Join a Mission Cohort! | the Reach April 2025

by | Sep 8, 2025 | Church Partnership, Events, Mission Story

Dear Friends,

Have you ever wondered what the practical, day-to-day lives of missionaries actually looks like in this modern world? Are you curious about how God is moving around the world, drawing people to him who come from peoples that have never heard the Good News of Jesus? Do you want to learn more about how you or those in your congregations can get more involved in missions?

The answer to these questions, for Cate Rivers Shipp, was a resounding, “yes.” As a young adult who grew up in the church, Cate Rivers was not new to the concept of missions, and she served on her church’s missions committee. However, she still hungered to know more. She got connected with EPC World Outreach mobilizers Jesse and Saul Huber and through them she learned about Mission Cohorts (MC).

The MCs are designed for college students and young adults who are passionate about missions. During this year-long program, the MC engages in monthly Zoom meetings where they both study the Bible together and interview WO workers on the field to hear stories and learn what missions practically looks like. The MC also takes two trips together, one within the States, and one cross-cultural.

For some of the MC members, this time is transformational in their discerning their call to the mission field. For Cate Rivers, this experience clarified her call to mobilization: “I knew I was passionate about missions, but knew I wasn’t called overseas. Learning from the amazing WO team, forming friendships with them and being discipled by them, helped me realize that the Lord was calling me to mobilization. Now, thanks to the cohort, I will be joining the WO team as a Mission Assistant in the fall,” says Cate Rivers.

For Cate Rivers, her participation in the MC strengthened her relationship with Christ as well as provided deep friendships with others feeling a similar call. The MC lasts one year, but the relationships with other young adults continue long afterward, with a solid network of cohort alumni. This is an invaluable support system for those looking to enter the mission field in any way.

For those who don’t quite fit the demographic of “young adult,” Cate Rivers encourages, “We as the church pray for the Lord to raise up missionaries, and a great way to answer that call now is to educate the youth in your congregations, your homes, and in your lives. We are the next generation, and we will do great things for the Lord with your support!”

The youth and young adults today are the missionaries of tomorrow, and the church plays a critical role in fostering a heart for missions in young people. The MC can come along side you or the young people of your church to answer the call to go into all the world.

Don’t wait! If you feel the Lord stirring your heart or the hearts of young people you know, click here to learn more and get connected.

Cate Rivers with World Outreach Mobilizer, Andrea

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Partnerships for the Gospel | the Reach March 2025

by | Sep 8, 2025 | Church Partnership, Field Story, ITEN

Dear Friends,

Partnership. One small word that is absolutely essential for the work of World Outreach. There are many ways partnership plays into World Outreach’s work, and one of those ways is the partnering of local, indigenous believers around the world with WO’s ITEN, the International Theological Education Network.
 
ITEN serves national Christian leaders in places where the gospel is largely unknown and education is limited. These leaders are equipped to holistically share the gospel with their own people, and Sierra Leone is one of the various ITEN sites throughout the world.
 
The EPC’s work in Sierra Leone began more than 20 years ago with Memorial Park Church from the Presbytery of the Alleghenies spearheading the effort. Throughout the years of investment by the EPC, local people began to profess faith in Christ, and they eventually formed their own EPC denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sierra Leone (EPCSL), which is active in the Muslim majority villages of north Sierra Leone.
 
With the formation of the denomination came the urgent need to educate and equip local Christian leaders. So, in 2018, ITEN began working with the local churches of Sierra Leone. World Outreach ITEN workers such as Bruce Anderson, Mike Kuhn, Ed and Nan McCallum, and Steven Woodworth helped teach the nine courses required for graduation from the program.
 
Two local believers, Pastor Thomas and Pastor Abraham, graduates from the program themselves, are now facilitating the education with the support of ITEN. The program is not accredited by an academic institution, but EPCSL recognizes the ITEN training, called by them the Pastor Training Program (PTP), as their own ordination prerequisite. This education model, known as “non-formal theological education,” has become essential for training the rapidly growing churches of the developing world. In fact, theological seminaries and schools can produce only a small fraction of pastors and leaders needed to keep pace with church growth in the developing world. Thus, there is a great need for non-formal theological training.
 
