On Mission to Share Jesus to the Nations.
I became a Christian at sixteen, but not because I grew up hearing about Jesus.
Don’t misunderstand—my home talked about faith. We knew the religious vocabulary. But knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus are entirely different things. The dots didn’t connect until a young youth worker named Joe Valentine sat across from me and explained the Gospel with startling clarity. For the first time, I understood: God hadn’t just sent a message. He had sent His Son.
Joe didn’t stop there. For the next two years, he discipled me—teaching me to study Scripture, to pray, to follow Jesus in the everyday rhythms of life and to share the Good News with everyone I encountered. His fervor for Christ was contagious, the kind that A.W. Tozer described as “the missing jewel of the evangelical church.” My heart caught fire. I never looked back.
And I wanted others to experience what I had found.
The Call Outward
That desire became a calling. After graduating from Seton Hall Prep, I pursued theological training at Messiah College, then moved into youth ministry while working at toward my Masters of Divinity in a nearby seminary. For thirty years, I served as a local church pastor—but even then, the nations were never far from my heart.
Almost every year, I took teams of young people overseas.
I wanted them to understand that the Great Commission isn’t optional or peripheral—it’s the heartbeat of what it means to follow Jesus.
Acts 1:8 became our roadmap: “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Training globally-minded disciples wasn’t a side project; it was central to everything we did.
Teresa and I talked about full-time missionary service often over those years. We sensed, though, that our calling was local—at least for a season. We were to help others catch a vision for the nations while serving where we were planted.
Then, in late summer 2017, something shifted.
When God Stirs
I was in a ministry transition, fielding offers for pastoral roles that would have been comfortable, even strategic. But God’s Spirit was stirring something deeper. Two mission organizations reached out, and I felt a pull I couldn’t ignore—the kind Walter Brueggemann describes as God’s “disruptive invitation” that shatters our settled plans.
Becoming a missionary at fifty-three wasn’t safe. It wasn’t logical. Leaving the security of a salary to raise support seemed, from a human perspective, reckless. Friends asked questions. We asked questions.
But Lesslie Newbigin was right when he said that the church exists by mission as fire exists by burning. And I knew—with a clarity that can only come from God—that this was where He wanted me.
There is no safer place to be than in the center of God’s will.
No Regrets
Here I am, years later. No regrets.
I’ve been given the extraordinary privilege of joining God’s work among the nations—watching Him change lives, raise up leaders, and build His Kingdom in ways I could never have orchestrated. The stories I could share would fill volumes. I’ve seen the Gospel break through in places where darkness seemed impenetrable. I’ve watched indigenous leaders multiply disciples with a faithfulness that humbles me.
This is what Jesus modeled for us: a movement of disciple-makers who make disciple-makers. Not programs. Not events. But lives transformed, then sent to transform others.
An Invitation
Perhaps you’re reading this and feel a similar stirring. Maybe God is calling you to something beyond what feels safe—to step out in faith, to invest your life in His mission.
Or perhaps you’re meant to be a sender, a partner who stands behind those on the front lines through prayer and financial support.
Either way, I’d love to connect. If you’re interested in serving with Concentric, partnering in this work, or connecting with an indigenous leader who is faithfully making disciples, reach out. Let me buy you lunch. Let’s talk by phone.
Because here’s the truth Tim Keller helped me see: there is no better investment than the Kingdom of God. Stocks fluctuate. Careers end. Possessions fade.
But what we invest in God’s mission? That echoes into eternity.
