RTIM Review: Issue 8

RTIM REVIEW

A LOOK INTO THE LORD’S WORK AT REACHING & TEACHING QUARTER 4 | 2023

More on our Year-End Recap, Reflections from Global Workers, Missions Talk Podcast, Practicum, Upcoming Events & more inside!

ISSUE 8

A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT I love coming to the end of a year. It’s a natural time to reflect backward and look forward. I’m thankful for all the Lord has continued to do at Reaching & Teaching throughout 2023.

I’m thankful for the evidence of God’s grace in our Global Workers. I’m thankful for the local churches that sent them out, and the ones that are being planted, revitalized, and strengthened through their work. I’m thankful for the staff who are committed to seeing healthy churches around the world comprised of faithful members and shepherded by qualified pastors. I’m thankful for our faithful partners who support our staff, our missionaries, and our ministry.

I’m thankful for the continued partnership that Reaching & Teaching has with our friends at 9Marks, which has tangibly resulted in Missions Talk. Over the year, Mack Stiles and I have had a number of conversations with missionaries and pastors around the world. In this issue, you’ll find an interview in which Mack and I reflect on the podcast and missions in general. I look forward to more conversations. I hope you are, too.

I’m thankful for the Practicum. We revamped our Practicum program before the 2021 CROSS Conference.

Our goal was to provide students with

an opportunity to gain cross-cultural experience while observing churchcentered missions up close. In this issue, Jimmy Winfrey, who has done a great job coordinating the Practicum, explains why you should consider it. One couple who served in the Middle East last year was invited to join the work there on a longterm basis. We appointed them at our most recent board meeting. I’m thankful for the 32 students who joined us this past year, and I look forward to meeting the next group at our orientation this upcoming June in Washington, D.C. One of the tricky parts of a Year in Review is the temptation to focus on number after number after number. But numbers can also help us to tell the story of what God is doing. They represent the resources we’ve been entrusted by God to steward. Every individual trained, every global worker appointed, and every new training location represents a relationship. We’re thankful for each of these relationships and look forward to stewarding them well for the glory of God in the years ahead.

Speaking of stewardship, our communications department has done a great job stewarding the growing number of thoughtful writers at Reaching & Teaching. I’m thankful for the great thinkers and writers that we get to work

alongside. The goal of our blog posts is to encourage readers with stories of God’s faithfulness, to equip local churches and missionaries with practical resources, and to reinforce our commitment to church-centered missions strategies.

I encourage you to take some time to access the digital version of this issue which contains links to our most-read from 2023. A special project that we’ve begun this year is our “10 Distinctives Series,” which communicates our core missiological convictions. I look forward to the conversations it sparks in the years ahead with prospective sending churches and missionaries.

I’m thankful for the efforts of our Global Training team this past year. We’ve trained almost 1,400 individuals at 18 different locations. Nine new sites were surveyed, and some of those will host Pastoral Training and Women’s Institute classes in the years ahead. Please see Scott Mescher’s article in this issue that contains various ways you can pray for his team.

I’m thankful for the local churches and individuals who give regularly to our workers, staff, and Global Fund. Thank you for your generosity. As we look forward to 2024, I’m looking forward to seeing new workers appointed, new staff added, and new training sites

developed. I’m looking forward to the kick-off with CROSS in Louisville, where we’ll spend a few days with over 10,000 18-25 year-olds who desire to make their lives count.

As we survey the world, there are so many places without healthy local churches that make the gospel visible to a watching community. Our efforts will continue to support like-minded churches as they send qualified missionaries to make mature disciples, establish healthy churches, and training local leaders around the world.

Of course, most of all, I’m thankful for the gospel. I pray that amidst all the Christmas and New Year’s activities, you will be able to slow down and reflect on the glorious truth that our God became flesh and dwelt among us.

Thank you for your partnership in the gospel.

Sincerely,

RYAN ROBERTSON President RYAN ROBERTSON

Ryan Robertson has served as the President of Reaching & Teaching since April 2020.

He has previously served in executive leadership positions for public companies and other non-profit organizations, and has been a board member of several charities.

In 2014, he obtained his CPA from the State of Massachusetts. Ryan is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Missiology program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Ryan and his wife Erin have three children and are members of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, where Ryan serves as an elder.

YEAR-END RECAP

“ These numbers represent the responsibility we have to steward relationships around the world. Each individual trained, each global worker appointed, each new location represents a relationship for us. We are thankful for each of these relationships and look forward to stewarding them well for the glory of God in the years ahead.

