A lot of missionaries get a radical call to go to the field but then don’t live their lives radically once they get there.

In this Pod, I have a conversation with a guy who left the pastorate to move his family to the Middle East. He has had many humbling experiences both on and off the field but has kept his focus on following his calling no matter the cost. He is passionate about living the Radical Christian Life and has a relentless focus on God, the Gospel, and discipleship. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

"After 12 years in the Middle East, when everything was going well, we were being blessed, our ministry was being blessed, we were working in our ’10’, God called us back to our home country…And it was a deserter. I found myself at 50 years old going from the top of my game to being unemployed."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:47 What is the Gospel, and why do we struggle with this question? 
• 10:46 Moving from Pastor to Missionary 
• 17:30 Dealing with humbling experiences on and off the field 
• 20:10 What’s it like teaching the Bible in the Middle East? 
• 28:10 Why is success so hard to measure on the field?
• 34:35 What is discipleship? 
• 48:00 The Three Holiday Method 
• 50:00 What do you do for your quiet time?

If I can’t remember what we read, how can I share it with others?

In this Pod, I talk to a woman who has a lot of experience leading DBS groups and training others to lead them. We walk through the 12 questions of DBS, and my guest shares her insights on each one. Even if you’ve done DBS training in the past, this conversation will give you fresh and practical insights.

"When I was living in the West, we would study books about the Bible that were very much leading to the answers. But through DBS, new believers can discover the Bible for themselves."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:50 What is DBS trying to accomplish? 
• 5:31 Leadership and DBS
• 8:41 The first six DBS questions?
  1. What are you thankful for?
  2. What are your needs?  
  3. Do you remember last week’s story? 
  4. Were you able to share last week? 
  5. What can this group do to meet the needs of others? 
  6. Did you obey the text from last week? 
• 16:01 How would you treat an unbeliever differently than a believer in a DBS? 
• 20:21 Reading the Text 
• 26:25 The last six DBS Questions 
  1. What did you like about the text? 
  2. What did you learn about God? 
  3. What did you learn about humanity? 
  4. What does this text mean for you personally? 
  5. What do you change in your life? 
  6. Who are you going to share it”
• 30:07 What’s the ideal number and length of time for a DBS group? 

We felt stranded and didn’t know what to do. But we saw how God was using us and completely shifting the focus of the team and the year.

In this Pod, I talk to two guys who share their story of how God worked through the pandemic to bring people to faith in Him. It wasn’t always roses and sunshine, though. My guests take us into their lives when they didn’t love each other, struggled to get along, and how doubts about their faith. The Pod is equal parts encouragement and challenge. "The love that we grew for each other over time was what prepared us to be a home and a family to our Arab friends."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Intro 
• 00:44 From Cultural Christians to Surrendered Christians 
• 4:39 What is the Spirit-Filled Life? 
• 10:42 How did you end up on the field? 
• 19:36 What is the emphasis of your ministry? 
• 22:47 The daily practice of family devotions  
• 24:27 Do your kids give you pushback? 
• 26:06 Watch me eat, and I’ll tell you how it tastes 
• 27:53 The weekly practice of rest
• 29:00 The daily practice of saying I’m sorry and thank you. 
• 32:06 The weekly practice of worship and communion 
• 33:00 How much of what you do is by design, and how much is just you? 
• 35:27 What is discipleship?
• 27:18 Does constant hospitality ever drain you? 
• 47:51 Why is what you do so attractive to people? 

In this Pod, I sit down with a guy who grew up his whole life on the field and has rare insight into the life of an MK. We talk about the pressure MKs feel to perform, the lack of identity and belonging, being a “hidden immigrant,” the effect all this has on faith, and what the pathway to real connection and belonging looks like.

"I don't know an MK who doesn't have a deep level of grief or bitterness or confusion about their experience."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Intro 
• 00:44 Born on the field 
• 3:11 Affects of Parents’ attitude towards locals
• 6:32 How did you understand your own identity growing up a Third-Culture-Kind (TCK)? 
• 9:13 The Hidden Immigrant Phenomenon 
• 11:13 How children understand living between two worlds 
• 12:55 Did you ever feel resentment for being raised on the field? 
• 15:31 What is Relational Instability?
• 20:21 Struggling to find identity, connection, and belonging 
• 24:25 Making the transition from the field to the West 
• 29:51 What effect did your transition have on your faith? 
• 32:35 The pressure on MKs to be meet unrealistic expectations
• 37:17 The path to finding belonging and connection 
• 42:41 How did people cultivate an environment of acceptance for you? 

In this Pod, my guest shares deeply, personally, and vulnerably about dealing with depression on the field. We also talk about marriage, children, and re-finding your identity when life changes. We close off our conversation with an insightful look at what it’s like working with children with disabilities in underprivileged villages.

"I battled with God and wondered how am I supposed to bring hope to unreached people when I’m sitting here in the darkness of despair."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 02:11 Transition from single to married on the field 
• 06:10 The community pressure to have children
• 09:51 Having more experience than your husband on the field 
• 12:37 Was there a lopsided calling in our marriage? 
• 14:40 The role of calling in the midst of depression
• 18:40 What it’s like going through depression  
• 21:31 Knowing when depression is spiritual and when it’s medical
• 23:25 Do you know what triggered the depression? 
• 28:34 What would you say to the person struggling with depression right now?   
• 36:26 Re-finding your identity after having children
• 44:31 Working with children with disabilities in underprivileged villages 
• 52:32 What would say to the critic who says social development isn’t worth it? 

