Features for 2020

As 2020 draws to a close and we all try to work out what's up ahead, Alex Hawke helps us to take stock of all that God has given us for the next season and put them to His use. 

This publication from the Global Community Health Evangelism Network is a useful manual for teaching others in simple terms about dealing with coronavirus.

OSCAR's Christmas section includes a comprehensive range of Christmas cards and gifts that you can buy to benefit mission, as well as some other useful Christmas and advent links.

Is there something you can do that would better support those in mission and ministry? Let OSCAR's Support Roles section give you some fresh ideas for how to be an amazing supporter.

If you are planning on heading overseas to work or serve in 2021, this four session online evening course, run by OSCAR, will teach you the basics about transitioning from one culture to another. It's also useful for those who want to understand and give care to those heading overseas.

Some mission opportunities have been curtailed during the coronavirus crisis, but some have expanded. Opportunities to teach English online are definitely the latter. This month's article by Erin Honigman helps us explore how to go about preparing for and finding TEFL opportunities online.

Everyone needs a mentor, especially those in mission or ministry. This new book by Tony Horsfall makes it easy to get started as a mentor or mentee with 30 key topics to explore together. 

Did you know that you can leave a donation in your will that will benefit other missionaries over and over again for years to come? Peter Hellawell tells us how.

MomentumYes seems to be the perfect mission course for this time, and now you have the chance to try it for yourself. WEC International are running one online starting 12th January.

At the request of an OSCAR user, we have created a new Collaboration and Partnerships page in our Ministry Resources section. If you know of resources that would help in this area, please let us know. If you have other topics to go under Ministry Resources, let us know too.

If you need to travel internationally over the next few months, you have a lot more to think about and consider than before the coronavirus crisis. Loveholidays have put together an excellent and comprehensive guide on 'How to practise responsible tourism during COVID-19'. Most of it is relevant to all international travellers.

Global Rapid Response is a new campaign from Stewardship that seeks to raise awareness of the impact COVID-19 has had throughout the world. Listen to charities informing of the hardship across the globe and how they are helping communities who have greatly suffered because of the pandemic.

Royal Doulton have put together a moving house checklist that covers the moving out essentials you’ll need to make sure you can settle into your new home quickly. It's a good starting point, even if you're moving overseas or back to the UK.

Global Trellis have some great material and courses to help develop cross-cultural workers. These include a COVID-19 debriefing course to help you process how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting your life and ministry.

We have created a new section in OSCAR's Ministry Resources for anything related to The Arts. If you have resources or organisations to suggest for this page, please let us know.

Matt Edwards from Thrive Worldwide gives us some advice on being as prepared, ready and healthy as we can for tackling what's up ahead for us in mission and ministry. 

As Mark Billage launches his new organisation, Smart Culture, he shares some thoughts on the challenges of working in cross cultural teams.

If you’re planning to go overseas, there’s a good chance that you need to obtain a travel visa. Visa expert Peter Lavelle gives us some inside tips about applying.

Rarely has there been so much change for someone returning to the UK over the last 6 months. If that's you and you want to make sense of it all, then you need to come on this day course!

From Sep 1st we can offer our Gold advertising package for the rest of the year at 33% of the annual fee! That gives you a great opportunity to try out our full vacancy advertising service over 4 months for one low fee.

With All Nations and Redcliffe coming together (see press release), and with the current COVID-19 crisis, we asked Martin Hickey, Head of Communications for All Nations Christian College, to reflect on mission training in and beyond the COVID-19 crisis.

Are you insured for COVID-19? Many insurers have excluded cover for this. Even if your insurance plan does include cover for COVID-19, there remain significant practical issues when delivering medical treatment globally. Talent Trust provides some information.

Mission and Relief Logistics provide a summary of what been happening with shipping and airfreight during the crisis and what we should be aware of if packing and sending items globally. They also supply PPE and COVID-19 equipment.

Key Travel have produced a travel checklist with top tips for safe door-to-door journeys to help you plan your first flight once restrictions are lifted.

We are encouraged by a steady stream of comments and feedback about our service. Thought you might like to read them too :-)

Jason Mandryk, the author of Operation World, takes readers through a sweeping overview of the implications of the coronavirus for the global Church, and specifically, its impact on global mission.

The eBook is designed for those who need a basic framework to organize their financial support and communicate with supporters. This is a great little book. It covers basic budgeting, setting targets and strategy, and keeping good records of your current and potential supporters.

If you have or know of Third Culture Kids struggling with effects caused by the coronavirus crisis, OSCAR has a fund to help you seek counselling or assistance. Just contact us.

Several of the Christian festivals and conferences are providing something alternative online. New Wine is planning a 4 day online event at the end of this month which will include a Resource Venue where OSCAR will be represented. 

From 4th July UK residents can go on holiday! Many Christian hotels and guest houses have struggled to make ends meet during the crisis, so consider giving them your custom as you plan to get away over the next few weeks.

As the world eases out of lockdown, everyone is trying to get a picture of the 'new normal' and how it will effect them and their particular mission and ministry. Alex Hawke's article helps us get our bearings and navigate the unknown path ahead.

