The Mission Matters

In this episode of the Mission Matters podcast, Matthew Ellison and Ted Esler welcome Mark Luckey, Executive Director of Every Child Ministries (ECM), to discuss how the face of missions in Africa is changing. With decades of firsthand experience, Mark shares how improved infrastructure, evolving government involvement in child welfare, and a stronger local church have transformed both the needs and opportunities in African communities.

ECM’s mission to serve the most vulnerable children has shifted from a traditional child sponsorship model toward a more holistic, family-empowering approach. This change stems from a desire to move beyond relief and toward lasting community transformation by partnering with local families and churches.

Mark Luckey is no stranger to Every Child Ministries, having served as one their own missionaries in Uganda with the Afayo Project. After more than fifteen years of missionary service in four African countries, Mark became the International Executive Director of Every Child Ministries in January 2015. Mark and his wife Stacy have six children and nine grandchildren.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

In this episode of The Mission Matters Podcast, hosts Matthew Ellison and Ted Esler sit down with veteran missions mobilizer Jeff Lewis to explore the deep connection between biblical disciple-making and global missions. Jeff also shares about the newly-released 30th anniversary edition of God’s Heart for the Nations, a study resource he created that has shaped thousands of students and churches. 
Jeff shares his testimony of experiencing what he calls a “second conversion” a spiritual awakening to God's global purposes sparked by years of Scripture meditation and a simple yet transformative prayer: “Lord, burden my heart with the things that burden Your heart.” 
This journey led Jeff from pastoring in a small Pennsylvania town to becoming a prominent advocate for missions, deeply committed to helping believers discover the centrality of God’s renown among the nations. 

During Jeff Lewis' 36-year career in missions mobilization, he planted and pastored two churches and spent 23 years as a college professor at California Baptist University and Oklahoma Baptist University. Jeff has also participated in training indigenous mobilization leaders in five African countries, along with assisting in the development of mobilization strategies in over 25 countries. Jeff’s remarkable journey includes co-founding and co-directing the Passion conferences from 1997 to 2000, leaving an enduring mark on the landscape of ministry and worship. His literary contributions include the widely translated God’s Heart for the Nations, Calling: A Scriptural Journey, and Christ Love Compels Me. Jeff is also an inductee to the Tennessee Swimming Hall of Fame. He has been married to Elaine for 50 years and has seven adult children and 20 grandchildren. Jeff is a member of First Presbyterian Church (EPC) of Rome, GA.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.
Order God's Heart for the Nations at https://1615outfitters.org/ghftn
10% Discount Code: 2025TMM

How can the illiterate read the Scriptures? Through animation and heart-language engagement, iBIBLE connects deeply with both children and adults in remote areas—many of whom are seeing the Bible in their language for the very first time. In this episode of The Mission Matters, Matthew Ellison speaks with Steve Cleary, founder of Revelation Media and Executive Producer of iBIBLE, a groundbreaking animated series that brings the entire narrative of the Bible to life using Scripture-only scripts.
Born out of a dream and a deep desire to impact world missions, iBIBLE is designed to be accessible, visual, and faithful to God’s Word—especially for people who speak minority languages or are unable to read. With translations underway in over 120 languages (including some with as few as 500 speakers), Steve shares how iBIBLE is transforming hearts in places where printed Bibles alone cannot reach.
Steve underscores the growing need for visual Scripture in an age where literacy and language barriers keep many from accessing the Gospel. With a vision to complete the entire Bible in short, animated episodes, Steve and his team are pioneering a new frontier in missions—one where the Word of God is not just read or heard, but seen in the language people understand best. It’s not entertainment—it’s transformation through the unaltered power of Scripture.

Steve started his work in missions in 1989 as a volunteer for The Voice of the Martyrs. He joined the staff in 1990 and soon after had the honor of traveling with VOM founders Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand. Being able to spend the last decade of their lives with them became the biggest blessing and honor of Steve’s life. He continues with VOM as a contractor and has traveled with them to hostile and restricted nations around the world, including Cuba, Sudan, Northern Nigeria, borders of North Korea and most recently Iraq during the Isis occupation.
In 2015 Steve and Robert Fernandez began an animation studio in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was at this time he began to see both the tremendous need and opportunity of making films for the mission field. In January 2017 Steve officially founded and launched the ministry Revelation Media, which is committed to providing quality and culturally engaging media for the global missions community. His projects include the Tortured for Christ movie and animated The Pilgrim’s Progress, and now, he is working on a visual and interactive presentation of the entire Bible called iBIBLE.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

