The Missions Show

Is mentorship the missing ingredient in missions? This week, Marvin Brubacher, Executive Director of MentorLink Canada and ABWE board member emeritus, joins to share from his decades of experience in promoting deep, one-on-one relationships of discipleship and personal development in international settings.

Previously, he served as the first President of Heritage College and Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario for more than 21 years. Before that he served in pastoral ministries in London and St. Thomas, Ontario for more than 14 years. Marvin has ministered in many churches and conferences throughout Canada. He has also served internationally in Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe. Marvin and his wife, Kay, have three adult sons, two daughters-in-law, and six grandchildren. Marvin serves as an elder at Forward Church in Cambridge, Ontario. You can support Marvin’s ministry and follow him on Twitter.

Don’t forget our sponsor, the Global Gospel Fund. We believe missionaries should be free to do the ministry they’re called to—not to waste precious ministry hours handling logistics. The Global Gospel Fund provides 1,000 missionaries across 70 countries with counsel, support, and a team of experts who know them by name. If you’re burdened for missions this giving season but don’t know where to start, we invite you to become a partner.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

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Behind every great missionary, there’s a great sending pastor. That was certainly true in the case of Andrew Fuller, the pastor of William Carey and a fellow advocate of the modern missionary movement among the English Particular Baptists of his day. What can modern ministers learn from this influential local church leader who helped launch a global movement without even leaving home? We ask that question to Travis Myers (M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.), assistant professor of church history and mission studies at Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, MN, who recently wrote an in-depth article on Fuller for Boston University. You can follow Travis on Twitter. 

Don’t forget our sponsor, the Global Gospel Fund. We believe missionaries should be free to do the ministry they’re called to—not to waste precious ministry hours handling logistics. The Global Gospel Fund provides 1,000 missionaries across 70 countries with counsel, support, and a team of experts who know them by name. If you’re burdened for missions this giving season but don’t know where to start, we invite you to become a partner.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

Powered by ABWE International.

The early 2000’s wasn’t a prime time for Americans visiting the Middle East. But that’s when our guest, the son of a Kansas farmer, found himself called to the mission field in an undeniable way. On today’s episode, he shares stories of death-defying ministry to mullahs and how God used his ministry to plant the gospel in the surprisingly fertile soil of the Middle East—and how God is opening doors for business as mission today.

Don’t forget our sponsor, the Global Gospel Fund. We believe missionaries should be free to do the ministry they’re called to—not to waste precious ministry hours handling logistics. The Global Gospel Fund provides 1,000 missionaries across 70 countries with counsel, support, and a team of experts who know them by name. If you’re burdened for missions this giving season but don’t know where to start, we invite you to become a partner.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

Powered by ABWE International.

It’s the final week to enter our giveaway! As a way of thanking our loyal listeners, we’re giving away some great, free books and spiffy, new ABWE swag. Click here for details and to enter our drawing.

According to UNICEF, nearly 2 million girls are exploited/sold into the global sex trade each year—and 1 million of them are in India. To boot, Kolkata, the capitol of India’s West Bengal state, boasts what is arguably Asia’s biggest red light district. And that’s exactly where Smita Singh finds herself engaged in frontlines gospel ministry.

Smita is a global expert in rescuing trafficked girls from brothels and helping them build new futures. Smita, by profession, is a clinical psychologist, having worked with hundreds of victims of trafficking to help them rediscover their sense of self-worth. Smita is Director of Justice Initiatives for JKPS, which launched Mahima Homes to help trafficked girls and boys receive counseling, education and vocational training.

You can support the ministries of Smita and other JKPS partners through ABWE’s GAP program.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

Powered by ABWE International.

Announcement: It’s the show’s first birthday! As a way of thanking our loyal listeners, we’re giving away some great, free books and spiffy, new ABWE swag. Click here for details and to enter our drawing.

“It’s the economy, stupid.” Economics is complicated enough already, but injecting a Christian perspective adds a new layer. How do we think Christianly about economics? And specifically, how should missionaries think about economics—especially in that critical moment where they arrive in a new country and see poverty, corruption, or systemic injustices that are completely foreign (literally)?

To answer, we spoke with Dr. Matthew Arbo of Oklahoma Baptist University, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Theological Studies and Director of the Center for Faith and Public Life at Oklahoma Baptist University.

Dr. Arbo is the author of Political Vanity: Adam Ferguson on the Moral Tensions of Early Capitalism (Fortress Press, 2014) and, more recently, Walking Through Infertility: Biblical, Theological, and Moral Counsel for those who are Struggling (Crossway, 2018). His essays and articles on wide-ranging moral and political questions appear in several edited volumes and top-tier journals, including Political Theology, Studies in Christian Ethics, and the Evangelical Review of Society and Politics. Arbo is an active participant in the scholarly community, contributing as an invited panelist or presenter for conferences at Princeton University, University of Notre Dame, and Tyndale House (Cambridge), among others. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, Society of Christian Ethics, and Evangelical Theological Society. Dr. Arbo is an appointed Research Fellow in Christian Ethics for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Arbo’s wife, Ashli, is an attorney and together they have two sons, Henry and James. The Arbo family are members of Frontline Church, Oklahoma City, where Matthew also serves as an elder. Follow Matt on Twitter. Dr. Arbo also recommended Oxford University Press’s Very Short Introductions.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

Powered by ABWE International.

