Ten years with Pioneers

Ten years with Pioneers!

It was ten years ago today that I joined Pioneers. Will you join me for a journey down memory lane?

2007 – After the ministry we were part of came to a dramatic end, colleagues and I gratefully accepted an offer to join Pioneers and see what we can salvage and carry on from our previous ministries.

2008 – In January I traveled to Thailand for a huge Pioneers conference and wondered if I’d ever find my place in such a large organization. By July, I was in Indonesia for a month, helping members of two summer short-term teams conduct research to break ground for new ministries.

2009 – Much of my energy went into developing an online course in ethnography (though that never really took off). I also trained another Indonesia mission team and had 17 speaking engagements.

2010 – A six-month sabbatical helped me recover from the stress of the last few years, grieve some painful losses, and try to discern what might be next. After that, I joined Pioneers’ Church Partnerships team and decided to give working from home a try.

2011 – Added graduate school to the mix. Started dating Chris. Took on a research project that involved two weeks in Siberia. Moved to Eugene. Engaged by Thanksgiving. Yes, that year was a whirlwind!

2012 – Travelled to many classes and conferences before settling down and getting married in May, when my focus switched to projects I could do from home. Begin work for Mission Data International on the side.

2013 – Took my first (actually, only) international trip since getting married; went to Germany. Finished my tenth grad school class. Still speaking and teaching, managing Missions Catalyst, and traveling to Orlando for meetings several times a year.

2014 – More of the same, plus spent a few months working with author Jeff Lewis to revise the Bible study God’s Heart for the Nations.

2015 – Daniel finished high school, Chris finished seminary, and we moved to South Carolina. I co-wrote a study guide on cross-cultural lessons from Ruth.

2016 – Finished my Master’s thesis, graduated from CIU, kept half a dozen online publications rolling, and taught missions classes in seven states.

Friends, thanks for your support and encouragement over the years. We’re super grateful!

Chaplaincy

Chris continues to work part-time as a hospital chaplain, but just before Thanksgiving he joined the South Caroline Fire Academy in a volunteer role as State Fire Chaplain.

It’s been nothing but open doors. He’s finding all kinds of opportunities to minister to people there, including the 19 recruits graduating tomorrow from an eight-week “Zero to Hero” intensive training program for new and aspiring firefighters from around the state.

Though Chris still not on the state payroll, that, too, now seem imminent… and promising enough to allow us to stay in Columbia and stop pursuing other options and ways to pay the bills. Whew!

Thanks for praying for this to come together. We’re excited to see it develop.

Teaching and Travel

February and March can be the busiest times of my year – lots of travel, while writing and administrative projects typically continue unabated. Last month we spent two weeks on the West coast take care of family stuff, returning just in time for me to teach two Perspectives classes and participate in a mission conference. In a few weeks, travel starts back up again. Will you pray?

Mar. 18-24 Church Partner Forum and meetings in Orlando

Mar. 25-30 In Michigan to teach four Perspectives classes

Mar. 30-31 In Denver for a friend’s wedding. Need a place to stay for two nights. Any offers?

On the first of April, I fly home... where I’ll be for a whole month until the next Orlando trip comes along.

Book Project

In a book with the working title When Everything Is Missions..., Denny Spitters and Matthew Ellison challenge the idea embraced by many Christians and churches that everybody is a missionary and everything is missions, and explore the unintentional, problematic consequences of this inclusive approach. Guess who they asked to edit the book? Pray I’d handle it with grace and wisdom!

Find previous newsletters or learn more about us at

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Isabelle Lilias Trotter: pioneering missionary, artist, writer, and leader

Lily grew up in the golden age of Victorian England, educated at home by governesses. She was, however, encouraged to develop and use her gifts, including an unusual appreciation of beauty and facility for drawing and painting. Lily reveled in the natural beauty found at every turn and was seldom without a sketchbook, eventually becoming a protégé of British art critic John Ruskin who saw great potential in her, if only she would give her all to art.

But Lilias Trotter’s life would take a different turn. Touched by the holiness movement which swept through England in the 1870s, she surrendered her life to God and because of this, gave more and more of her time to serving the needy in the slums of London through the newly formed YWCA. At the age of 35, she felt a call to ministry in North Africa. She would serve there for 40 years, never marrying but working closely with a band of missionaries, mostly women. Lily sacrificed the comfortable life and art career she might have had in England with what she called “the liberty of those who have nothing to lose because they have nothing to keep.”

Lily learned Arabic, taught the Bible, and traveled extensively. She pioneered all kinds of strategies to connect with the lives and hearts of Arab friends. Her artistic skills found expression in illustrated journals, publications, newsletters, and devotional literature for use in North Africa and the Middle East. Missiologist Christy Wilson said Lilias Trotter’s evangelism approaches were “100 years ahead of her time.”

The Algiers Mission Band she founded and led was later absorbed by Arab World Ministries. Years later, in 2010, AWM merged with Pioneers. The conference center in our new building is named after her. I’ve been reading up in order to tell her story as part of the display I’ve been working on for the lobby. If you’re ever in Orlando, stop in and “meet” Lilias and other pioneers of the world mission movement!

» Read more on my blog Telling Secrets. You might also enjoy the 2015 documentary about Lilias Trotter, Many Beautiful Things.

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