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Here is an invitation for you and the text of a message I would urge you to send out to those in Perspectives that you associate with. ********************************************* Dear Perspectives People,
Brian Hogan, popular Perspectives speaker and the missionary whose
church planting work is profiled in the Perspectives Reader case study:
A Distant Thunder, Mongols Follow the Khan of Khans, has published the
entire story of the birth of the Mongolian church planting movement in
his brand new book:
There's a Sheep in my Bathtub: Birth of a Mongolian Church Planting
Movement
This is the first missionary adventure title to prominently and
unequivocally feature the role of the Perspectives class in training
and propelling the workers to the field and the tremendous connection
between the principles the team was introduced to in Perspectives and
the awesome success they found in implementing them among the Halhk
Mongolian people group.
Brian has been telling this story in Perpectives classes across the
United States and in Africa and Europe for over a decade. He is perhaps
the most in-demand speaker for Lesson 14 according to the Perspectives
office. This story inspires and mobilizes students who see clearly what
ordinary people can do on the frontiers with simple faith and New
Testament principles. The story also contains the sobering realization
that there is a heavy cost to see the kingdom of darkness pushed back.
The Hogan family lost the firstborn son in the planting of the church
in Erdenet, Mongolia.
You can read some of the chapters online at Google
Book Search
Check out the chapter called "Getting a Little Perspective"!
I am recommending that
- Order your own copy today
- you stock this book for you class book table, if you
have one,
- get copies as gifts for your team
- highlight it to students during Lesson 14
- encourage everyone to give copies as gifts to promote
Perspectives
Cover price is $15.95 for this 272 page book loaded with 59
illustrations. You can order it at a 30% discount for coordinators
through Brian Hogan at info@AsteroideaBooks.com.
Here's some of the Advance Praise for There’s
a Sheep in my Bathtub
From the very first page this book jerks you irretrievably into
the outrageous, the uproarious and the impossible to imagine. It has
got to be one of the most absolutely fascinating tales to ever prove
that the truth is stranger than fiction. Nevertheless, it throbs with a
sobering and relentless sense of calling and purpose that is truly
inspiring.
Dr. Ralph D. Winter, Founder, U.S. Center
for
World Mission
Brian keeps the story rolling. You won’t put this book down
easily. But while you’re having fun turning the pages, you’ll find
yourself amazed at the God who puts the move in Christ-following
movements. You’ll find yourself coached without realizing it, learning
all kinds of wisdom about how to over-achieve in seemingly impossible
things. Mongolia may be one of the best laboratories to learn about how
Christ becomes famous and followed throughout an entire people. And
this could be one of the best bundle of lessons learned. Brian is
transparent about his misgivings and mistakes, and at the same time he
is disarmingly clear about the principles that he was proving true.
It’s hard not come away feeling that you are ready to attempt something
great yourself.
Steve Hawthorne, director of Waymakers,
editor of Perspectives on the World Christian Movement
Hogan has written a personal account of church planting in Erdenet,
Mongolia’s third city, which occurred over a three year period in the
1990s. While emphasizing that he and his family were part of a
church-planting team, his narrative is deeply personal. At points the
story is heart-wrenching and poignant; at other times it is uplifting
and motivating. From the despair of having to bury his only son on the
steppes of Mongolia to the birth of a church-planting movement, Hogan
offers a deeply spiritual memoir, peppered with humor and inspirational
insight, and informed by solid biblical missiology. I recommend this
book to all Christians in the hope that they will see what God in
Christ can do when a man and his family are willing to pay the ultimate
price in discipleship.
Hugh P. Kemp, author of Steppe by Step:
Mongolia’s Christians – from ancient roots to vibrant young church
I wept, laughed and was stirred by this book. I love a good story,
and this is a really good one! You won’t be able to put it down!
Floyd McClung., author of Living on the
Devil’s Doorstep: From Kabul to Amsterdam
Brian Hogan’s apostolic passion shines through with an incredible
combination of raw honesty and witty humor. A gripping real-life
parable unfolds that will have you laughing, weeping and rejoicing at
the amazing testimony of God’s grace and power revealed through
ordinary people facing extra-ordinary obstacles. I wholeheartedly
recommend this book as it not only tells an amazing story, but also
becomes a discipleship tool that reveals to us a whole new paradigm of
church and missions.
