There are myriads of great missions resources out there. For our purposes, we will stick to Alliance resources
Events
General Council
This biennial event for the entire United States Alliance family provides many venues for exposure to missions training and stirring live reports from Alliance IWs. The Alliance Missions Network, a gathering of church, district, and national missions team leaders, usually takes place Tuesday morning or afternoon before Council officially opens.
Converge
As a pastor or missions team leader of an Alliance congregation of any size, you are invited to Converge, a conference designed to stir your passion for great Alliance missions engagement in your church.
Engage
The district missions mobilizers organize and meet with pastors and church missions leaders either in one place or in four regions of the district for focus groups or training events every two or three years either in the spring or fall. Churches are usually welcome to send additional people who are on the missions committee or interested in missions.
Called to Serve
Called to Serve is an event for people of all ages that takes place every 3 years (the year of LIFE, in the fall) with the purpose of
· Providing information, resources and exposure to Alliance missions leaders to those who are exploring a call to missions and
· Motivating all generations to complete the Great Commission here, there and everywhere.
Women’s Events
www.CDCMA.org/events // www.CDCMA.org/alliance-women
Various events may be held throughout the year , including a fall retreat and spring rallies, to give women opportunities to connect with international workers. Typically, the Wednesday of Bible & Missionary Conference at Beulah Beach is reserved for Ladies Day. The district website or Alliance Women Facebook page have more information.
Beulah Beach Bible and Missions Conference
Every year during the last week of July people from our district and at least two others converge on Beulah Beach for this event that features great Bible teachers, exciting missions speakers, and Spirit-filled worship. The Sunday afternoon missions rally is spectacular! Come for part of a day, a day, or the entire week.
CD100 Follow the Call Retreat
www.CDCMA.org/cd100 // www.CDCMA.org/events
Bob and Dian Harner // dharner@cdcma.org // 330-414-0554
Members of the CD100 are invited to attend a heavily subsidized three-day retreat each summer where they learn more about the process of serving overseas with the Alliance, interact with Alliance missions leaders, receive training in an area specifically related to their preparation for service overseas, network, and enjoy recreation with Alliance IWs and others on the path to overseas ministry, whether with the Alliance or another agency.
Central District Youth Missions Trip
For more information visit Short Term Trips.
Websites
These six websites contain a wealth of information and resources for pastors and mission team leaders.
Central District Website
Explore the “missions” tab for information about our district missions mobilization ministry , CD100, CD IW PowerPoints, missions videos , and links to serving overseas with the Alliance. Visit www.CDCMA.org/videos for messages from the 2016 and 2017 Deep and Wide events, and more. Find information about Missionary Wheels or Alliance Women ministries like TCK adoption and Love Gifts.
Compassion and Mercy Associates (CAMA) Website
See how to give or go to sites to participate in relief projects. Learn about each CAMA project by location or type of work. Read great stories about God at work through CAMA workers.
Envision Website
Learn about short term trips designed for people of all ages, Trek Year, Internships, and Residency. Explore Alliance Volunteer Opportunities that allow people to serve with CAMA, mm or aXcess workers where there is no Envision site. Check out GiveBack, a program that has a primary focus on empowering retirees and experienced professionals to serve with Envision workers at one of their 20+ sites.
The Alliance Website
The Alliance World Fellowship Website
Marketplace Ministries Website
Videos
If a picture paints a thousand words, how many does a video paint? Let professionally-produced Alliance videos give your congregation or small group a better picture—a moving picture in every sense of the word—of how God is using Alliance international workers to reach the nations.
Alliance Video Magazine (AVM) and Alliance Snapshots are short enough to be used before or during a sermon to drive a point home. They can be used to start a small group discussion or allow a youth group to see God in action.
Alliance Videos
Find high quality missions videos with stories of the work on various fields and videos that show churches in the U.S. involved in reaching out to those around them. These videos are typically 1 to 4 minutes long—ideal for sermon illustrations, youth group and small group meetings. You can even filter by series, regions, genres and languages.
One of the series is Alliance Snapshots. These brief videos (usually about one minute long) are video shorts designed to grab your attention and dynamically introduce you to what the Alliance family is doing both domestically and internationally.
Another series is Missions Engagement, relating specifically to our past and present Missions Engagement themes. They contain compelling stories with the end goal of inspiring viewers to consider ways to further engage in the mission of the C&MA and the local church.
