About Jonathan Parsons

Jonathan thinks and writes about practical aspects of missionary service to help train and equip missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission. Jonathan ministered in East Africa with the International Mission Board. He now serves in the International Ministries office at the headquarters of Word of Life Fellowship coordinating logistical and administrative matters. He and his wife Amy live in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York.

Toyota Land Cruiser Hardtops

70series

The Toyota Landcruiser 70 series, called the “Hardtops,” are a standard fleet vehicles for missionaries and humanitarian workers in remote areas.  These are heavy duty four wheel drive vehicles that are designed for off-road terrain and rough use.  Here is an overview of the current models.  The models listed are the ones stocked by Toyota Gibraltar Stockholdings (TGS), who provide vehicles for the UN and other humanitarian organizations.

Common Features:

  • 1KZ 4.2liter Diesel engine; 6 cylinders
  • 5-speed manual transmission
  • 4 Wheel Drive
  • Available in both left-hand and right-hand drive models
  • Suspension: Front – coil; Rear – leaf
  • Brakes: Front – disc; Rear – drum
  • 90 liter fuel tank
  • Tires: 7.50R16-8

The Land Cruiser 76 Series Hardtop

Hardtop 76

  • Doors: 5
  • Seats: 10
  • Wheelbase: 2,730mm
  • Clearance: 230mm
  • Weight: 3,000kg
  • Payload: 820kg
  • TGS Website

    Hardtop 76

The Land Cruiser 78 Series Hardtop

Hardtop 78

  • Doors: 3
  • Seats: 6 (forward facing with cargo space) or
  • Seats: 13 (inward facing rear bench seats)
  • Extra 90-liter fuel tank
  • Wheelbase: 2,980mm
  • Clearance: 230mm
  • Weight: 3,200kg
  • Payload: 1,015kg
  • TGS Website: 6-seater 13-seater

78 6-seater 78 13-seater

The Land Cruiser 79 Series PickupHardtop 79

  • 2 doors
  • 3 seater
  • Extra 90-liter fuel tank
  • Wheelbase: 3,180mm
  • Clearance: 235mm
  • Weight: 3,200kg
  • Payload: 1,105kg
  • TGS Website

Additional Resources:

The World is Flat

the_world_is_flat_30In The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, describes how the world has become a more equal playing field to many of its people and the resulting implications.  Friedman begins his book by giving examples of global out-sourcing and the extent of global communication.  He explains how new technology has resulted in creating a level playing field, or a “flat world,” for workers in other countries.  He then seeks to explain how this has happened.  Friedman lists and describes the ten “flatteners” that created the flat world.  These include the fall of the Berlin wall and the rise of Microsoft Windows, the release of Netscape, work flow software, open-sourcing, outsourcing, offshoring, supply-chaining, insourcing, in-forming, and the “steroids,” – those things that made made the other “flatteners” more digital, mobile, personal, and virtual.

The next section looks at how the US should react to a flat world.  He encourages American workers to work harder and develop more knowledge and creative jobs that cannot be as easily outsourced.  He outlines recommendations for educational, economic, and political changes that the US should make to remain a world leader.  Friedman then turns his focus to the underdeveloped world and the Islamic world.  He looks at the reasons that opportunities are limited in these nations and what could be done so that the individuals in these nations can enter the flat world.  He looks at global politics and causes of terrorism.

Citing numerous examples and drawing from his vast wealth of personal interviews, Friedman illustrates his points with skill.  He uses examples from corporations, both large and small, governments, and non-governmental organizations to explain how the flat world principles work.  This book explains what we see happening in the world around us and show how recent breakthroughs fit together like puzzle pieces to form our modern world.  He explains why certain things that may seem insignificant are actually major shifts that have shaped the last fifteen years.  Applications may be made in political, vocational, religious, and organizational facets of life.

Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)

OSACThe Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) is a public/private sector organization affiliated with the US State Department.   Their mandate is to facilitate communication and serve as a liason with US-based organizations working abroad in the area of security.  They accomplish this primarily through providing information, training, and networking to member organizations.  The OSAC website and email newsletters provide reliable security information to the general public.  Registered (free) constituents may access even more information via the website.  The OSAC regularly offers security training seminars that focus of the various topics that affect their constituents.  Networking is provided through country councils, which are groups of US citizens representing their organizations who meet to discuss security matters.  They are hosted by the US Embassy and the regional security officer (RSO) is usually the contact.  The councils provide a good opportunity to network with other US companies and organizations in your country on the topic of security.

