The Missions Leaders BlogPosts related to the Great Commission, specifically cross-cultural missions.
“I don’t want to go to the unreached. But I also can’t ignore this conviction.” In 2012, I (Jenn) had journaled this sentiment over and over again. As we kept pursuing steps to move overseas, fears of permanent commitments and of wasting my life persisted. In the summer of 2012, we took a vision trip […]
Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. Habakkuk 2:2 I was 20 years old at Urbana 2009. A vision cast from a person I didn’t know, have never talked to, and have never met again, changed the course of my life. I had just gone to Thailand […]
In our first post, we defined what ethnocentrism is, its pattern in missions history, how the Bible confronts ethnocentrism, and gave some questions for reflection. In this post, we’ll talk about reasons why ethnocentrism can be extremely damaging to your vision to multiply, and practical ways to address ethnocentrism. Do I Have to be the […]
“You can’t work with the Thai church.” “They’re lazy, they don’t show up on time, and they lie to you by saying they’ll do something and then not do it.” This was the repeated sentiment we heard from experienced missionaries during our early years in Thailand. We had learned that most CPMs are started by […]
In our last few posts, we’ve talked about why men and women leading together on the field is important, best practices to do that, and specifics for husband and wife leadership teams. In this post, we’ll bring some guidelines for men leading women in missions settings. We think the ideal situation is when there can […]
Jenn and I (Steven) leading together got off to a rough start. One of the first things we did as a couple in ministry, before we were even married, was attend a support raising bootcamp with our Thailand team members. At the time, our team was both of us, four of my best friends growing […]
The line to talk to Jenn was 10 people deep. I (Steven), on the other hand, had one guy come up to ask a quick question and scuttle off. As an introvert, I was pretty relieved. Jenn and I had just shared the stage together to speak at a conference for aspiring goers. We shared […]
As we look back on another year for the Missions Leaders Blog, we’ve covered a wide range of topics that believe are essential for missions leaders, including Spiritual Gifts, Women in Leadership, Listening Prayer, and Apostolic Leadership. Here are our most-read posts and some of our favorites! Most-Read Posts in 2025 Being Barnabas – the […]
Jenn and I (Steven) fought nearly every day for our first year on the field. At the end of our first term of 2.5 years, we did a debrief and noted that second only to learning union with Christ, both of us said our marriage, and our co-leadership of the ministry and team together, was […]
Spiritual Gifts and Apostolic Series In this series, we’ve discovered what the word “apostolic” means, given the 5 essential elements of an apostolic leader, and discussed potential indicators of an emerging apostolic leader. In this final post, we’ll talk about how to partner with and develop these proven or emerging apostolic leaders. We’ve previously given […]