The Coworkers Podcast

When preparing to move overseas, choosing a missions sending organization is a big decision. What factors should be considered? What are essentials, and what are matters of personal preference? Listen in as we share pros and cons of different models, particularly the support-raised vs. fully-funded models. 

How's your heart? Do you fall into doing work and ministry "half-heartedly?" Are you fully showing up with your whole self in your relationships? How much do your coworkers and friends trust your genuine love for them? If you need to grow in any of these areas, then please join us in this discussion, as we share 3 tips for expressing genuine love and trustworthiness to your people.  And may the lo...

Contextualization is incredibly important because it’s about people having meaningful access to the Gospel. As we think about contextualization, we need biblical guidelines for what can be adjusted for different cultures, and what is unchanging. Listen in as Jesse shares biblical, practical principles for good contextualization. Keller: Contextualization is “giving people the Bible’s answers, whic...

Join in on part 2 of our interview with Troy and Rachel, NPL church planters that saw over 40 new churches and over 1200 baptisms in their ministry based out of So Cal! They share house church principles, the importance of church feeling like family, the need for more pathways to send out as missionaries, and more.

Troy and Rachel have been doing disciple-making and church-planting work in the US with the NPL network for over 11 years. They have a passion for the Lord and the lost that is contagious! They have 7 kids, aged 6-20, who love the Lord and regularly share the gospel with their friends and join their parents in training others. In the last 5 years through their ministry in So Cal, over 43 churches...

How can we turn a Bible study group into a church? What are the things we do on the front end to help the believers begin identifying as a church? What are the barriers, and how do we overcome them? Listen in as Brother Kiran shares key practices from his years of church planting experience. 

What are the most important principles for raising up leaders in the missionary task? How do you identify which disciples to invest in? How can Westerners in particular be best used by God in raising up local leaders on the mission field? Listen in as Kiran L, a seasoned, fruitful church-planter in South Asia, shares with passion on the necessity of laying down our lives for our disciples. 

How do we women find and develop female national ministry partners? Listen in as Terri N from East Asia and Elle R from South/SE Asia share keys for developing and encouraging our sisters in the missionary task. Terri has over 20 years on the field, and has served as a single, married, and currently with kids in high school. Elle has been serving around 6 years and has a toddler and a baby. They b...

All believers, and particularly those in full time ministry, must be convinced of the inerrancy and authority of Scripture. Listen in as Dr. Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theology, teaches with such clarity and conviction on this topic. We were already "convinced" on this topic, but Dr. Akin taught us new things and deepened that conviction. "This book will keep you from sin or sin...

People have many different ideas of "mission work," so we must define missions according to the Bible. Listen in as Andy Kampman, a passionate missions leader with Launch Global, shares a biblical definition of missions, why disciple-making and church-planting must always be primary work, how the church should also fulfill "Matthew 25 ministries" such as social justice work, and how goers should r...

TCKs will face many challenges as they adjust to life in their home (passport) country after high school: college classes and campus life, learning to drive and manage finances, questions of identity and belonging, unbiblical aspects of that culture, and so many more. Listen in as Chesed Dent (adult TCK working to equip college students for ministry) shares how parents can equip teens to face thes...

I (Shanee) have been going through a season of tiredness, lack of motivation, and just feeling "numb" and unengaged from life, relationships, and the work. Thankfully, over the last couple weeks, God has been bringing me out of that season, and I want to share so that others can get out of their season faster than I did! In this episode, I share some "red flags" of unhealth to watch out for, 5 pot...

Many people (understandably!) struggle with the reality of hell as a place of eternal torment for those who do not trust in Christ. How should we live with such a sober reality? Is it "fair" of God to send people to hell? Why is a biblical understanding of hell essential for all believers, and especially missionaries? What is a right response to the reality of hell? Prayerfully listen in to part 2...

The first episode in our "Are You Convinced" series: foundational and hard truths that disciple-makers and missionaries (and really every Christian) must be sure of. Are you convinced that Jesus is the only way of salvation? John 14:6—“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”” Acts 4:12—“And there is salvation in no one else, for the...

Language learning is inherently difficult, and requires 1000's of hours of hard work. In this episode, missionary leaders Zach and Amy share best practices from their decade of missionary experience.  Connect with us: Thecoworkerspodcast.com jands@thecoworkerspodcast.com

We are continuing the discussion on missionary identity. Embracing our foundational identity as a beloved of child of God is transformational AND our functional identity as sent-ones is important, God-given, and dear. How should we handle feelings of not doing enough in the work? How do we juggle our different roles such as missionary, team leader, spouse, and parent? How do we fight unhealthy com...

Many times it is hard for us missionaries to know our source of identity and worth, and in this episode field worker and leader Seba V from London shares a useful teaching on missionary identity.  All missionaries share 3 common identities: We are all God's creation, God's child, and God's missionary. Our worth, value, and righteousness come ONLY through our identities as God's creation and God's...

How can we determine true fruitfulness in someone's life, when their most important ministry may be unseen by others? How should we prioritize public and private ministry? What is the relationship between suffering and fruitfulness? Listen in as pastor and author Matt Chandler from The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX, shares from the Word and his 20+ years of pastoring experience.   

Listen in as we share 6 ways for your church to grow in having a love for the nations, participating in the mission, and sending missionaries to the field: vision-casting for sending, training for EV and disciple-making, educating for missions, partnering strategically, training sent-ones, and celebrating and supporting goers.  Connect With Us: The Coworkers Podcast website Email: coworkersstudy@g...

How should goers prepare for mission work in their last months before moving overseas? Listen in as we discuss 8 ways to prepare: Pursue the Lord; Pursue the lost; Engage in your local church; Grow in time management and hard work skills; Strengthen your emotional health; Improve communication and conflict resolution skills; Learn biblical missiology; and Go on a short term mission trip. Connect W...

Ben H and his family have been serving in East Asia for more than 17 years, and are now at the point of forming missions agencies with the Chinese church to send out Chinese missionaries all over the world. Listen as Ben shares key principles in partnering with locals, such as clear communication, deciding on our essential convictions and where we can differ, the importance of building trust in re...

If spiritual health is having more of the Holy Spirit, then how can we position ourselves to experience more of Him? Two essentials are obeying God and loving / enjoying god. "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love" John 15:10. In part 1, we discussed the importance of obedience; in part 2 we share 3 ways to enjoy...

If spiritual health is having more of the Holy Spirit, then how can we position ourselves to experience more of Him? Two essentials are obeying God and loving / enjoying god. "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love" John 15:10. In part 1, we discuss the importance of obedience. Loving Jesus and obeying His commands...

How do we have healthy, joyful family lives in the midst of busy, stressful ministry lives? Jennifer D, a missionary (and wife and mom!) of over 17 years in East Asia, shares practical and biblical wisdom on this topic. Jenn and her husband Jarod D (who spoke on hard work in episode 53), are passionate, disciplined, wise coworkers with so much to share. Jenn boldly challenged fathers to be intenti...

Engaging in ministry is signing up for more "stressors" in our lives, but how we respond to those stressors is up to us! Listen in as Pastor Vance Pitman (founding pastor of Hope Church Las Vegas and current President of the SEND Network) shares why and how we must eliminate stress from our lives. A few highlights from the interview: Stress is incompatible with God's character.  The root of all st...