Announcement: It’s the show’s first birthday! As a way of thanking our loyal listeners, we’re giving away some great, free books and spiffy, new ABWE swag. Click here for details and to enter our drawing.

What is God’s will for my life? Is God calling me to missions? Is there such a thing as a missionary calling—and if so, what is it? ABWE missionary to Ukraine Caleb Suko joins us this week to help us answer ten questions as it relates to the missionary call, desire, affirmation and counsel from loved ones, the local church, experience, prayer, opportunity, and more, based on his new book Is God Calling Me to Missions? 10 Questions to Help You Determine God’s Calling. 

Since 2007 Caleb has served as a missionary in Odessa, Ukraine where he is pastor at Hope for People Church and director of “Evangelism Today” center for evangelism and discipleship. Caleb attended Shasta Bible College and graduated from Northwest Baptist Seminary in 2005 with a Master’s of Divinity. Together with his wife Christina their desire is to help believers and churches to do biblical evangelism and discipleship through training seminars on evangelism and discipleship for churches, personal discipleship, and working closely with national pastors to help strengthen and multiply the church in Ukraine and beyond. The Sukos also have five children. Learn more on their site.

You can listen to Caleb’s podcast “Now Is the Time” or follow him on Twitter.

At the end of the show, we also highlighted some more key resources:

Bonus content! After we recorded this episode, we also joined Caleb on his own podcast to answer the question: “What is Missions Mobilization?” We think you’ll enjoy this bonus installment. Click here to listen.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

Powered by ABWE International.

Announcement: It’s the show’s first birthday! As a way of thanking our loyal listeners, we’re giving away some great, free books and spiffy, new ABWE swag. Click here for details and to enter our drawing.

The Islamic revolution of the 1970’s plunged Iran into a state of political and spiritual darkness, but God’s kingdom hasn’t been halted. This week we talk to a missionary converted from a Muslim background in Iran after becoming disillusioned with the Islamic religion. He and his wife has ministered extensively in the underground church in Iran, and he now continues to serve and resource believers and churches for Farsi-language evangelism and discipleship. Hear how the Iranian church is standing firm amidst persecution, radical Islam, and political upheaval.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

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What does it look like to meet physical needs, share Christ, and risk persecution to serve in a 99.9% Islamic country? Two anonymous, female ABWE missionaries in North Africa join us over the phone to share from their experiences in tilling the soil, building trust, avoiding security risks, and praying that God gradually opens hearts to the gospel.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

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Dreams and visions in the Islamic world. Miraculous healings. “Power-encounters.” What is the role of the Holy Spirit in missions? Are miracles still normative in front-lines missions—and specifically, what about the apostolic sign gifts seen throughout the Book of Acts? There’s perhaps no one better to ask than Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner, one of the leading New Testament scholars of our day, and author (most recently) of Spiritual Gifts: What They Are and Why They Matter and articles like “Why I Am a Cessationist.”

Thomas R. Schreiner has been a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky since 1997 and is the James Harrison Buchanan Professor of New Testament Interpretation. He has also taught New Testament at Azusa Pacific University and Bethel Theological Seminary. He received a B.S. from Western Oregon University, a M.Div. and Th.M. from Western Seminary, and a Ph.D. in New Testament from Fuller Theological Seminary. Schreiner’s writings include commentaries on Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and 1–2 Peter and Jude, and forthcoming commentaries on 1 Corinthians and Revelation. He has also written a theology of the Apostle Paul, a New Testament theology, and a theology of the entire Bible. He is a pastor at Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Schreiner is married to Diane, and they have four children and eight grandchildren. You can follow Dr. Schreiner on Twitter.

In the episode, we mentioned some helpful resources including:

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

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Announcement:

We’re giving away 2x free VIP tickets (a $220 value!) to For the Church in Kansas City, Sept. 24-25! Enter by Sept. 19 to be eligible for the prize. Go to missionspodstg.wpengine.com/giveaway to enter now.

More money, more problems. Wealth, generosity, pay scales, financial practices, and differing standards of living can all be hair-trigger issues in dealing with relationships with nationals while serving on the foreign field. Sometimes when we mean to help, we end up hurting those we’re serving in the long-term. And it’s not just limited to developing countries; anywhere we go in the world, different cultures are likely to have different views of wealth. How do we avoid misunderstandings with nationals? How can we avoid fostering dependency on Western missionaries, or unintentionally fostering an attitude of paternalism? ABWE Vice President of Training John Taylor joins us to discuss five problems with the “wealth of nations,” four solutions that don’t work, and some better strategies that do.

John and his wife Jacky were appointed as missionaries by ABWE Canada in 1991 and served in Odessa, Ukraine for more than 22 years. There, they served on the leadership team of two church plants, served as team leaders, and mentored and assisted many Ukrainian church planters and pastors. John was co-founder of the Church Ministries Institute (Eurasia), and served for many years as its president.

John holds graduate degrees in missions, theology and education. John is passionate about facilitating learning in communities of faith, and joined the ABWE training team in 2016, while Jacky has a passion for the lost throughout the world and for developing relationships with unbelievers.

Remember to share, rate, leave a review, and subscribe. Together we can help bridge the gap between the worlds of theology and missions.

Want to ask a question for a future episode? Email [email protected].

Powered by ABWE International.