The Missions Show

By Alex Kocman and Scott DunfordSociety & Culture Religion & Spirituality Christianity Education Philosophy

The Missions Show episodes

October 04What Is God’s Mission? With Justin Schell
What is God’s mission—and how does the church fit into it?
Christians often talk about being “on mission,” but before asking what we should do, we need to understand what God is doing. In this episode, Alex and Scott talk with Justin Schell, author of The Mission of God and the Witness of the Church, about the biblical story of God revealing himself and drawing people into communion with him. From Genesis to the Great Commission, they trace how God’s desire to dwell with his people shapes our understanding of both the church and missions.
The conversation also explores the church’s role as God’s witness in the world. Good works can display something true about God, but people need the proclaimed gospel to know the saving work of Jesus Christ. Rather than viewing the church simply as a tool for accomplishing mission, Schell explains how God’s mission leads to a people who know him, worship him, and invite others to share in that joy.
Key Topics:
What we mean by “the mission of God”
God’s desire for communion with his people
Why the church is more than a means to accomplish mission
The church’s calling to bear witness to Christ
The relationship between good works and gospel proclamation
How the Great Commission fits into the whole story of Scripture
Explore your calling to global missions at ABWE's 24-Hour DEMO event. These events, held throughout the year, help individuals and churches explore how they can help fulfill the Great Commission and explore God's calling on their life and church. Learn more at https://demo.abwe.org.
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
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A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
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Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
29 min
September 27Defining the Missionary Task: Entrust (Part 4)
In the final installment of the Defining the Missionary Task series, Alex and Scott explore what it means to entrust the mission to others. The missionary task doesn’t end when people are evangelized, churches are established, and leaders are equipped. Healthy churches should grow into sending churches—taking responsibility for making disciples, planting churches, and carrying the gospel to other peoples and places.
But multiplication rarely happens overnight. Alex and Scott discuss why lasting missions movements are built through patient, faithful work rooted in Scripture rather than shortcuts or strategies designed to produce quick results. Missionaries must lay strong foundations while trusting God for the fruit, helping churches mature enough to carry the mission forward. The result is a growing, global partnership in which churches that once received missionaries become churches that send them.
Key Topics
Entrusting the Great Commission to local churches and leaders
Why healthy churches should become sending churches
Pursuing multiplication through patient, faithful ministry
Building strong biblical foundations for future generations
Balancing the needs of mature churches with reaching the unreached
Measuring faithfulness without relying only on numbers or quick results
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
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A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
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The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
32 min
September 20Defining the Missionary Task: Equip (Part 3)
Are missionaries doing their job if they never work themselves out of one?
In part three of the Defining the Missionary Task series, Alex and Scott turn to a vital part of church planting: equipping local leaders. Healthy churches need qualified men who can shepherd, teach, and lead God’s people. Drawing from Jesus’ example with the disciples and Paul’s investment in leaders like Timothy and Titus, they discuss why missionaries must do more than carry out ministry themselves. They must prepare others to carry it forward.
Alex and Scott explore how missionaries can identify, train, and gradually entrust responsibility to local leaders without abandoning them or holding on to control. They discuss the importance of biblical and theological training, character, mentorship, teamwork, and giving developing leaders room to grow and make mistakes. Ultimately, equipping leaders is about preparing faithful believers who can shepherd healthy churches, raise up more leaders, and help the gospel continue to spread.
Key Topics
Why healthy churches need equipped local leaders
Analysis of Jesus’ and Paul’s models for developing leaders
Knowing when to release responsibility to local leaders
Training leaders without paternalism or condescension
Prioritizing biblical knowledge, character, and hands-on mentorship
Preparing leaders to equip the next generation
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
Exclusive bonus content
A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
30 min
September 13Defining the Missionary Task: Establish (Part 2)
Why must missionaries seek to establish churches?
In part two of a four-part series on the missionary task, Alex and Scott move from evangelism to the next step: establishing healthy local churches. They explore why the church is not a Western institution or an optional addition to missions, but central to God’s plan for his people. Those who trust in Christ are saved into a community where believers gather to hear God’s word, observe baptism and the Lord’s Supper, care for one another, and grow together in faith.