Pastors in the EPCSL identify people they believe to be good candidates for the program. These candidates become students who attend 5-day course intensives 2-3 times a year. The EPCSL has produced two cohorts of graduates from this program, most of whom are now serving as evangelists, Sunday school teachers, and outreach leaders in their various communities.

Sierra Leonean Pastor Thomas said that the program focuses on equipping pastors for the holistic development of the people they will be ministering to—both the spiritual and physical needs. He says, “Most of the churches are engaged in little developmental projects like rice farming, groundnut farming, Bennie [local version of sesame] farming, local chicken poultry and many more. The inspiration to do all this comes from the PTP community development module.”

The work of ITEN in Sierra Leone is tangibly changing lives. The EPCSL, which began with 6 churches, now has 26 churches in the process of being planted by PTP trainees. While ITEN comes in as a partner to the EPCSL, it is the local church that oversees and runs this program. Believers from this corner of the world are taking up the mantle—they are discipling their own people, planting reproducing churches, and proclaiming the gospel to those who have never heard. Praise the Lord for the work He is doing!

Want to learn more or get involved with the work of ITEN? Click here to give to the work of ITEN and learn more.

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Bridging the Gap | the Reach February 2025

by | Sep 8, 2025 | Biblical/Missional

Dear Friends,

“How can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Romans 10:14 NLT)

When she heard the pastor’s announcement, she was indignant. Their church would be hosting a Muslim outreach seminar? Not if she had anything to say about it. After service, she approached her pastor and made her opinion clear. “My husband and I don’t want that seminar in our church,” she told the pastor. Surprised, he responded that it was all about evangelism—sharing the Good News with Muslim people. She was undeterred, “I don’t care. We don’t want anything about Muslims in our church!”

Perhaps motivated by fear or anger, this woman was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of a weekend seminar about Muslim outreach. She lived in a small, midwestern town, and while she knew a Muslim population lived nearby, she had never before interacted with them. Despite her reluctance, she participated in the weekend seminar called Bridging the Gap.

What she learned there changed her life. Led by World Outreach workers and authors Timothy and Miriam Harris, Bridging the Gap equips Jesus followers with the tools and knowledge necessary to reach out to their Muslim neighbors. They host sessions such as, “God is Moving in the Muslim World,” and “Muslims are People Like You and Me – They Just Need Jesus.” For many American believers, this is the first time they encounter love-based, comprehensive information about effective outreach to Muslim people.

The first half of the weekend is spent on instruction and teaching, and the second half allows the participants to interact with their Muslim neighbors. They visit a local mosque where they receive a tour and explanation of Islam from a Muslim perspective, and they finish the day by eating at a restaurant owned and operated by Muslims.

Timothy shared that these believers end the seminar with answers to important questions such as, “What are the cultural practices of Muslims that Christians should learn about to effectively build bridges with them? How can Christians have sincere, honest faith and life conversations with Muslims? What are some questions for heart-to-heart dialogue/conversation between Muslims and Christians?”

After a full weekend of instruction and relationship building, the same woman who adamantly opposed the seminar came up to Timothy and said, “I just want you to know that this weekend has been transformational in my life.”

The Lord changed this woman’s heart, and there is great hope in that. 1 in 4 people in the world are Muslims, but over 80% of them do not know a single Christian. As each hour passes in the seminar, Timothy witnesses the participants’ demeanors change as they grow in understanding toward Muslim people and catch God’s heart for them.

So how can you get involved in your own community? Here are some practical tips:

  • It begins with prayer. Pray and ask the Lord to burden your heart for the salvation of Muslim people.
  • Get outside your comfort zone and find a halal (like kosher in the Jewish tradition) restaurant or Middle Eastern market in your community and engage with the people working there.
  • Grab a copy of Loving Your Muslim Neighbor by WO’s Timothy and Miriam Harris and learn practical tips from stories from across the Midwest to the Middle East.
  • If you think your own congregation would benefit from a Bridging the Gap seminar, contact the World Outreach office at wo@epcwo.org or 407.930.4239 for more information.

Don’t wait. Begin this week, begin today, to reach across the divide, bridge the gap, and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who have never heard.

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