The Risk, Surprise & Joy of Mission Journeys

by Hannah Teague, Creative Director

Nancy Von Schimmelmann didn’t expect to find herself “on the field.” And she hadn’t planned to end up in places like Kenya or Spain or Egypt, especially after her window of opportunity for international ministry had long since closed—or so she thought.

The world of global missions wasn’t unfamiliar to Nancy and her husband Bob. They’d grown up in a missional culture at their church, nurtured by visiting missionaries and leaders like Cam Townsend (Wycliffe Bible Translators founder) and Ralph Winter (missiologist and founder of Frontier Fellowship). Both participated in short-term trips to Mexico in their high school and college years, and as a young adult, Bob had begun leading other short-term teams.

In one sense, mission engagement—and a specific focus on the unreached— was somewhat of a given. But while their hearts and theology had always aligned when it came to missions, their interests and gifts didn’t fully intersect with each other.

Bob’s experience as a civil engineer led to opportunities for development projects in Ethiopia. Working in partnership with missionaries and local leaders, he made several trips to support water and road projects in the southwest part of the country.

His second trip to Ethiopia proved to be an important step in his mission journey. “It was the first time I’d gone to a place more than once,” Bob relates. “Seeing people with tears in their eyes as they thanked me for returning was a significant experience in my growth process as I realized the importance of deepening relationships and continuing investment.”

Nancy describes her journey as the process of God steadily cultivating her heart for missions. While she’d been open to overseas work in early adulthood, having children began a new season of life in which she thought international ministry was no longer a possibility.

Her involvement in missions continued, however, and she later began a position as a prayer coordinator for Wycliffe Associates. Then God started bringing people across her path who challenged her to consider opportunities to serve on the field. Stepping out in faith, far beyond where she felt comfortable, Nancy visited Spain, Kenya and Ethiopia—experiences that were both unexpected and heart changing.

When Dan McNerney from Frontier Fellowship invited the Von Schimmelmanns on a trip to Egypt, Bob and Nancy continued to follow where God led. That trip had a tremendous impact on both of them as they met Egyptian Christians and heard their stories of transformation and perseverance in the midst of difficulties and persecution.

“It never ceases to surprise me how God creates connections between people,” relates Bob. “It was one of those experiences of God opening doors, even when we weren’t expecting it.”

“It completely changed my perception of who Jesus is and what He can do,” Nancy adds. “I came back wanting to tell people what I’d seen, wanting them to be part of it, too. I started praying, ‘God I want to join what’s going on. How do I do that?’ And that for me was a turning point.”

Kristin Huffman’s mission journey has taken her through different career paths and seasons of life and ministry that have increasingly drawn her to care about the unreached. Originally an elementary school teacher, she discovered God had given her a deep compassion for the spiritual lives of others. That realization led her to seminary, where she met, married and was ordained with her husband. After his unexpected death from cancer, Kristin moved with their two young children to San Antonio.

She later met her now-husband Mike, and the next step of their journey led them to Houston, where she became an associate pastor. After her first mission trip to Mexico, her eyes were opened to the thrill of joining what God was doing among the global Church.

As her ministry evolved into a role as Outreach Pastor, many cross-cultural experiences followed both in Houston among refugees and beyond US borders. When she heard about Light of Hope’s ministry in Ethiopia, Kristin says her ears “pricked up,” and she immediately began pursuing an opportunity to visit. That first trip to Africa and first experience serving among the unreached was instrumental in developing her love for those without access to the Gospel.

“Before I wanted people to know Christ, but didn’t really know how that related to me personally,” Kristin shares. “Then I started getting to know people and my heart was just broken. I realized that as believers, we have both the privilege and responsibility to invest in the lives of people who don’t yet know Jesus.”

She later traveled with Dan McNerney to Egypt and then to the United Arab Emirates. The stories she heard from pastors in the underground church and those serving refugees and the unreached confirmed her commitment to helping the American church deepen its engagement at the frontier.

As upcoming transitions rose on the horizon, Kristin began considering next steps in ministry. Fuller Seminary’s Texas campus (where she’d taught since 2001) approached her with an opportunity to serve part time as Director of Strategic Engagement, a role focused on partnership building between Fuller and churches, non-profits, alumni and prospective students. And when Richard Haney reached out to ask if she’d be interested in serving with Frontier Fellowship, Kristin says it’s as if God did the impossible—creating a place in which she could blend the gifts He has given her for this new stage of her journey.

“My whole life has become this wonderful synergy of opportunities and connections and friendships,” shares Kristin. “It’s such an unfolding realization of what God has called me to do and the vehicles He’s providing to do it.”

God’s hand is evident to Kristin as she steps into these new roles, and the relationships He has provided are the fuel for her ministry. She has experienced God’s grace moving her from fear to trust and wants to help the church do the same.

“Fear of the unfamiliar holds us back from investing deeply in mission,” she says. “I know, because I’ve been there. I’ve been afraid to engage with people who are different from me. But stepping into that space of risk has become a fun and painful and beautiful process,” she continues. “I don’t have to be afraid of being unable to relate to people. That’s God’s grace at work in my heart. I can love and be curious. I can move towards others, even if I’m just taking baby steps. And the more I’ve done it, I’ve experienced a continual softening of my heart, and it helps others let go of their fears, too.”

The next chapters of Kristin’s, Bob’s and Nancy’s mission journeys officially begin this fall as they take on their new roles as mobilizers and frontier mission advocates with Frontier Fellowship, coming alongside to strengthen and grow our partnerships and invite others to join us. It’s perhaps a bit unorthodox, and even risky, to embark upon a new season of ministry while many other people nearing retirement are contemplating a slower pace of life. But their stories affirm Frontier Fellowship’s conviction that God calls each of us—irrespective of background, age or gifting—to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to those who’ve never heard.

Wherever you are in your frontier mission journey, know that you have company for the road ahead. We’re grateful to be a fellowship of wayfarers with you, believing in and beholding the coming of God’s Kingdom to every frontier of the world.