Alex and Scott also discuss what a biblical church can look like across cultures and why missionaries should focus on more than seeing individuals come to faith. Without healthy churches, new believers can lack the teaching, leadership, fellowship, and accountability they need to mature and reach others with the gospel. And while not every missionary will serve as a church planter or pastor, every missionary can use his or her gifts to help establish and strengthen local churches that worship God and make disciples.
Key Topics
Why establishing churches is central to the missionary task
What Scripture teaches about the nature and purpose of the church
The biblical marks of a healthy local church
Adapting church forms across cultures without losing biblical foundations
The dangers of making disciples without establishing healthy churches
How every missionary can play a role in church planting and growth
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
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A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
29 min
September 06Defining the Missionary Task: Evangelism (Part 1)
What is at the heart of the missionary task?
In the first episode of a four-part series, Alex and Scott explore why essential to the missionary calling is that they must clearly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and call people to repent and believe. While mercy ministries, relationships, and other forms of service have an important place in missions, they cannot replace sharing the gospel in words.
Alex and Scott also discuss what faithful evangelism looks like across cultures. Missionaries must learn the language, understand how people view God and sin, ask good questions, and patiently help people understand the story of Scripture. Yet cultural sensitivity should never become an excuse for silence. Whether the fruit comes quickly or takes years, missionaries are called to faithfully make Christ known and trust God with the results.
Key Topics
Why evangelism is essential to the missionary task
Proclaiming the gospel through both words and actions
Calling people to repent and believe in Jesus Christ
Overcoming fear, rejection, and distractions in evangelism
Sharing the gospel clearly across languages and cultures
Using the story of Scripture to build a foundation for understanding the gospel
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
Exclusive bonus content
A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
32 min
August 30Zeal Isn’t Enough for Missions With Brooks Buser and Pat Daly
What does it take to send missionaries who are prepared not only to go, but to stay and faithfully serve for the long haul? Alex and Scott talk with Brooks Buser, president of Radius International, and Pat Daly of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary about the church’s role in sending well-equipped missionaries. They also discuss the upcoming Missionary Conference and its focus on helping churches recover a biblical vision for taking the gospel to people who have little or no access to it.
Brooks and Pat make the case that zeal for missions must be matched by deep biblical knowledge and practical preparation. They explore why language is an important way to identify where gospel access is still lacking, how churches and training organizations can work together, and what can happen when workers enter cross-cultural ministry without adequate preparation.
Key Topics:
Why the local church must take the lead in sending missionaries
Reaching unreached language groups with the gospel
The need for both theological and practical missionary training
Moving young missionaries from zeal to lasting biblical conviction
The dangers of syncretism when cross-cultural ministry moves too quickly
How churches, seminaries, and missions organizations can work together to prepare workers
Explore your calling to global missions at ABWE's 24-Hour DEMO event. These events, held throughout the year, help individuals and churches explore how they can help fulfill the Great Commission and explore God's calling on their life and church. Learn more at demo.abwe.org.
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
Exclusive bonus content
A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
29 min
August 23Should Christians be Losers? Feat. D. Michael Clary
Should Christians want to be losers?
In this episode of The Missions Show, hosts Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford talk with pastor and author D. Michael Clary about the ideas behind his book, Loser Theology. Clary challenges the belief that Christians are somehow more faithful when they are suffering, struggling, or losing. Scripture teaches believers how to endure hardship faithfully, but that does not mean suffering should become the goal. For missionaries and ministry leaders, this distinction matters: faithfulness may require sacrifice, but Christians should not seek hardship simply to prove their devotion to Christ.
The conversation also explores a healthier view of success in missions. Faithful ministry often means years of patient work with little visible fruit, and results ultimately belong to God. Yet that truth should not lead Christians to passivity. God calls his people to take initiative, use the gifts and opportunities he has given them, proclaim the gospel, love their neighbors, and pursue the Great Commission with courage.
Key Topics:
Why suffering should not become a measure of Christian faithfulness
The danger of romanticizing martyrdom and difficult ministry
How missionaries can remain faithful when they see little visible fruit
Balancing God’s sovereignty with human initiative and responsibility