What is a People Group?

What is a people group?  According to the 1982 Lausanne Committee Chicago meeting, a people group is “the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance.”  Learn more from Joshua Project, the Strategy Leader Resource Kit, Orville Jenkins and PeopleGroups.org.People Groups

DAWN Research Handbook

DAWN (Discipling a Whole Nation) has a well written handbook for their field researchers.  It explains the philosophy behind DAWN’s methods and their research and then gives a practical how-to guide to field research.  This 130 page guide is good training material for anyone involved in church or missions research.  It includes sample questionnaires for churches and denominations.  Download the handbook. Additional resources from DAWN.

Globalization and Christianity

globe-2How does globalization affect the church and missionary work?  Here are links to help you quickly gather the ideas from four key books.  These may help you better understand and discuss  globalization and the world in which we live.

  • Jihad vs. McWorld, the original article from the Atlantic magazine, which later was further developed as a book by Benjamin Barber.  Barber defines and contrasts the opposing forces of tribalism and globalization and how they affect our world.
  • The Clash of Civilizations,  the original article from Foreign Affairs magazine, which later was further developed as a book by Samuel P. Huntington.  Huntington describes that future conflicts and alliances will be forged between the major civilizations of the world.  See Bruce Ashford’s review of the book.
  • The World is Flat, Bruce Ashford’s review of the book by Thomas Friedman.  Friedman describes how the world has become a more equal playing field to many of its people and the resulting implications.
  • The Next Christendom, an article (author interview) related to the book by Philip Jenkins.  Jenkins describes the shift of the center of Christianity from the West to the Global South by documenting its growth in Latin America and Africa and makes predictions based on this shift.  See Jonathan Parsons’ review of the book.

People Group and Country Research on the Web

Are you looking for information on the web about a country or people group?  There is a lot of secondary research citing the same basic sources, usually the CIA World Factbook, Peoplegroups, and the Ethnologue.  The sites I have found most useful are Wikipedia, Joshua Project, and the World Atlas Project.  They provide an overview and links to the relevant pages on other sites.

Wikipedia is a great place to begin your online research of a people group.  Most people group articles will include information about the language, history, and culture of the people as well as links and sources.   Joshua Project provides a graphical outline diagram that illustrates the affinity block, language, religion, and geographic links.  A profile of the people group is given along with prayer requests and a picture of the people.  Data related to their response to the gospel and current ministry among the people group is provided along with link to other useful websites.  See also Peoplegroups for similar information and the Ethnologue for information regarding languages.  The World Atlas Project provides many useful missions maps as well as country profiles that include missions implications.  The CIA World Factbook provides useful information for each country in areas such as government, economy, technology, population, and more.  It is useful to rank countries in areas such as infant mortality, GDP, and AIDS prevalence.  Nation Master is a similar site that compares country information from the World Factbook and other sources.

Google Apps

Google AppsDo you want to use web-based applications to share files and save money on expensive office software?  You should try Google Apps.  If you have a Gmail account you can click the Documents or Calendar top at the top of the page.  Google offers a free web-based word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application.  You can create, modify, upload, download, and share your doc, xls, and ppt files.  You may also store your pdf files online.  This is useful for collaboration with teammates on a document.  If you have your own domain (i.e. yourname@yourname.com or www.yourname.com) you can have Google host your email.  You can keep you personal or corporate email address and use the innovative Gmail interface, as well as their POP, IMAP, and forwarding.  You can share a contact list, send meeting requests, have a common iGoogle-type start page and host a private intranet.  With Google Docs and Google Calendar, you can have a poor man’s Microsoft Office, Exchange, and Sharepoint.  When you compare the total cost of ownership associated with a typical small office setup (servers, software, staff) you may find Google Apps to be an attractive alternative You can signup now for free and if you do not have your own domain, you can get one for $10/year.

PayPal Limits

Does PayPal limit the amount of money an individual can transfer?  Yes, transactions are limited to USD $10,000.  In addition, monthly withdrawals are limited to $500.  This can be removed by authenticating your identity. 

  1. Log in to your PayPal account.
  2. Click the View Limits link next to your balance information.
  3. Click the Lift This Limit link.
  4. Complete the steps on the To Do list to lift your Withdrawal Limit.