RYAN ROBERTSON, PRESIDENT

Global Training

Long-Term Sending

18 Total Training Sites

33 New Missionary Units Appointed

10 Different Countries 4 Site Graduations 9 Site Surveys

46 Total Countries Represented by Global Workers

1,398 Total Individuals Trained

7 New Locations

Mobilization

RTIM Highlights 10 Distinctives Launch Who we are and what we believe about missions at Reaching & Teaching.

Visit rtim.org to learn more.

Conference Participation - Radius Missiology - Ocean City Bible Conference - 9Marks

- Sing!

- Pillar Unite - SBC

Preview Days - Louisville, KY - Phoenix, AZ

- Rock Hill, SC - Atlanta, GA

Plans for 8 Preview Days in 7 Locations in 2024 32 Practicum Students in 11 Locations Around the World

Matt Bennett hired as Director of Long-term Ministries Matt joins the Executive Team to give strategic leadership to our Long-term Ministries.

The total number of units serving around the world grows to 117 The Lord continues to bring like-minded churches and inviduals to partner with RTIM and be sent out around the world to make mature disciples, establish healthy churches, and train local leaders.

REFLECTIONS FROM GLOBAL WORKERS

MENA

JAPAN

CENTRAL ASIA

The last year has been filled with lots of joys and challenges. Church planting is exhausting, but we have seen the Lord bring about conversion in the lost, and a deep love for good theology and obedience to Christ in many. I have grown in my love for the steady plodding that is needed for faithfulness to our task of making mature disciples, establishing healthy churches, and training local leaders.

We have been so excited to land here in Japan and start setting up life and learning the language. There have been a lot of hardships, but we are making progress in Japanese learning, forming friendships all around us, and continuing to grow in our knowledge of Christ’s love. Aside from that, we have been continually encouraged by the amount of people we hear are interested in serving the Lord here in Japan and have great expectations for what God will do here.

D continues her work at the kids’ school here in the city as an educational therapist, blessing kids from many different nations who have learning challenges. My role as one of the elders at our church has meant a big but good shift in focus in recent years. In the past, I served mostly in Persian as one of the pastors of an Iranian church. Now I serve mostly in English in and through ÇBC, as well as a little in Persian by helping Iranian believers. It’s a great gift to our family to be a part of ÇBC. The meaning of “healthy church” has become clearer than ever. As Christmas break draws near, we’re eager to see what the Lord has in store for the next semester and beyond.

Secure Worker J&M

Stephen & Alexandra Tipton

Secure Worker S&D

IRELAND

SOUTHEAST ASIA

2023 has been a year of transition for the Davis family. Within a relatively short period of time, the Lord has led us to join Reaching & Teaching, begin raising financial support, sell our home in Austin, Texas, and submit our Irish visa applications as we prepare to join and serve Ballycullen Community Church in Dublin, Ireland. We marvel at the countless ways the Lord has provided, opened doors, and guided our steps at every point in this process.

The progressive transition from fulltime ministry at our sending church to the next season of ministry on the mission field has been physically and emotionally taxing, but the peace of God has been a constant theme throughout the transitional phase. We look forward to joining Ballycullen by spring 2024, Lord willing, to begin learning how best to serve the Irish people.

This was our first full year with our business up and running, and while there have been many challenges, it’s been so encouraging to see God provide everything we need as the business moves towards financial stability and provides visas for several like-minded families and individuals to live here long-term. We’re rejoicing as we close out the year with several more laborers arriving to serve alongside us!

It is also a huge joy to watch our church growing to love and serve each other well and witness younger believers discipled into maturity and seizing opportunities to serve as deacons, to preach a sermon, to travel and translate with a local pastor, and to write worship songs in their own language. Though there have been many times of difficulty and discouragement over the past decade doing this work, when I look back all I can see is God’s faithfulness in every season. To God be the glory!

Davey & Callie Davis

Secure Worker R

Interested in Long-term Missions? Has your church affirmed your readiness to go? Learn more at rtim.org.

TOP BLOGS FROM 2023 BONFIRES IN THE DESERT: THE STRATEGIC NATURE OF INTERNATIONAL CHURCHES Josh Manley

Globalization comes with many challenges and at least some blessings. A more interconnected world delivers more opportunities for international churches to spread the gospel to unreached contexts. The twenty-first century affords us chances to display the gospel of God in spiritual briar patches. So let’s capitalize on these opportunities by setting “gospel bonfires” all over the spiritual deserts of this world.

