Click here to view this newsletter as a PDF.
Travel
I have been enjoying continuing to travel the past three months. These travels have included driving but not as much as I had done in the summer. I have also gotten to travel by air, which I also love. There is something about being in an airport where people are bustling off to visit friends or family or to attend a meeting or conference, all of us in the same liminal space between here and there.
My view as I travel around the Great Plains.
Thank you for the hospitality you have shown me as I have visited your homes, churches, Sunday school classes, youth groups, AWANA groups, and missions conferences. It is an honor to spend time with you and share stories. It is exciting to learn about how God is walking with individuals, families, and churches as we seek him together.
Learn
There has been much reading, pondering, and conversing as I have stepped into the new role of mobilization director. I had the opportunity to join NAB mission leaders from around the world for a Global Summit in September. I was inspired by missiologist Evelyn Hibbert as she shared her research and years of experience with us. She shared statistics and stories that challenged me and have driven me to my knees asking the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers and to soften hearts in preparation.
It was also inspiring to be with colleagues from around the world who love Jesus and are seeking to make him known. Your NAB missionaries love Jesus and are committed to creatively sharing his love.
Yuri and I got to room together at the Global Summit.
I have also had the privilege of talking with mission leaders from other organizations, some of whom have a similar position to mine in their organization, asking questions and gleaning insights and wisdom that I hope will be beneficial as I continue serving in the NAB.
In October, I joined the NAB’s Blue Ocean cohort with our first meeting in Vancouver, British Colombia. God is at work in North America and in the people he has called to serve his church. Your NAB leaders and pastors love Jesus and desire for his church to grow deeply as it shines his light brightly in their neighborhoods across the continent. I am grateful for these new friends and look forward walking together for the next half year or so.
Travel
I have just a few more church visits to complete my home assignment. If I have not visited your church yet, please contact me, and let’s put something on the calendar, even in 2026! I cannot express my deep gratitude for the ways each church, friend, and family member have prayed for and supported me over the years. Thank you to all of you who have already indicated that you are willing to continue supporting me in my new role – and for those of you who have just joined the team.
I am excited for the new year and how God is going to challenge us to join him on mission around the world.
Church Visits This Quarter
- November 2 – Ashley Baptist Church in Ashley, North Dakota
- November 9 – Danzig Baptist Church in Avon, South Dakota
- December 7 – Riverview Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota
“We not only have a responsibility to testify to the lost, but we also have an obligation to show the way for those who will follow us in this great relay race we call world missions. If we don’t point them to the greatness of our God, who are expecting will do it?”
—Gene Daniels, in Meditations for the Missions Heart