Why ordinary, faithful Christian service has eternal value
Taking risks for the Great Commission while trusting God with the results
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
Exclusive bonus content
A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
29 min
August 16The Ultimate Happily Ever After: Christ’s Return and the Great Commission
If the world is ending, why bother with missions?
This week, Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford are joined in the ABWE studio by Benjamin Vrbicek, lead teaching pastor of Community Evangelical Free Church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and author of The Restoration of All Things (Baker Books). For most Christians, the doctrine of last things produces anxiety, charts, and headline-watching rather than comfort. Benjamin came to the subject the hard way, studying every major view of Christ’s return for his own ordination, and came out the other side convinced that the biggest truth in Scripture ought to be the brightest one.
Together they trace what that hope does to the missionary task. If history is moving toward a designed conclusion rather than circling endlessly, then the work we leave unfinished is not brass polished on a sinking ship but the beginning of something Christ will complete. They talk through why the classic rapture passage lands on “therefore encourage one another,” how the promise of final justice gives wronged and weary believers room to forgive, and how to live ready for Christ to return today while still planning to disciple the nations for generations.
Key Topics:
Why studying every major view of Christ’s return for his ordination made the biggest truth the brightest truth
How a designed end to history, rather than an endless cycle, reframes the missionary task
Why 1 Thessalonians 4, the classic rapture passage, lands on “therefore encourage one another”
How the promise of final justice helps suffering believers and abandoned missionaries forgive and endure
Holding imminence and long-term faithfulness together: living ready while planning to disciple the nations for generations
How to pastor people away from newspaper eschatology toward the blessed hope of Christ’s presence and the resurrection of the body
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
Exclusive bonus content
A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
29 min
August 09How to Know if You’re Ready to Be a Missionary
Does it take more than a calling to be a missionary?
This week, Alex Kocman and Scott Dunford are joined by Matt Bennett and Ryan Robertson, co-authors of The Path to Being a Missionary, to explore a question that often gets overlooked: not simply, “Am I called?” but “Am I qualified?” Together, they discuss why churches should assess aspiring missionaries based on biblical character, sound doctrine, and proven competency rather than personal desire alone.
Their conversation also looks at encouraging trends in missions today, including a renewed emphasis on theology, the local church, and careful missionary preparation. Matt and Ryan challenge churches to invest in developing future missionaries over time, helping them grow in character, convictions, and ministry skills before they are sent.
Key Topics:
Why qualification matters as much as a desire to serve in missions
The difference between a missionary “calling” and a missionary aspiration
How churches can better evaluate and prepare missionary candidates
The role of character, convictions, and competency in missionary readiness
Why God's glory—not simply human lostness—is the primary motivation for missions
Practical encouragement for aspiring missionaries who are still preparing for future service
Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber!
Premium Subscribers get access to:
Exclusive bonus content
A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts
Invite-only webinars
A free gift!
Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium
The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org.
Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email [email protected].
29 min
August 02What Comes Next in Africa With Ron Washer
In this episode of The Missions Show, Alex sits down with veteran missionary Ron Washer to explore what God is doing across Africa after more than 50 years of ministry. From growing up as a missionary kid in Niger to serving in Togo and helping mobilize new workers, Ron shares how God has used faithful teams, medical ministry, church planting, and leadership development to establish thriving local churches.
Ron reflects on God's providence in opening doors for ministry in Togo and the lasting impact of investing in local believers who now lead the work. He also challenges common assumptions about missions in Africa. While the gospel has taken root in many places, the work is far from finished. Together, Alex and Ron discuss the ongoing need for discipleship, theological training, and partnership with national believers as they reach unreached communities throughout West Africa.
Key Topics
Ron Washer's missionary journey and three generations of ministry in Africa
How medical missions have helped plant churches and open doors for the gospel in Togo
Why missionaries are still needed alongside growing national churches
The importance of discipleship and theological training for healthy churches
Reaching unreached people through strategic ministry hubs in West Africa
Mobilizing the next generation to serve in God's global mission
29 min

About The Missions Show

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The Missions Show answers hard questions about theology, missions, and practice to help goers think and thinkers go. We are conservative, evangelical, and gospel-centered.