Missionary Talks

I share some of the emails and comments I have gotten recently from the listeners. The interviews I talk about in this episode are: Debi Deryee Ignacio Rovirosa Bethany Thompson Chris and Carol Woodley My Prayer is Heard streaming radio station is playing Missionary Talks twice a day. Visit their site to get the program schedule and to hear other good programming.

I first met Paulo and Marilza when they were raising their support to go to Tahiti, French Polynesia. However, they have been in Brazil the last 5 years. They share with us how the Lord led them from one mission field to another. They talk about the need for workers in Brazil. Especially those who have dedicated their lives to working with children.

Jason and Sarah are missionaries to Venezuela. They are currently raising support with plans to be on the field in just a couple more years. We talk about being new missionaries on deputation during a rocky economy. Jason also shares with us some of the issues with getting into Venezuela and some of their options. You can read more about the Sykes family at their website. They also have links to some great resources for missionaries.

Missionary Tim Strang grew up on the mission field in Mexico. He returned after a short time in the US and has been serving along side his family in smaller towns and villages. Tim talks about living in the smaller towns and shares some thoughts about being a missionary kid in a foreign country. At the end he shares two testimonies that are exciting. One is about a lady who has no education, but has been used to bring her family to the Lord. The other is about a young man who had an opportunity to hear the Gospel for many years, but just didn't "get it." Finally after he was saved while visiting in the US, he returned to Mexico to reach his friends and family for Christ.

It was a privilege speaking with Chris and Carol Woodley as they talked about their ministry in the Philippines. They have both a hearing church and a deaf church. They also have a school and Bible institute for the Deaf and an institute for hearing who want to study God's Word. They share with us their passion to read and study the Bible. They are very encouraging to young people to study God's Word. Whether you feel called to be a missionary or not, reading and studying the Bible is very important.

Listen as Jonathan Anderson tells about his experiences since he started deputation to go to the country of Mexico just a few months ago. Jonathan is a young man who is passionate about helping people know God's will and sharing with them how they can prepare themselves for the ministry. After Jonathan and I finished recording he began to talk about another ministry in which he is involved. He heads up prayer groups which pray for missions and missionaries on a regular basis. Please visit Jonathan's website to learn more about how you can be involved in prayer for missions.

Bethany Thompson is a missionary whom I met when I was still in college. We both worked in the deaf ministry at the church that we attended. She was very involved and was always focused on the goal of serving the Lord on the mission field. It was an honor to be able to speak with her for this interview. In this episode Bethany shares with the listeners her desires as an educator and deaf worker. She encourages the listeners to spend as much time as possible learning about the field to which you will be ministering. Bethany also emphasizes the need of missionaries to continue their language studies if they are ministering in a new language. She does not do this in a way to discourage those who are struggling with language, but tries to be an encouragement that it is a life-time process to learn a foreign language.

I was privileged to get to know the Corley family this week as we were in a missionary conference together. Bro. Corley talks with us about his short term trips to the Philippines and about his future return to the country as a full time missionary. He encourages listeners to consistently share their faith with others. If you want more information about the short term trips that he mentions or about his family you can email him or visit their website.

In this episode I give an update about our ministry. What has been happening in the last couple of months and where we are going as a family and as a podcast. I know things have slowed down on your end with receiving Missionary Talks, but I assure you that on my end things are just getting exciting. I have been waiting a long time for this to come. We are going back to the US for a year and I will be meeting new missionaries every week! I don't know if that means that there will be a new episode posted weekly, but I will be grabbing recordings everywhere I get a chance. I really am looking forward to our time on furlough to be with our supporting churches and to be able to get new interviews. I do have another interview currently recorded. I just have not had the time to do the necessary editing. With the move back to the US and having just finished another week of camp, my computer time has been somewhat limited. But that is the beauty of recording. I will be able to get this interview to you when it is ready. Don't expect new interviews to be coming left and right immediately, but I would think by the time October gets here I will be able to give more content on a regular basis. Thanks for hanging in with me through this time.

I spoke with Don and Carolyn Carney about their recent furlough trip. They took 2 months to return to the US and visit 17 churches along with seeing some of their family members. This is how they have done their furloughs for the last several years. Our family is returning to the US in the next several weeks to take a year long furlough. We discussed the different reasons why a missionary would take a longer or shorter time for furlough. I had previously interviewed Don Carney for Missionary Talks. If you have not listened to that episode, you may want to hear that one as well. This interview might possibly be the first introduction to many of the listeners to the phrase "a pig in a poke." Where else can you get such high culture?

In this episode I talked with Bob Patterson who recently took a mission trip to Uganda. This was a short term trip in which Bob helped with a medical team. Though Bob is not a long term missionary today, he grew up on the mission field in Mexico. Because he sees missions from both sides, he really has a great perspective on what the average person in the church can do to help their missionaries. He knows how to connect the person on the field to the person in the pew. His recent trip was with Operation Renewed Hope. This is a short term group that is based out of his church. At their website you can find out much more information about being a part of one of their future trips.

Chris Robertson and family are church planting missionaries in a small town in Mexico. Chris shares with me his burden to start churches by reaching people one on one. The Robertsons started their church almost 3 years ago and are already reaching out to other smaller cities who need a Bible preaching church. To find out more about the Robertson family, visit their website.

This is an interview I did while returning home from a medical mission trip. It is a discussion that I had with Larry and Phillip Allred along with Armando Yam. We were in a van going down the highway, so there is a bit of road noise, but not enough to be a real distraction. In this episode we talk about the trip that we are returning home from. It was a trip put on by Global Health Outreach (GHO), the missionary arm of Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA). Larry, Phillip and I went to be interpreters for the group of doctors and dentists. Armando was part of the group who shared the Gospel with the people we were ministering to. Armando mentions the testimony of a lady named Candi who accepted the Lord. She is the government representative who worked with us all week. She was convinced that she was good enough to earn her salvation. After we were all done and packed up on the final day of the trip Armando was privileged to lead her to the Lord. At the CMDA/GHO site you can see a calendar of their upcoming trips along with what special needs they need to fill with each trip.

In this episode I read two recent emails and encourage the listeners to spread the word about Missionary Talks. I also tell what I have planned in the next couple of episodes. One project that I asked listeners to help me with is suggesting historical missionaries to write a biographical sketch about, like I did with David Livingstone and William Carey. This time I am asking listeners to give a suggestion as to who I should study. Those take quite a bit of time to research and write, but I look forward to reading who listeners want to know more about. Please write me with suggestions or comments.

Bob Taylor is the director of Go Forth Baptist Missions. I talked with Bro. Taylor specifically about different needs that he knows of on the foreign field. We also talked about how people with specialty training can be used on the field. He mentions that missions has always been, and will always be, about planting churches, but even if you are not called to be a pastor, there are many other areas you can be used on the field. If you have questions about Go Forth specifically, or just about being a missionary, I feel confident that Bro. Taylor would love to point you the right direction. Go Forth is very selective about who they take on as missionary candidates, but Bro. Taylor sees much of his purpose in ministry with Go Forth is to talk with potential missionaries to help them prepare themselves for God's service. Visit their website to get more information and don't hesitate to call him if he can be a help to you. Their office number is 850-471-0990. All of their contact information is available at their site.