The Coworkers Podcast

Burn-out - or exhaustion due to chronic work-related stress - is a danger for everyone. Listen in as Bobby F, a missionary with 26+ years of field experience and currently a counselor to missionaries, shares his own story of burn-out, signs to watch for, tips for prevention, and the root cause of burn-out that surprised us!  Bobby recommended several "soul care" authors and books: Steve Smith Trev...

As we engage with local believers and churches on the mission field, largely for the purposes of training, what do we do when they have different doctrinal beliefs than we do? To what extent should we partner with them, and how? What about churches that are more "charismatic" or have some "prosperity gospel" leanings? Listen in as we discuss how to handle this common issue on the field. 

Jesse, Jacob C, and Will J are coworkers and brothers in our city that have been meeting weekly for the past 3 years intentionally to "walk in the light together" - to be able to intentionally share the hard stuff and sin struggles in a safe, trustworthy place. This has been extremely influential for all three in their health and growth. Listen in as they share how their group grew in trusting one...

When we fail to intentionally process our uncomfortable emotions, they pile up and come out later at unexpected times and in inappropriate ways, and we can become dull and jaded. Listen in as Elizabeth Smith, COO of www.tcktraining.com and author of The Practice of Processing , shares how to establish rhythms for naming and sorting our emotions, and then proceeding in healthy ways. 

Scripture memory can often feel like a duty or too much work, but when we take small steps to incorporate it into our days, it results in so much joy and fruit in our lives! Listen in as coworkers and busy moms Laura and Micah share how they have prioritized and benefited from scripture memory in their lives on the field. 

Listen in as we discuss our own journey with reformed theology, and how those principles intersect with evangelism and missions. Along with embracing the sovereignty of God in salvation and election according to Romans 9:19-24, let's embrace Paul's unceasing anguish for the lost in Romans 9:2!

Serving and leading together as a married couple in our family lives and in ministry is a gift, and an area that requires ongoing intentionality. Listen in as we share 3 tips for growing in "laboring side by side for the faith of the gospel:" prioritizing the marriage relationship, valuing one another's gifts, and regularly communicating about our work and leadership. 

The pattern of mission work that we find in Paul's missionary journeys includes laying a foundation of gospel proclamation and new churches, and then moving on to unreached places. Exit is a difficult but essential component of the missionary task, and drives local ownership. Missionaries from the beginning are trying to work themselves out of their job! Listen in!

What is the key to developing fruitful and faithful leaders in the missionary task? Learn from South Asian church planter Lipok as he shares from God's Word and from his years of fruitful ministry in South Asia. Lipok emphasizes that leadership is primarily a matter of the heart, and loving people is more important than having the perfect strategy. Lipok also shares the power of "walking in the li...

Is it realistic and biblical to expect an intimate relationship with God daily? To hear his voice and experience his presence in powerful, fresh ways often? Or is it possible that God loved us and saved us, but doesn't promise intimacy? Listen in as Shanee shares 7 biblical proofs that God absolutely wants intimacy with us more than we will ever want with him! Be convinced, and make greater intima...

Is it realistic and biblical to expect an intimate relationship with God daily? To hear his voice and experience his presence in powerful, fresh ways often? Or is it possible that God loved us and saved us, but doesn't promise intimacy? Listen in as Shanee shares 7 biblical proofs that God absolutely wants intimacy with us more than we will ever want with him! Be convinced, and make greater intima...

Listen in as we continue our discussion on church formation with Nathan Shank, a global missionary leader of 20+ years and the author of the 4 Fields Manual for Church Planting. Nathan shares how baptist doctrine is conducive to multiplication, 4 key doctrines for church- the headship of Christ, the authority of the Word, the priesthood of believers, and regeneration membership-, and even gets int...

Listen in as we discuss the 4th part of the missionary task, starting new churches, with Nathan Shank, missionary leader in South Asia. Nathan shares basic church functions found in Acts 2:41-47, the importance of church identity for church health and sustainability, and how to help new churches of new believers grow in church health.  Check out Nathan's Discovering the Missionary Task series    

Listen in on part 3 in our series on the missionary task, on discipleship. Kenny and Bethany B, missionary leaders in South Asia, share how discipleship requires intentionality, time, modeling, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Every believer needs discipleship! Kenny and Bethany share key bible passages and practical tips from their field experience.

If you've been on the field or in ministry very long, you've experienced a shortage of love for your people, and sometimes even bitterness, anger, and feelings of superiority. Listen in as Jesse shares the HOPE we can receive from the book of Jonah! God uses imperfect missionaries to reach large groups of people, because GOD'S heart posture towards lost people is first and foremost grace and pity....

Holidays on the field come with unique challenges and opportunities! Listen in as missionary leaders Samantha G. and Micah C. share from their more than a decade of missionary experience on how to personally draw near to Christ, use Christmas to reach out to the lost and generously gift our national ministry partners, and enjoy traditions with our families and communities. 

Part 3 in our series on the missionary task - preaching the gospel. The core of the pattern in the New Testament for missions is consistent, bold, broad gospel proclamation. All of the missionary task rides on this important part! What should bold gospel proclamation look like in our generation, and how do we get there? Listen in as we share the biblical foundation and practical tips and tools!

What is the work missionaries do? We are going through the 6 parts of the missionary task, and in this episode we dive into the first part - entering new fields. The goal of entry is to provide meaningful gospel access to the target population. Entry strategies should be simple and reproducible so that as many local believers as possible will use them to share the gospel. Listen in!

Is there a specific work that missionaries should, according to the Bible, pursue? YES! Listen in to this series as we dig into the biblical pattern of the work that the Apostle Paul and other sent-out-ones did. In this episode, we show from Acts 13-14 that the missionary task can be simply divided into 6 parts: Enter a new place, Proclaim the gospel to the lost, Make disciples of those who believ...

How can fathers in ministry make sure their kids know they love them more than their ministry? How can fathers invest in their children, set boundaries for family time and fun, and disciple their children and involve them in the work? Listen in as Steven C, a dad of 5 and missionary leader with 17 years of field experience, shares wisdom from his experience and God's Word.

Joe and Christy Allen served for 14 years as missionary leaders in South Asia, and endured many types of sickness as a family (GI, thyroid, endemetriosis, food allergies, chronic lyme, mono, parasites, chronic fatigue, appendicitis, and more!). Their family had to leave the field due their son's combination of an immune deficiency, autoimmune encephalitis, epilepsy, concussions, and parasites. Lis...

Several years ago, God showed me (Shanee) unforgiveness in my heart towards a few friends and coworkers, from hurts that were several years old. My lack of processing and forgiving those hurts resulted in hard-heartedness and self-protective tendencies in how I related with my teammates. God gave me the power to fully forgive these friends, and that opened up the door for God to do much more work...

In 2006, the Barrick family was struck head-on by a drunk driver and experienced life-threatening injuries. Their teenage daughter Jen was in a coma for 5 weeks with severe brain injuries that took away much of her basic functioning and memory for several months. God worked in miraculous ways both in healing this family physically, and through speaking to and through Jen in amazing ways! Listen in...

Motherhood on the field is particularly challenging, as moms juggle family needs, ministry, and often leadership responsibilities. Debbie C, mom of 5 and missionary leader with over 17 years of field experience, shares biblical principles and tons of practical ideas for every season of motherhood. 

We all have false beliefs about what gives us worth, such as worth based on our performance, people-pleasing, or perfectionism. We try to earn our worth through accomplishments, through winning the admiration of others, and through meeting standards. These are all worldly, satanic philosophies that are both fueled by and result in fear and shame. As believers, we gain freedom from the bondage of t...