Eric gives us insight into the changing world of Global Missions; the challenges and blessings that it holds.

ABOUT ERIC:

Eric was born and raised in Damascus, Oregon, and became a Christian while attending Oregon State University. After finishing his university studies, he served as a missionary in Mongolia for a year and then returned to the US to pursue a Th.M. degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. While at seminary, Eric met his wife, Pauline, who was also a student. Upon completing their seminary studies, Eric and Pauline moved to Canada where Eric completed his Ph.D., and along the way they were blessed with two daughters. In 2016, Eric and Pauline joined a missions organization and moved to South Asia to teach at a seminary and train future pastors, evangelists, and church planters. Since 2020, Eric has served as the SE Asia regional director for his missions agency, overseeing 30 missionaries in six countries.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

• Missio Nexus

• Lausanne State of the Great Commission Report

Josh & Risa Hobson share about their ministry of hospitality and missionary care located in Portugal.

ABOUT JOSH & RISA HOBSON:

Josh and Risa Hobson are missionaries with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) who currently provide member care through Lado a Lado Ministries’ retreat center in Portugal, where they live with their family. Their mission is to walk alongside Christian workers with authenticity and compassion, providing a safe space with opportunities for rest, growth, care in community, and reconnection with God.

Josh worked as a chef for over 20 years, with the last 15 years as a culinary instructor at a cooking school. His passion for learning all sorts of different cuisines and dishes allow him to prepare a variety of food for our guests. He also has extensive experience in working with dietary needs and restrictions. Working for over 18 years in church plants, Josh also has experience leading groups and helping men with accountability. He is gifted in listening and debriefing.

Risa is a licensed professional counselor with over two decades of experience in church ministries, education, and counseling. She has specialized training in utilizing the Seeking Safety trauma recovery model, which includes support groups specifically developed for ministry workers. Risa grew up as a third culture kid and is super passionate both personally and professionally about helping workers and their families thrive in cross-cultural settings.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

• Risa Hobson Counseling

• Lado a Lado

• Harry Hoffman “How to Grow a Member Care Department”

• Seeking Safety (trauma care)

• Third Culture Kids 3rd Edition: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds - by Ruth E. Van Reken, David C. Pollock, Michael V. Pollock

Dr. Betty Sue Brewster shares her rich life experience in missions and also her wisdom in the field of language and culture acquisition.

ABOUT DR. BETTY SUE BREWSTER:

Betty Sue grew up in Venezuela in a missionary family where she came to know the Lord at a young age. She discovered an interest in languages as a pre-teen when she visited a couple who were translating the NT into a local language. She and her late husband Tom wrote LAMP (Language Acquisition Made Practical) along with other language and culture articles and helps. Her teaching and writing focus on practical, hands-on learning. She has traveled to about 100 countries, teaching and consulting with people in cross-cultural ministry. She enjoys travel (good thing!), music, being a mother and grandmother, reading, and playing with language sounds. She retired from teaching language and culture learning at the School of Intercultural Studies of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, and still travels occasionally to teach and consult in other countries.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

For Learners:

• Institute for Cross Cultural Training, Lonna Dickerson – Wheaton - Second Language Acquisition Courses
• Missionary Training International – Compass (Their pre-field training includes a language learning module)
• Growing Participator Approach, Greg Thomson
• Language Acquisition Made Practical (LAMP)

For Trainers:

• International Congress on Language Learning – especially helpful for pre-field and on-field language trainers, teachers, coaches to connect with others in the field

Nathan LaGrange the Director of Oasis Rest International unpacks their global ministry of missionary care.

ABOUT NATHAN LAGRANGE:

Nathan LaGrange has over 25 years of pastoral and business experience; he is honored to serve as the Executive Director of Oasis Rest International (ORI). Nathan and Tricia have been married over 25 years, have 4 children and one grandbaby. In the midst of everything Nathan and Tricia have experienced, they remain in awe of the transformative and refreshing presence of the Lord. They have a deep passion for Jesus, love for our amazing Oasis Rest hosts and a desire to see every leader "refreshed through R.E.S.T."

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

• Valeo (Clinical Care for Global Workers)

• Unhurried Living

• Start to Finish: The Pastor’s Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry by Mark Dance

• Podcast - Hospitality Daily

Rodrigo & Valeska Petrelli share their experience and hard-earned wisdom as Brazilians working on multicultural mission teams.