In this Pod, my guest has some amazing things to say about discipleship and what to do with a new believer. He also shares some interesting details about how his family is part of his ministry. Then we get down into the weeds of spiritual practices like solitude, fasting, and rest. Every word is worth listening to.

"We shouldn’t assume that every worker has a genuine, deep walk with Christ, that they are people of prayer, that they themselves are actually living by the word of God, feeding on it and being obedient to it."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:50 What is the main emphasis of your ministry? 
• 01:29 How do you disciple someone when they first come to faith? 
• 09:48 What do you read with new believers? 
• 11:47 What are some things we absolutely need to know about discipleship?
• 17:31 What do you want locals to experience when they come to your house?
• Spiritual Practices  
• 23:14 Sabbath 
• 29:07 Fasting 
• 32:51 Solitude 
• 35:29 Prayer 
• 45:57 Memorizing Scripture 
• 53:48 Self-Denial (Surrender) 
• 1:01:21 Helpful Resources  

In this Pod, my guest tells me about getting kicked out of the country he was serving in, which led to meeting his wife. He also shares the differences between being single and married in missions, homeschooling their kids, and what it’s like in a massively cross-cultural marriage. At the end of our talk, he shares the driving passion that motivates his ministry.
 
"We felt super spiritual. But there were things, as I looked back, and I think, oh, why did I do this, or why didn’t I do that."

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Timeline

• 00:00 Introduction 
• 00:45 What it's like getting kicked out of a country
• 13:54 The massive differences going from single to married on the field 
• 19:33 How did you decide to homeschool your kids? 
• 22:19 Challenges of a cross-cultural marriage
• 30:30 What are the motivating passions that propel your ministry? 

In this Pod, I talk with a guy who approaches missions from a Reformed Baptist perspective. We have a fascinating conversation about what the church is and isn’t, the role of the local church in missions, what he thinks about CPMs and DMMs, how loneliness is a part of his experience, and much more.

"People think working with the local church is a waste of time. But I want to see the local church become a model of what a biblical church could be."

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Timeline

• 0:00 Introduction 
• 1:01 From Police to Missionary  
• 5:27 Why the Middle East and not somewhere else? 
• 8:07 Did your wife feel called to the Middle East? 
• 8:53 What are the Reformed Baptist distinctions of missions and church? 
• 13:21 Is the Reformed Baptist model too slow and heavy to be practical? 
• 17:06 What does a church in the Middle East look like for you? 
• 19:11 What is the importance of the Church for the spread of the Gospel? 
• 21:31 What is your involvement in the church? 
• 22:21 What role do international churches in missions? 
• 23:45 Do you think there are healthy, biblical churches in the Arab World? 
• 25:26 Why doesn’t the Reformed crowd talk about discipleship very much? 
• 33:21 What are some “Silver Bullet” traps workers fall into? 
• 36:51 What is your Gospel hope in Missions? 
• 37:50 Was it hard to go from “secular” work to missions?
• 39:20 Was it hard on your family to move to the Middle East?
• 44:09 Do you do ministry with your wife? 
• 45:26 Is there something from God’s Word that gives you hope, and what resources have been helpful for you? 

In this Pod, we talk about the increase of Arabs reaching Arabs, changes in training in missions, defining what discipleship is and why it’s so messy. We talked about inconsistencies in our emphasis, sticking close to the Gospel, and some lies workers believe. We also talked about storytelling and why it’s so hard for us to do it.

"In the Arab culture, there is an amazing amount of distrust, and it is really hard for them to love one another and forgive one another. As expatriates, as Christians coming from cultures where we have already learned that we can actually live that out with them, and help people really love one another, and be in fellowship with each other."

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Timeline

• 1:00 The changing nature of missions in the Arab world.  
• 2:26 What kind of changes is training going through in missions? 
• 5:01 Is there still a need for cross-cultural workers in the Arab world? 
• 7:45 Are the Arabs you train mostly MBBs or CBBs? 
• 9:01 What kind of training are Arab believers looking for? 
• 10:18 What is discipleship? 
• 12:34 Modeling the Gospel when discipleship is messy?
• 17:01 The challenge of connectivity
• 19:33 A lie workers believe is “I have to stay connected to everyone back home” 
• 20:35 Lies Workers Believe #1 Language will come by just being on the field 
• 22:47 Advice for people who have plateaued in language learning 
• 23:34 Lies Workers Believe #2 If I just become like the culture I’ll see fruit 
• 27:55 Lies Workers Believe #3 The “If I just had...” lie 
• 32:28 Lies Workers Believe #4 The Work/Rest lie. I need to watch more Netflix because I’m so tired. Or, I can’t rest or take a break because I’m supported by other people. 
• 40:16 The snare of compare 
• 42:28 Story Telling: Why is it so hard for Westerners to tell stories? 
• 48:29 Tips and tricks for telling stories to Arabs 
• 53:02 What mistakes do we make when we tell stories?