The global church is growing exponentially, but traditional training models are inadequate and inaccessible to emerging leaders. With less than 10% of global church leaders having received any formal theological education, Rich explains how Global Action uses competency-based theological education (CBTE) to meet this urgent need—offering a nine-month, contextually relevant curriculum that trains pastors to disciple others and lead their communities well.
In this episode of The Mission Matters podcast, host Matthew Ellison is joined by Rich Griffith of Global Action for a compelling conversation about equipping pastors and ministry leaders around the world. Rich passionately describes the transformational impact he’s witnessed—pastors weeping with joy upon receiving a certificate, because for the first time, they feel equipped and recognized to carry out God’s call.
Learn more at globalaction.com.
As Chief Development Officer of Global Action, Rich’s role involves building strong relationships with donors and developing church partnerships. For the past 20 years, Rich has served as an associate pastor at three different US churches. He is passionate about Jesus Christ and desires to contagiously engage others in the biblical mandate to “be His Witnesses.” Rich loves how God is not only transforming hearts around the world, but also calling North Americans to step out of their comfort zones and into God’s larger plan.
Prior to Rich’s pastorate, Rich played seven years in the NFL as a tight end and long snapper for the New England Patriots and the Jacksonville Jaguars.  During his athletic career, he was voted Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Athlete of the Year in 1995, and was nominated for the NFL’s True Value Man of the Year in 1996 and for the Byron White Humanitarian Award in 1997.
Rich has been married to his wife Keri for over 30 years, and they have four adult children. Rich resides in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

Many people going to the missions field have little exposure to actually sharing the gospel and need significant training. Why? The church has a passion for evangelism but traditionally, there has not been much focus on how to do it for regular people. Christians generally know how to explain the Gospel, but there's fear and ignorance of how to get into spiritual conversations. How do you get to that moment? How do you bridge a conversation to get to those opportunities?Listen in to this conversation and be challenged in your evangelism. Ted Esler and Matthew Ellison dive deeper into Kevin King's new book Living Out Loud: Letting Your Love for God Flow into Your Everyday Language (https://a.co/d/iN39Rel) and reinvigorate the desire to live out loud.Kevin King is cofounder and president of International Project, a missions-sending organization focused on church planting among unreached people groups across the globe. International Project has a variety of teams in New York City, as well as in other cities in North America and internationally.Kevin has a BA in Bible, an MA in biblical counseling, and an MDiv. His passion for evangelism began when he gave his life to Christ in high school—and later intensified to focus on reaching people who have never heard the gospel. He then discovered the strategic advantage of working with international students and the people groups God was bringing to the US through migration.Kevin and his wife, Jeanne, moved to New York City in 1998 and began sharing the gospel on college campuses and in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Through the people they've led to Christ, churches have been planted in multiple countries. In 2010, Kevin founded Equip, a ten-month program training cross-cultural church planters to start simple churches that will expand and multiply. A core element of the training is equipping Christians to live their faith out loud in everyday conversations. Workers from multiple missions agencies who have gone through the Equip training are now serving effectively around the world.Kevin enjoys overseeing the International Project teams, as well as engaging in and starting Bible studies with international graduate students through Jeanne's ongoing campus ministry. He also loves running, scuba diving, and hiking. Kevin and Jeanne live in Harlem, where they raised their two children, who are now grown.The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

Is it possible to 'do missions' without ever sharing the Gospel? Not according to Scott Hildreth. In fact he's written a book called A Short Guide to Missions and Evangelism (https://a.co/d/8cCsKWv) that contains a warning to the western Church that she's dangerously close to walking away from the mandate to carry the Gospel to those who need it most. Listen in as Ted Esler and Matthew Ellison talk with Scott about his book (available May 6) and this current challenge in the western Church.
Dr. Hildreth is an associate professor of missiology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS). He is married to Lesley and has two adult children and two grandchildren. Before coming to SEBTS, he and his family served with the International Mission Board in Europe and Central Asia. Dr. Hildreth serves as an elder at The Summit Church and also serves as interim pastor or guest speaker when possible. He has written on evangelism and missions. His research interests are on contextualization, missiology, and theology of mission.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

How are American Christians thinking about engaging non-Christians in the United States? According to recent Barna research there are 60 to 80 million Americans who don't fit the paradigm that a lot of Christians have about those outside of the church. They are not really hostile to discussions about faith and spirituality and are actually spiritually curious at the right moments.

Join Ted Esler's conversation with Mark Matlock, the Executive Director of the Urbana Student Missions Conference and also author of Faith for the Curious: How an Era of Spiritual Openness Shapes the Way We Live and Help Others Follow Jesus. 
Mark Matlock is a facilitator of innovation and impact, helping organizations adapt to changing times through turning research based insights into action. The founder of WisdomWorks LLC a consultancy helping churches and faith-based organizations leverage their collective wisdom and insight to innovate and adapt in changing times. Mark also works with Barna to assist clients with board training and on-site facilitation of research findings. 
Mark has been an advisor to organizations such as the Seed Company, Youth Specialties, Young Life, Awana, Brotherhood Mutual, Movement.org, BetterMan and has served as a board member of the American Bible Society. 
Mark is the author of more than 20 books for teens and parents, and in 2019 co-authored Faith for Exiles: Five Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon with Barna Group President David Kinnaman. Having initiated many research projects with Barna over the last two decades related to Next Gen studies, Mark’s research continues to provide insights into emerging generations and how to cultivate faithful disciples.
Mark is an ordained minister, certified LifePLanner, LEGO Serious Play facilitator, and MCORE trainer and coach. Mark is also certified as a HopIn online platform agency. He’s been married for 30 years to his wife Jade. They have two adult children.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.
https://www.amazon.com/Faith-Curious-Spiritual-Openness-Shapes/dp/0801018714
https://www.urbana.org/