David Broodryk, Kingdom People Network, South
Africa
“Reading There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub is like reading another chapter
in the book of Acts. Brian Hogan is not a theorist, but an apostle in
the strictest sense. He has an amazing story to tell of what God has
done through simple obedience to God’s Word and trusting in the Holy
Spirit’s leading to see an entire unreached nation explode with the
Gospel. The spontaneous and radical expansion of the Church in its
first several centuries was not just for then, but it is happening
still today around the world through church planting movements. Read
this book and experience the adventure, miracles and acts of the Holy
Spirit through Hogan’s story. Be prepared to be challenged, to let go
of old paradigms of Church and be ready to embark on your own adventure
to see souls saved, disciples made and churches planted in the nations.
After reading There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub you will once again believe
that the impossible can be possible with God!”
Jaeson Ma, author of The Blueprint: a
Revolutionary Plan to Plant Missional Communities on Campus, and
Director of Campus Church Networks.
If you want a radically cross-cultural journey without leaving your
favorite easy chair – this book is your ticket.
If you desire to plant churches that reproduce among the least reached
– this is your training manual wrapped up in a most delightful, brawny
and instructive story-box!
I laughed – I cried – and wrestled through the realities of what it
means to leave the easy chair and watch God prove Himself faithful -
accomplishing His dreams for a people through one ordinary and obedient
family.
Brian Hogan is courageous, practical and real. Focused in the same
direction for many years, he is a pioneer, church planter, mentor and
model. His journey is a challenge to all those who want to be used by
God. Brian’s thinking will stretch and grow you; his passion and
lifestyle will confront every comfortable corner of your life.
There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub will be top on the reading list for those
I train.
Carol Davis, executive director of LeafLine
Initiatives
Paul planted a church in Ephesus in just three years. Is that
still possible today? Brian Hogan’s story proves that it is. With humor
and colorful descriptions, he tells the story of how his family joined
a team among an unreached people “at the ends of the earth” and saw a
healthy, indigenous Mongol church raise up its own leaders, multiply
itself, and send out its own missionaries—all within three years. As
Brian illustrates, it may not be easy, but it is possible.
Anne Thiessen, Mixteco tribal church planter and
author of The Shepherd’s Storybook
Brian Hogan’s Erdenet-story had been told to me a number of
times as a real and astonishing exception and a true, powerful secret.
I am thrilled to see it in print. Brian experienced church history in
the making in 1993-1996. May his insights multiply like an epidemic and
grip an entire new generation of an apostolic people, so that this
planet will never remain the same.
Wolfgang Simson, author of Houses that Change
the World & The Starfish Manifesto
“There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub” is the gripping story of the
Hogan family’s life on the mission field in Mongolia. It is a book that
will not fail to stir the emotions. Throughout the account, Brian’s
passion to see the Kingdom of God come to one of the least reached
areas of the world shines through. But more than just an enthralling
read about the beginnings of a church planting movement, the book
teaches valuable lessons and principles that can be applied to any
church planting situation—especially cell and simple churches. I could
not put it down. I recommend it without hesitation.
Felicity Dale, author of Getting Started
& An Army of Ordinary People
For the past decade, I have worked side by side with Brian
training and coaching cross-cultural church planters serving among
unreached peoples. How enjoyable it’s been to watch him inspire
hundreds of YWAM church planting teams scattered from Senegal across to
Japan. He’s touched us all deeply by his life experiences communicated
with a passionate heart. Now, through this book, you will feel the
impact as well. May you choose to follow the Hogan family’s
example—launching out in faith, doing your part in bringing the Message
of Jesus to those who have never heard!
Kevin Sutter, International Coordinator, YWAM
Church Planting Coaches
Extraordinary things happened when these two ordinary people
decided together to follow God’s leading “no matter what.” Their story
will touch your heart, encourage you and challenge you, but even more
importantly, their example highlights many key principles for those who
wish to live extraordinary lives of faith following our Lord Jesus.
Joe Branch, cross-cultural coach/consultant
Many are writing about the principles of Church Planting
Movements that today are globally sweeping thousands into God’s
Kingdom. Brian Hogan humbly recounts his family’s experiences on the
remote Mongolian steppes giving leadership to one of these powerful
movements of God. Weaving a story of personal grief, hope, tragedy, and
eventual triumph he has created a volume powerful in honesty and
uplifting in spiritual insights. I recommend it not for armchair
theorists but for ordinary Christians who may also be called upon to
count the cost of obedience.
