IMPOSSIBLE - DIFFICULT - DONE
Hudson Taylor, the famous pioneering missionary to China and founder of China Inland Mission, once said, "There are three stages to every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."
Those words perfectly describe our journey of moving Didasko's courses to Moodle, a widely used Learning Management System (LMS). At first, the task seemed impossible. As the planning, development and countless technical challenges unfolded, it certainly became difficult. But after nearly a year of hard work, perseverance, and long days
... it was done!
It was almost an anticlimax. After months of blood, sweat and tears, the moment we'd been working toward came and went with little fanfare. Yet behind that quiet milestone lies a platform that is more stable, more flexible, and better equipped to serve our current and future students as they prepare for cross-cultural ministry.
If you want to see what it looks like and maybe enroll for one of our courses, click here, www.dasko.org/courses/how-register, then follow the short instructional video's instructions. Come on, just try it - it even works on a smart phone. Speaking of which, more than 90% of our students do our courses on their smart phones!
After the switch, we received this comment from a student in Mexico: "The new Moodle is really nice. I truly appreciate the update. The new version gives us much better access to the website and everything is well organized and displayed on the website. Thank you!"
FUN FEEDBACK from STUDENTS
We encourage students to post comments in the discussion forums in their own language. Other students can then use tools like Google Translate to read and respond. This creates a truly cross-cultural learning environment and helps them experience one of the real challenges of global missions—communicating across different languages and cultures. We've already had students who posted in Amharic (Ethiopia) and French, enriching the learning experience for everyone.
MORE COURSES in the MAKING
While the transition to Moodle was underway, course development certainly didn't stand still. Even in the middle of this major technical project, we continued developing new resources to equip missionaries for cross-cultural ministry.
1. Church Planting Movements
Dr. Don Fisher has completed the first draft of our new Church Planting Movements course, based on material generously provided by Curtis Sergeant—a quite famous person in those circles! This course explores biblical principles and practical strategies for multiplying disciples and churches.
2. Understanding the Supernatural—for the Sake of the Gospel
This important foundational course is now in its final stages of production and will be released very soon. It equips missionaries to develop a biblical understanding of the supernatural and prepares them to minister confidently in cultures where spiritual realities are part of everyday life.
3. Understanding Cultures—for the Sake of the Gospel
The editing of this comprehensive course has now been finished and is ready for video production. It will help missionaries understand cultural differences, communicate the gospel more effectively across cultures, in order to minister with greater wisdom and sensitivity.
REVISION of MAP
MAP (Mentor - Assist - Prepare) is a resource we developed to help mission agencies and churches prepare more effective Kingdom workers through mentoring. Because many mission agencies and churches have their own requirements and training, MAP provides a flexible mentoring framework that complements existing programs. This allows it to support prospective missionaries from a wide range of organizations, churches and backgrounds.
We're excited to announce the release of a newly revised version. Click here for more information: www.dasko.org/collaborate/map
BLOOD is THICKER than WATER
Just a little reminder that we have the cleverest, funniest, and most beautiful grandchildren in the world! We often tell them, "Out of all our grandchildren, you're definitely the best!" They caught on to the joke pretty quickly—they're our ONLY grandchildren! But then again... that also makes it absolutely true!
HELP KEEP THE MOTOR RUNNING
Because all our courses are free of charge, we rely on donations to keep the work going. Please pray about contributing to the cause of reaching the nations through missionary training. Click here: www.dasko.org/donate