worship the Lord in heaven someday. During the journey we discover how much we need
one another in the body of Christ." LUIS PALAU
Week of April 2, 2001
This week we found two excellent online resources for our Articles directory:
The Diversity Project: Stories and Practical Learnings about the Origins of Multicultural Urban Churches, by Rocky Kidd and Allan Howe (2000). This multi-page paper includes history, case studies, bibliography, and very helpful summaries.
Second, the archives of the United Method Reporter, including these articles:
- How One Congregation has Developed a Multicultural Ministry, by Cynthia B. Astle, November 27,2000, stresses the importance of having a "visibly multi-cultural staff and lay leadership" if you want your ethnic ministry to grow.
- God's Mission is Multicultural, by Cynthia B. Astle, November 27,2000, reports on a seminar by Rev. Stephen A. Rhodes, author of Where the Nations Meet: The Church in a Multicultural World.
- In Confrontation of Cultures is Changing Churches, from United Methodist News Service, November 13, 1997, the Rev. Charles Foster, author of Embracing Difference: Leading Multicultural Congregations, talks about the need for congregations to affirm cultural differences and develop an environment where meaningful listening can take place.
Women's Mission Union (WMU) publishes mission leadership materials for language churches, including a quarterly missions magazine in Spanish, Korean, Chinese or Basic English (with sections in Cambodian, French, Laotian and Vietnamese).
New Ethnic Harvest features:
The directory of English-speaking churches in foreign countries published by International Ministry Fellowship is a useful new addition to our International Travel Page.
Week of March 26, 2001
The author grew up in Hong Kong, emigrated to the United States, and is now an Episcopal priest. Here's how Law describes his purpose in writing the The Wolf Shall Dwell With the Lamb:
"What I have attempted to do in this book is to begin the dialogue and theological reflection on what it means, spiritually and practically, to be a leader in a multicultural community.
I have approached this topic through biblical reflection, an analysis of the differences in the perception of power in different cultures, theological reflection, and case studies, ...presenting practical processes and ideas that I have tested in my work...
Also new this week: "Hues in the Pews", an excellent article which reports the findings of a nationwide study out of Rice University to assess the current state of diversity in the church. The article is reprinted at a site called Race Matters, and was originally published in the February 28, 2001 issue of the Christian Century magazine.
For more reading suggestions, see Recommended Books.
The new 2000 Census results are beginning to be published. New last week is the U.S. Census Bureau's Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin. There's also a new report entitled U.S. Hispanic Population 2000.
The Sunset International Bible Institute web site has a PowerPoint presentation you can download with interesting facts about North America as a mission field.
| Maps on Us is a powerful site which will search your local yellow pages for a description (such as "Hispanic Church") and map the results.
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Week of March 12, 2001
We have developed a page which makes it easy to link to us. If you enjoy Ethnic Harvest, please share our ministry by adding a link to your web site.
If you live in a port city, God has truly brought the world to your town. A ministry to seamen on the ships in port can make an international impact.
Check out Transforming the City, a book on urban ministry which was developed by twenty-five urban ministry experts who participated in a workshop organized by International Urban Associates (IUA).
The group used storytelling and art to express their findings interactively, and wrote chapters on diversity, relationships and conflict resolution, all in an urban ministry context.
The entire book is available online at the link above. In addition, Steve Ujvarosy, a facilitator for the project who maintains their web site, has given us permission to reprint Chapter 4: Appreciating Cultural Richness.
Week of February 26, 2001
Our state pages now offer FREE zip-code demographics, a powerful tool to help you plan more effective community outreach.
The data is still from the 1990 Census, but the 2000 Census info is expected this summer. Please let your denomination and other local ministries know that this information is available here at the Ethnic Harvest web site.
We hope that this information will help you in your ministry planning and prompt questions like "Is there a church ministering locally to each of these groups?" and "How can our church partner together with ethnic Christians to the glory of God?"
Our Travel Page is all new, with several great features, including
- The Worldwide Clock with current date and time for any country;
- a Currency Exchange Calculator;
- links to Christian agencies who offer discount fares for mission trips (and, no, we don't benefit financially from these listings);
- and links for international weather, passport info and more.
Week of February 19, 2001
I am excited about the new list of foreign language Bibles that I compiled this month. So far over 150 links to online Bibles in 60 languages!
One discovery was olivetree.com, where you can get free Bible downloads for Palm OS and WinCE (PocketPC) and PC in Albanian, French, Greek, Spanish, Chinese, German, Swedish, Czech and several English versions.
ChristianAnswers.Net offers gospel coloring pages for kids in Chinese, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish,and Tagalog.
ChristianAnswers.Net also offers an on-line presentation of God's Story: From Creation to Eternity. You can read the narrative in English, French, Indonesian and Portuguese. Or, listen to an audio presentation in 17 languages including:
English, Arabic, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian (Jakarta), Indonesian (Sumatra), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Wolof.
Arabic Bible Outreach is a beautiful site which publishes Arabic Bibles (HTML and audio), a directory of Arabic churches in the U.S., testimonials, information for Muslims, and more.
A Christian site called True Stories has compiled a great list of online dictionaries and language courses. Developed in Brazil, the site features English and Portuguese in parallel columns. An excellent resource.
Week of February 12, 2001
I was pleased to find two web sites from authors who write on a wide variety of relevant topics:
Andrés Tapia is a freelance writer and Associate Editor with Pacific News Service. His web site reprints some of his work on Latinos, immigration, race, Peru, relationships, and spirituality and religion, including:
David and Ana D'Amico represent the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) which is accredited at the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) by the United Nations Department of Public Information.
Here's a link to David's article Ethnic Ministry in the Urban Setting.
For more good reading, see our index to Recommended Articles.
January 15, 2001
Jim Sutherland, Director of Reconciliation Ministries Network, has graciously allowed us to reprint his article, "Introduction to Cross-Cultural Ministry."
We've downloaded a list of the 50 Top Languages Spoken in U.S. from the 1990 U.S. Census.
There's a new page with resources for Urban Ministry.
Our Foreign-Language Resources page now links to God's Story, an 80-minute video which presents the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The video (and an audio version) are available in 32 languages, with more in development. Current languages include:
| Albanian |
French |
Japanese |
Romanian |
| Amharic |
German |
K'anjobal |
Russian |
| Arabic |
Greek |
Kazak |
Spanish |
| Armenian |
Hindi |
Korean |
Susu |
| Bambara |
Indonesian (Sumatra) |
Mandarin |
Turkish |
| Chuj San Mateo Ixatan |
Indonesian (Jakarta) |
Mam Northern |
Ukraine |
| English |
Italian |
Portuguese |
Vietnamese |
| Farsi |
Hebrew |
Quechua |
Wolof |
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Search our site or search the web:
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Copyright © 1999-2015 Ethnic Harvest. All rights reserved.
Ethnic Harvest provides online resources to
help North American churches and
congregations build and maintain an
effective cross-cultural ministry. Find
creative mission ideas, articles, practical
information, foreign-language and linked resources. Access a list of
churches ministering to ethnic congregations, census data and people
group information. Also available are Bibles in 170 languages (online,
print and audio), travel tools (international clock, currency exchange
calculator, discount airfares) and more. Ethnic Harvest's vision is "that a
rich variety of language-specific and multi-cultural churches will be
developed to effectively serve every ethnic group living in North
America." 