ABOUT RODRIGO AND VALESKA PETRELLI:

Rodrigo and Valeska Petrelli are Brazilian missionaries with Africa Inland Mission (AIM) who have been living and serving in Africa for 15 years. They have two teenage sons: Pedro and Asafe. The Petrelli Family is currently based in Kijabe, Kenya.

In the last 15 years their family has served in South Africa, Madagascar, Uganda and Kenya and have supported and equipped multicultural workers, team leaders and multicultural teams among unreached areas. They have also done onboarding and training of new missionaries and mobilizing and equipping African pastors and leaders.

Rodrigo has degrees in Theology and Pedagogy and is a Baptist Pastor. He currently leads the META Project: Mentoring, Equipping, Training African pastors and Leaders on Basic Theology and Mission.

Valeska has a degree in Psychology and is a specialist in People Management. She loves to serve in the areas of Member Care/ TCK care and has started an online community for Portuguese speaking missionaries and multicultural women at https://www.mulhermulticultural.com/

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

• The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer

• Leading Multicultural Teams by Evelyn Hibbert and Richard Hibbert

• Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success by David A. Livermore

Bruce and Cindy McMartin tell the story of their life work on two sides of the globe as they worked alongside their students in missions.

ABOUT BRUCE & CINDY MCMARTIN:

Bruce & Cindy met at Multnomah Bible College and married after graduating in 1975. They have 3 grown children.

Bruce earned a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary and a D.Miss from Western Seminary.

Bruce & Cindy were accepted as appointees to Haiti with Unevangelized Fields Mission (now Crossworld) and began full-time service in Haiti in 1982. They were both involved in training and developing Haitian leaders, and both taught in the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Port-au-Prince.

Both Bruce & Cindy played a role in helping to sensitize the Haitian church and believers to the needs of the lost world and their responsibility to be a part of obeying the Great Commission. A Haitian Mission Organization was birthed, and 3 teams were sent to Senegal (2004, 2005, 2011) and today there are 7 full-time Haitian missionaries serving in Senegal, W. Africa.

In 2014, Bruce & Cindy left Haiti and moved to Senegal to serve alongside Haitian missionaries. Senegal is a more unreached country, so the challenges are great. The major religion is Islam, and the Evangelical church is small.

Bruce & Cindy have just returned to the USA and are transitioning to making disciples in a new environment.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

• CultureBound

Our guests talk about the realities of preparing for working in closed access and creative access countries. Today we are talking about “Preparing to Work in Hard Places”. What we mean by that is places where religion, language learning, climate and politics make it especially hard to be a global worker. ABOUT SAM & JIM: Sam has lived in 2 countries in the Middle East for 11 years with his wife and 2 children. He worked in business and NGO projects while sharing his faith and helping Muslims follow Jesus. For the last 4-5 years he has been working alongside churches to assess and prepare long-term teams to go to unreached and unengaged places in the Muslim world. He loves outdoor activities like hiking and camping, he also enjoys cooking and enjoying a good cup of coffee with a friend. Jim and his family have spent 10 years on the mission field first in civil-war-Uganda in the 80’s seeing God start a disciple-making movement among their people group. Then after some graduate studies, they took a team from their church to live and minister in a 99.7% Muslim country in Central Asia. He and his wife currently work to recruit and prepare workers who will creatively go to “pioneering” environments to be ambassadors for Christ and make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. Jim and his wife continue to befriend local Muslims as they live in and love the Pacific Northwest. ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: • Facing Danger by Anna Hampton • Mission Training International • Launch Global • Emotionally Healthy Discipleship (Pete Scazzero)

Amy Young of Global Trellis shares recent research on what missionaries wished they could share with supporters.

ABOUT AMY YOUNG, MA, LPC:

Amy Young, MA, LPC served in China for nearly 20 years, holding various leadership roles, including Member Care Director for 10 years. She co-founded Velvet Ashes, an online community for women working cross-culturally. She founded Global Trellis which develops the spiritual life of cross-cultural workers. You can find out more about it at globaltrellis.com. Amy is also the author of five books for cross-cultural workers. She lives in Colorado and is delighted not to have to get up in the middle of the night to cheer for the Denver Broncos and Kansas Jayhawks.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:

• GlobalTrellis.com

• Global Trellis Workshops

• Let's Talk About It (Research Paper)