News & Stories
Current News Updates
Stories about Alliance IWs or what it is like to be a refugee child and news updates on things like the relief efforts in our country and around the world can be found here.
Alliance Life Online
Both the current and archived editions of the online version of Alliance Life can be found online. The hard copy version of Alliance Life is free and often includes stories from CAC workers that cannot be included in the online version.
Specifically for Missions Leaders
MyCMA
https://cmalliance.org/mycma/sign-in.jsp
As your church’s official missions point person (designated in your church’s annual report to the national office), you have access to a wealth of missions resources via your “MyCMA” account at www.CMAlliance.org. This includes information about the current year’s missions emphasis theme, as well as links to other resources that are designed to help your church become increasingly engaged in Alliance missions. Contact the District missions mobilizers if you need help setting up or accessing your account.
Helpful resources such as Alongside Journey (ideas on how to come “alongside” IWs through various phases of their ministry journey) and the Missions Engagement Assessment Tool are available here for download (or you can contact your district missions mobilizers).
Other Alliance Missions Resources
Missions Engagement Resources Page
www.CMAlliance.org/our-work/church-ministries/missions-engagement/
This helpful page directs you to resources for explaining the missiology of the Alliance, practical ways to engage your congregation with missions, ideas for engaging the next generation with missions, links to missions videos not included elsewhere on the Alliance website and much more.
A.B. Simpson’s Writings
www.CMAlliance.org/archives/history/simpson
A. B. Simpson’s writings, many on missions, can be downloaded. You must be signed in to your MyCMA account.
Alliance Prayer Requests
Global prayer requests are posted on a weekly basis. Sign up to receive them via email, which serves as an excellent reminder. Also available via The Alliance Mobile App for Android and Apple.
The Alliance Call to Prayer
This bulletin insert is designed to remind people to pray for Alliance needs both domestically and internationally. Read stories of answered prayer.
Alliance Life Magazine
The hard copy version of the Alliance’s denominational magazine is bimonthly and comes to your mailbox FREE of charge. Although it is also available online, stories from CAC workers that cannot be included in the online version are often included in the print version. You can subscribe online or by filling out a printed subscription application available through your missions mobilizers.
The Alliance Mobile App
Available at both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
Stay connected to The Alliance wherever you go with The Alliance Mobile App. Read current Alliance stories and news, experience Tozer daily devotionals, and lift Alliance weekly prayer requests to God’s throne.
The Mission of God and the Alliance Family
www.allianceleaders.org/programs-courses/school-of-ministry
Throughout history, God has had one, all-encompassing mission. This mission has driven all He has done from Creation to the Cross. The Mission of God and the Alliance Family is a course designed to help us discover and immerse ourselves in the single task God has given to those who follow Jesus Christ.
Our International Workers
Central District International Workers
www.CMAlliance.org/district/central
Of the 700+ Alliance IWs, about 60 call the Central District their home or sending district. In addition, nearly a dozen others have some relationship with the Central District, although they are officially sent by other districts. A partial list of our Central District IWs can be found at CMAlliance.org/district/central. More than half of our IWs are CAC workers. A complete list or contact information for our CAC IWs is available by request.
Bob and Dian Harner // dharner@cdcma.org // 330-414-0554
Other Alliance International Workers
To locate non-CAC Alliance IWs from other districts, go to cmalliance.org/district/central and replace “central” with one of the other districts.
Your district missions mobilizers or the Global Link Office at the Alliance National Office can also help you locate IWs from other districts.
IW Speakers
The Central District maintains an online calendar listing the IWs who are on home assignment in (or near) our district. This calendar also lists the dates these workers are available to speak. Each May, pastors and missions team leaders receive an email with a link to this calendar and an invitation to book one IW for one three-day weekend. (When an IW is available, coordination of a longer engagement is encouraged.) If dates remain available on the calendar after all district churches have selected one speaker, an invitation to book additional IWs is sent. Churches are encouraged to engage IWs more than once a year when possible.
Churches are encouraged to select speakers from the list provided through the online calendar. However, if your church has an ongoing partnership with an IW who is not listed on the district calendar, you are welcome to book that worker for your annual missions event at your own expense.
The district missions mobilizers are responsible for documenting and reporting on missions events held in our district. As such, it is important that you inform them of any missions events (IW name and event dates) not booked through the district online calendar.
An expanded list of available missions speakers which includes former IWs is available by request.