OSCAR has collected together a number of resources and links to help you plan for the months ahead. This is a follow on from last month's article - Coronavirus: Help for Mission Workers, and can be regarded as an addendum.

Published in May, this is a review of this a 10-week re-entry devotional book for long-term workers who are leaving ministry or the field. Whilst written before the current crisis, many aspects of the re-entry process are the same and many more people will appreciate this book's help in leaving the old behind and embracing the new. Reviewed by Rob Jameson.

Losing a loved one is hard enough in 'normal' circumstances, but the current crisis has brought new complications. If you have lost someone during the last few weeks, the 'Faith in Later Life' website has links to a range of resources.

Our course planned on Saturday 27th June has been postponed until the Autumn.

Another month on and we have updated last month's article with lots of new resources and advice specifically of use to mission workers during this crisis. 

People are learning new ways of taking care of themselves and supporting each other. Applying some member care principles can help with exploring the possibilities. This blog highlights a useful seven-fold approach as a tool to assist in this. 

With such great need on our doorstep and so many places in the world facing serious challenges, where do we start? Use OSCAR's prayer resources to keep informed and let God guide you in your prayers.

If you have lost or decided to change your job during the crisis, we can help you find a new one. OSCAR continues to have well over 100 UK and 600 global opportunities for you to peruse and choose from. 

During the lockdown we have moved virtually all of our training online. We are offering most of our courses 'on demand' via Zoom, grouping people together with others who need that particular training in a certain time frame. If you would like to participate, just contact us and we will sort out a course for you to join.

There is already a plethora of information and advice online for the general public about COVID-19 issues. We have collected together a range of resources and advice specifically of use to mission workers during this crisis.

This is the fourth edition of this book by Ted Lankester and Nathan J. Grills. Our feature includes a couple of quotes and some links for purchasing the book at a significant discount.

Anticipating a wave of response after the global lockdown, we have created a new section under Ministry Resources for those who work in situations of disaster, emergency or relief around the world.

On 4th March we celebrated OSCAR's 20th birthday by hosting a Mission Resources Exhibition alongside the Christian Resources Exhibition at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire. Here's a brief report of the day with some feedback from visitors and exhibitors.

Whilst we have vacated our offices and are not conducting any face-to-face training, exhibitions or events, our online services are fully operational. We are all working from home and, as always, we are here to help and serve you!

As we celebrate OSCAR's 20th birthday, Mike takes a look back at where it all began and how things have changed with OSCAR over the 20 years.

The UK Christian festival scene continues to change and has some new arrivals for 2020. Check out OSCAR's comprehensive list to see what's happening when and where. 

We have upgraded our online community, OSCARactive, to the latest version of the Ning platform. Take a look and feel free to join if you would like to participate.

This month Stewardship starts a new style back-to-back 2 day training course on raising personal support. It's designed to prepare, inform and equip you to build an effective support team.

OSCAR is planning a Christian job and mission opportunity board in the exhibitions of some of the UK's biggest Christian festivals and conferences this year, starting with Big Church Day Out in May. Bookings for job cards is now open!

Stewardship and OSCAR have been partnering for nearly 10 years to deliver support-raising training and resources. Sarah T from OSCAR interviews Fiona Mearns from Stewardship to find out how that's gone.

Lent starts on 26th Feb. If you've not joined the 40acts movement yet, this year could be your chance! Join with this global community to make a difference by modelling generosity in your locality.

With the coronavirus outbreak declared a global health emergency, where do you go for your crisis travel advice? Your first stop is probably the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website. After that you might want specific advice or resources that can help. See our Crisis Management section for help.

Now is a good time to plan your holidays, breaks and retreat time for 2020. This will stop them getting squeezed out by other priorities as the year progresses. We have lots of good suggestions for places to stay geared for those in mission and ministry.

The OSCAR website currently receives around 140,000 page views per month from around 22,000 visitor sessions (2019 statistics). Our Website Sponsorship Scheme offers you a unique opportunity to sponsor part of this growing, mission specific website and reach out to this audience.

In this, OSCAR's 20th year and leading up to OSCAR's 20th birthday, we are featuring various people and ministries helped by OSCAR. This is the story of how OSCAR has helped one couple through training and shipping of personal effects before they left for their overseas assignment.

OSCAR has launched a new Events section. With over 50 events listed it's by far the most comprehensive mission-related events list of any website in the UK. What's more, events can be filter searched using 8 different options. Organisations can add their events through their account.

On 15th Feb OSCAR is running a re-entry course, called 'All Change', for those recently returned from the field and those who care for them. It will be based at OSCAR's offices in Gloucester. The cost for the day is £45 which includes lunch, refreshments and all materials. 

Last July we featured Stuart Simpsons new book, Unlocking Your Life P.U.R.P.O.S.E. Now there is a new course from Catalyst Ministries based on the book. This transformational and practical 9 session course is suitable for individual, group or church-wide use.

Good news: our online job advertising prices are not increasing for 2020! That includes both our individual listing and our package fees. As the most comprehensive, most viewed and most reasonably priced Christian jobs website in the UK, that makes us even better value than last year!