It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing things the same way they've always been done. After fifteen years as the missions pastor of a large church, Larrie Fraley began to reevaluate their missions strategy. He realized that there must be a better way to steward God's resources. What were the pivotal moments in his journey of rediscovering missions, and where does the church stand now? Tune in as Ted and Matthew delve into Larrie's story.
Larrie is Lead Global Outreach Pastor at Christ's Church of the Valley in Peoria, Arizona. Married to Sheila, two daughters, and seven grandchildren, and will celebrate 55 years of marriage in 2025. One of the four founding officers of Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV), Peoria, Arizona. CCV was founded in April 1982 with over 52,000 in weekend attendance. 
 
Larrie was an executive at Intel Corporation for 19 years as a director in Intel’s Information Technology Division. Responsible for managing Intel's Information Technology Centers around the world.
He's founder and current President of STARS Youth Sports, Inc., which started in 2004, now has over 15,000 youth players annually, with over 1,000 coaches and 45% non-CCV attendees. Also Larrie is founder and past president of Streetlight. Streetlight’s mission is to eradicate child sex slavery. 
 
Larrie is currently a PhD Student at the University of Bucharest and host and producer of the Let's Go 360 podcast. https://www.letsgo360.org/
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

What happens when a group of ministry- and mission-minded men decide that they want  more than a social gathering and want to change the world? The G6 World Changers in Scottsdale, AZ come together with intentionality - to know each other better as well as each other's passions. One outcome is that they support worthy organizations together through finances and any other gifts members bring to the table. But it's all driven by a passion to be involved in spreading God's word and in sharing the generosity that God gives to us with others. 
Listen in as Ted Esler and Matthew Ellison talk with Bob Smith who unofficially represents the G6 World Changers - a giving circle. Bob gives insight into how the group functions and what types of projects they support. 
Bob Smith is a senior executive, general counsel, strategic advisor, manager and leader of large-scale transactions. A trusted advisor to Boards of Directors and senior corporate leadership teams and a recognized corporate governance expert, he also serves as director on a public company board. His experience spans public company spin-offs, major litigation, significant regulatory strategy, and building high-performing legal teams. 
His ability to deliver outstanding value by providing clear communication, sound advice, and innovative and effective results across the full range of critical business and legal challenges has enriched all his work. As a testament to his reputation for wisdom, he has even advised Congress in the creation of national policy. As Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. (now TransCanada Corp.), Bob served as a member of the Executive Council and Benefits and Risk Management committees. He was also a member of Columbia’s Foundation and a Board member of Columbia Pipeline Partners, Ltd. (CPPL). 
He serves on the Board of Trustees of the El Faro Ephraim Foundation, which supports training and compassion efforts in Guatemala. He served as the interim president of Global Action from 2017-2018.
The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.

How should an American Jesus follower view attempts by other Christians to enter the United States? Immigration is a contentious issue in our politics and culture in 2025.  What should the church's attitude be toward people who are suffering, hurting, and fleeing persecution or even economic challenges? Guest Steve Moore gives his take on the current immigration crisis with Ted Esler in this episode of The Mission Matters.

Steve Moore is the president of nextleader and Hold the Rope. At nexleader Steve gives leadership to a growing network of over 250 coaches who use the Identity Profile Self-Awareness Tool (IPSAT) to help people discover, optimize, and unleash their God-given potential. At Hold the Rope, he leads a startup initiative focused on helping Jesus-followers understand how God is at work around the world, the scope of the task that remains and how anyone can be involved.
From 2006-2015, Steve served as the president and CEO of Missio Nexus, the largest network of Great Commission-oriented evangelicals in North America, representing churches, organizations and training institutions that send missionaries to nearly every country.
Steve has provided leadership for teams serving in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean. He served on the board of World Relief and on the National Association of Evangelicals for eighteen years.
Steve attended Kingswood University before pursuing graduate studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies with a leadership concentration. Kingswood University recognized Steve with a D. Div. in 2012.
He is the author of six book, including The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights from Extensive Research on over 1,000 Biblical Leaders, and most recently, Grow Toward Your Dreams: Practical Steps to Discover, Optimize and Unleash Your Potential.Steve and his wife Sherry have four adult children and live near Atlanta, Georgia.http://www.nexleader.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠

https://www.amazon.com/Who-My-Neighbor-Samaritan-Connected/dp/1615217231⁠

The Mission Matters Podcast is a place to talk about the importance of our Mission as Christians. The Mission Matters is a partnership of Missio Nexus and Sixteen:Fifteen, who have a shared passion to mobilize God’s people to be a part of His mission.