From 1986-1995, Dan and his wife Rachel served in Germany with Encompass World Partners, and after returning to the States, they ministered at the New Beginnings Church in Myerstown, PA for 18 years. It was 2015 when Ashland Grace asked Dan to become the Assistant Pastor for Missions and Small Groups. In Ashland, Dan found a community that had historically been very missions focused, but though many of the members supported missions, they lacked updated training resources in what global missions is really about. Dan began to consider how to develop a course on global missions that would be specifically designed for small groups.

For several years, the Jacksons have also served on the Encompass Member Care Team, and they recently flew to Bangkok, Thailand to help coach at a large gathering of Encompass Global Workers. While there, Dan talked with Encompass Executive Director Dave Guiles about his need for materials to train his small groups in understanding global missions. Dave had just the answer Dan was looking for.

Encompass was publishing a new book called Discovering Global Missions.

Dan was eager to introduce this new resource to the Ashland Grace Church community. When he returned from Thailand, he quickly organized four Discovering Global Missions gatherings to take participants through the book. Each gathering involved reading, videos, and discussion questions. Everyone who attended the first session said they absolutely loved it! Word spread in the church, and the group grew as they continued meeting.

Discovering Global Missions was exactly what Dan had been looking for. He found it to be the perfect introduction for those who wanted a taste of global missions. The material is easy to understand and can be facilitated by anyone with basic missions and Bible knowledge. Perfect for small groups, the book merges personal discipleship with training about the Great Commission in a way that compels its readers to ponder their contribution to God’s work around the world.

If you are interested in using the Discovering Global Missions resource like Dan did in his church, you can find more information HERE. This book is the first resource in Encompass’ new series entitled “The Path.” More books and materials for equipping the local church for the task of the Great Commission ae coming later this year.