Bill Smith, International Mission Board church
planting trainer
I’ve known Brian and Louise for many years, and have been
deeply impressed with their extraordinary commitment to the Lord and to
His eternal purpose of spreading His love, mercy, tenderness,
compassion and forgiveness to the ends of the Earth. Their lives truly
demonstrate the Lord’s Father Heart made flesh in a winsomely genuine
way that is incredibly attractive and deeply compelling. I was unable
to put this book down. This masterful and engaging story of their joys
and sorrows, overwhelming challenges, perseverance in tribulation and
astounding successes in Mongolia is a testimony to both their undaunted
spirit and the unwavering faithfulness of God to accomplish His word
with great power through normal people just like you and me. The
timeless spiritual principles embedded in these pages will both inspire
and instruct those who want to know and understand the Lord and His
vision for the world in a deeper and clearer way. I can’t recommend it
to you highly enough!
Fred Markert, director of the Center for
Strategic Initiatives
Brian shares with humor and honesty both the joys and the
pain of cross-cultural pioneer ministry. I laughed and cried as I read
this book and “walked with them” through their years in Mongolia. Some
biographies are worth reading for the delightful and interesting
accounts of the adventures. Others are meaningful for the spiritual
lessons shared. Still others present significant missiological insights
and principles. This book is valuable on all three levels. I highly
recommend this book to anyone considering cross-cultural ministry.
Dr. Betty Sue Brewster, Associate Professor of
Language and Culture Learning, Fuller School of World Mission
John Lennon wrote a song called, “A Day in the Life.” Brian
Hogan answers the often asked question to missionaries “What is your
day like?” with insight and great humor revealing there are not a lot
of days in the life of a missionary that are what we think of as
average. As fellow participants in this splen-did drama, my family
found Brian recalling in excellent detail the joy (and sorrows) of what
it was like to live in Mongolia in the 1990s and participate in what
God was doing. I found his book wonderfully refreshing and recommend it
you as a book you will never forget.
Rick Leatherwood, apostle to Mongolia and
director of Kairos International, author of Glory in Mongolia
It is my delight to endorse my dear brother Brian Hogan’s
book. I have known Brian and his family for a long time. Without
pioneer missionaries like Brian and Louise Hogan, the great awakening
Mongolia experienced would have been impossible. With great sacrifice
they laid down everything for God’s Kingdom in Mongolia, but their
sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Erdenet Assembly, which their team
established, has been a model to young Mongolian churches, and a great
encouragement to indigenous believers to step up and take on leadership
within their churches and in their communities and country as well.
Brian has a heart for Mongolians. His great skill, biblical knowledge,
respect toward Mongolian tradition, culture and history, and his sense
of humor were easily embraced by the locals. His actions were louder
than his words, for which he was loved not only by local Christians,
but by non-Christians as well.
No one can tell the story of Mongolian church birth, growth, and
struggles better than Brian Hogan. His first hand experience is helpful
to not only missionaries who are about to start their journeys, but
also to local believers who are writing the history of Mongolian
Christianity. That’s why I am offering my support and if he wants to
publish his book in Mongolian, I am honored to ask him to finish this
task.
Baika Puntsag, pastor, Amazing Grace Mongolian
Church, Denver, CO, 1st Mongolian church in USA.
A great read. I was drawn in by the struggles and victories
experienced by the Hogan family as they dreamed the impossible: to see
a church planting movement established in Mongolia. This book is
stuffed with powerful New Testament Apostolic church planting
principles—something woefully absent in today’s missionary literature.
Brian writes from “hands on” practical experience and not theory.
Excellent!! I highly recommend There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub to anyone
who dreams of the impossible. A must-read for any future church planter
on all continents!
Jeff Gilbertson, church planter to the Tajiks,
simple church practitioner
I was greatly inspired. This book is an excellent asset for
anyone training church planters. I would make it required reading for
all on how to plant an indigenous church from the beginning. The wisdom
and courage showed in passing the baton is simply remarkable.
Rev. Glenn Schwartz, author of When Charity
Destroys Dignity and director of World Mission Associates. |
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