Partner With Us!

We are humbled to serve Christ in this unique and strategic ministry with global impact….and we’re excited to bring you with us to Asia and bring Asia to you in whatever ways we can!

Here are some in-depth responses to some of the questions you might have for us that we can’t fit into a monthly ministry update! If you have other questions please drop us a line!

How did this come about?
Why Now?
More about the Int’l Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL)
What will Christine and I specifically be doing during our time at IGSL?
Will IGSL Pay Us?
How does this affect our support needs & your giving/financial support?
What does this mean for Epic Movement and our current ministry?
How are the kids doing with the news?
How you can be praying for us right now.

How Did This All Come About?

Several years ago we both sensed God stirring up within us an increased desire to be available to take steps of faith out of the ordinary and out of our “normal.” The life stage was right and we’d begun talking about how to expose our kids to other cultures and God’s work in the world.  That’s when this opportunity presented itself to us.

The idea was first raised at a Cru Theological Development Summit I attended. I and several others were asked to think of anyone with a MA of Divinity degree who might be open to a short-term commitment (1-2 years) helping meet some critical faculty needs at one of Cru’s international seminaries. I thought to myself, “I have a Masters of Divinity…I wonder what Christine would think of this.”  I threw it out there to her and she was intrigued too and we decided to seriously pray and explore the opportunity.

Through the process we got excited about IGSL’s ministry and the opportunity. Also, our background in leadership development and Brian’s other Master’s degree in Transformational Leadership seemed to also fit some of IGSL’s needs. At the end of the day though it really came down to us wanting to live by faith and take a step towards some of our values and a unique opportunity for us and our family.

Why Now?

We’ve asked ourselves that honest question because it defies some of our instincts. When you have it good – why take a chance that you’ll mess it up and bring on potential pain and suffering on ourselves?

In those years, God has developed an increased clarity of what we want for ourselves and for our kids in terms of living a life of faith and service in His Kingdom. As our kids were entering a fairly ideal window for an opportunity like this – we realized that we CAN do this. Not many can logistically move their family to serve this way. Not many have the academic degrees and ministry experience to be able to fill the roles we’re being asked to fill. Not many people have ministered for 5 years in an Asian American context, 5 years in a short-term missions sending context, and 5 years in an highly academic ministry context (Stanford). It seemed to all make sense from a stewardship standpoint.

We want to live by faith. We want our kids to live by faith. We want everyone in our communities to live by faith. We want the name of Jesus to be praised in every tongue and tribe and nation. An opportunity presented itself to take an intentional step towards living our passions and values – both for ourselves, our kids, and for people groups that we have yet to encounter. This decision has opened doors for increased stress, challenge and pain, but God has led us to a place to trust Him for how he would use us in this journey and how he wants to work in us and transform us. And He’s been faithful in so many ways.

But a big part of “Why Now” is that you never know when great windows of impact will close. There’s a window of high impact that we want to be a part of and that God is using us in. Politics and circumstances can change the landscape dramatically so we want to steward the opportunity while the opportunity is there.

More about the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL)

“Officially opened for classes in 1981, the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) in metropolitan Manila, Philippines, seeks to develop servant leaders with biblical knowledge, Christ-like character and practical skills. Three out of every ten IGSL graduates hold leadership positions in biblical training institutions, and 97 percent of their 600 graduates serve in full-time ministry, including urban church planting, tribal outreach, groundbreaking Gospel teaching among unreached people and rural pastor training.

In addition to students representing 20 countries, half of IGSL’s degree students come from outside the Philippines, many from countries most in need of hearing the Gospel. Extension programs reach almost 2,000 people each year through short-term training programs for rural pastors, seminars for Christian leaders in various Asian countries and evening classes. IGSL is now working on opening extension centers in other Asian countries. IGSL also offers a “Partners in Ministry” certificate for wives of Christian leaders.
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Through their recent curriculum revision, IGSL has become more acutely aware of the need for field-based training for existing pastors and Christian leaders. Among IGSL’s many Master and Doctoral programs is the new Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Peacemaking degree. IGSL has also been working very closely with OC partner Asia Graduate School of Theology (AGST), Philippines, to equip leaders for the Church in Asia and the Pacific at the post-MDiv degree level. To combat social issues like poverty, IGSL seeks to equip students with a holistic ministry outlook through programs emphasizing community transformation.

Graduate Tandin Wangyal says his years of study at the school challenged him and showed God’s sovereignty. Through IGSL’s training, he says, “I pursued my vision to open a Bible school and help pastors and leaders in Bhutan. The preaching classes I took have greatly assisted me in helping pastors who are lacking in these areas.” Later, when he was imprisoned for his faith – he even credited IGSL training for helping him do the research to provide his own legal defense that God used to help eventually set him free!

– courtesy of Overseas Council

You can visit IGSL’s web site directly at http://igsl.asia/

What do Christine and I specifically do at IGSL?

Brian primarily teaches in the leadership department – teaching core leadership courses like servant leadership, team leadership, transforming leadership, strategic leadership, and interpersonal relationships. Brian’s been asked as well to help develop some leadership training and seminars for some of IGSL’s growing partnerships. IGSL regularly provides leadership training for the Philippines military, the Manila police department, and local universities in addition to ongoing training they offer to rural pastors.

A few years ago Brian was asked to join IGSL’s executive leadership team and oversee leadership development and human resources. So the hiring, care, and development of our 50+ faculty and 50 employees falls under him.

Christine teaches in IGSL’s “Partners in MInistry” certificate program.  She helps disciple, train, and mentor many of the spouses who are at IGSL with their families both in the classroom and in small group discipleship.  IGSL does not offer classes on Monday so that mom’s and women at the school are able to get consistent, quality, and in-depth ministry training and development if they are not enrolled in a specific degree program.  This shows an incredible commitment to women’s and mom’s development! Christine’s greatly enjoys this and the opportunity to re-engage ministry at a higher level now with kids in school. The last couple of years Christine has taught classes on evangelism and discipleship as well as ministry communication and conflict resolution. She also has been serving on the leadership team of the PIM program.  Christine also provides indispensable faculty and missionary care for the many women and families on the faculty team at IGSL.

Will IGSL Pay Us? 

No.  This is the question we often hear as people hear about what we’re doing.  IGSL is still a missionary enterprise so ALL of its faculty are self-funded like we’ve been for the last 20 years. Basically, the school doesn’t pay any of its faculty – what a business model! 🙂  This is what allows us to provide graduate seminary training to leaders in the majority world that don’t have access to the same financial resources as in other places.  The financial structure of our ministry is not changing. Only our location and our specific responsibilities.

How does this affect our support needs and your giving/financial support?

We continue to be on staff with Cru and be supported financially by the faith and generosity of our partners in ministry. We celebrate 20 years of God’s faithfulness!  While our monthly budget will be much lower in the Philippines, we need to raise more support to account for increased travel expenses and to account for current support shortfalls and for average attrition over the next year or two.  We’ve been very low in support that last couple of years and we need to raise additional support to get back to a sustainable level and to account for the realities of international life and travel. We also need to think ahead to having healthy support for when we return to the U.S. whether that be in a year or longer. We’ve been advised that raising additional support while going through cultural re-entry is a tough combination so we want to do what we can to prepare for our return – whenever that may be.

What does this mean for Epic Movement and our current ministry?

We are still Epic Movement staff! What does that mean?  Well it means that Epic is the official “sending” ministry and they will care for us during our time in the Philippines.  We are essentially “on loan” to IGSL for however long the partnership works out for them and our family, but we get to keep our “Epic Movement” status, which we’re thankful for. We’re thankful for Epic’s ongoing support of us in freeing us up for this opportunity and for their commitment to our success and well being during our time at IGSL.

How are the kids doing?

They are doing well as we’ve now been here five years. The biggest factor in that has been their school – they’ve been blessed to go to Faith Academy, an international school for missionary kids here in Manila. It’s helped them spiritually, socially, emotionally, and academically in ways we’re incredibly grateful for. Our fifth year was our best so far – though Manila still is tough to figure out. We’re thankful for how God is using us as a whole family!

How you can be praying for us right now.

Please pray for new ministry partners and for our support raising efforts between now and August. We will need to step out in faith in new ways and see God connect us with people who also want to step out in faith with us.

Pray that our step of faith encourages others to live by faith as well.  We really want to be a vehicle for God to share His heart for the world. We want to bring as many people to the Philippines with us as we can – virtually of course through prayer, through the stories we share about what God is doing at and through IGSL, and through our own family journey.

And we’d love for you to pray about how you can help us move towards this new ministry opportunity! Whether that means joining us as a monthly financial partner, prayer partner, or helping us connect with potential new ministry partners…you can play a huge part in us having a fruitful ministry in Asia next year! 

Training Servant Leaders For the Great Commission in Asia