A GOOD PLACE TO GET STUCK: REFLECTIONS FROM THE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RAK EVANGELICAL CHURCH Anonymous

10 YEARS IN: REFLECTIONS ON THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF RAK EVANGELICAL CHURCH Jenny Manley

Friend, when was the last time you drove your soul into the gospel like you were driving into something bigger than yourself? Something like the weight of immeasurable sand dunes. Or has the gospel dwindled in your heart to the point that it no longer thrills?

We don’t stay overseas because life is easy. We stay because we’re fully aware that the sacrifices we’ve encountered have made us more fit for the ministry, more dependent on the Lord, more focused on heaven, and more aware that the day is coming when the harvest will be gathered. We continue to rejoice in the victories and lament the defeats, recalibrating and pressing on.

HOW THE PRACTICUM GREW MY LOVE FOR THE CHURCH

THREE TYPES OF MISSIONARY CANDIDATES

Like people all over the world, Afghans long for peace and freedom. Amid turmoil and uncertainty, there is only one source of hope that brings true and lasting peace: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, over the past year, God has revealed the ugly, sinful ways I failed to trust him. Thankfully, he used Reaching & Teaching’s Practicum—during which I spent six weeks in Peru—to grow my love for the church by displaying how God redeems brokenness for His glory.

The key to reviewing missionary candidates is to use the same processes your church uses to evaluate Christians for ministry. No individual Christian should prepare alone.

They need their church’s evaluation and, yes, even their acceptance. They need their church to mobilize, own, and invest in their future ministry.

GOD’S HEART FOR THE NATIONS: A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS

HOW TO CARE FOR MISSIONARIES UPON REENTRY

10 DISTINCTIVES SERIES

Few passages of Scripture capture God’s heart for all peoples as concisely as the Great Commission. But God’s *intention* to make himself known in all peoples doesn’t begin at the end of Matthew’s Gospel.

Our care for returning workers offers a wonderful opportunity to serve those who have given so much for the sake of the gospel. In the process, we can learn how to serve our neighbors as well.

THE SOURCE OF LASTING PEACE AND SALVATION IN AFGHANISTAN Ramazan Rafee

Sam Emadi

Seth Griffin

Denny Crosby

Ken Caruthers

Various

These distinctives present our core missiological convictions and address important questions about what it looks like to be faithful to the Great Commission in our day.

Read full blogs and more at rtim.org

MISSIONS TALK REFLECTION Q&A WITH RYAN ROBERTSON & MACK STILES WHY IS MISSIONS TALK IMPORTANT? Mack Stiles: Missions Talk aims to undergird and support church-centered missions, a crying need in the missions world today.

In fact, if there is a great failing in modern missions, it’s the lack of solid and robust biblical ecclesiology in our missiology.

Ryan Robertson: Missions Talk provides a platform for necessary conversations about churchcentered missions. Our guests are likeminded and knowledgeable about the local church and cross-cultural ministry.

They have wisdom and experience that we can all learn from. I know I’ve learned a ton!

AS YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR OWN DEVELOPMENT IN UNDERSTANDING BIBLICAL MISSIONS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF? Mack: “Fear not! You will see those decisions you make that seem so scary and risky and dangerous are actually a privilege for you and will grow your faith and understanding of God and his ways.”

And . . .

“Learn about healthy church!”

Ryan: Ask more questions. Think more about the local church and missions. Read more ecclesiology.

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP THREE POINTS OF ADVICE FOR SOMEONE CONSIDERING LONG-TERM WORK OVERSEAS? Mack: 1. Make sure you’re actively involved in a healthy church such that you can explain and replicate the biblical principles of a healthy church for a congregation. Or, put another way, make sure that you know how to distinguish between wood and stubble and gold, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3.

2. Be on an elder or deacon trajectory in your life. As Don Carson has said, the thing that is notable in the requirements for elders and deacons is that the requirements are not that notable. A missionary must first and foremost be a faithful Christian before you can expect them to live out their faith in a foreign context.

3. Make sure that you are actively sharing your faith. I know that sounds simple, but missionaries aren’t always adept at speaking of Jesus. The rule of thumb is that if you think it’s hard to consistently share your faith here, it will only be harder there.

Ryan: 1. Ensure you’re walking with your local church, and specifically your elders, as you consider working overseas. Trust them throughout the process.

2. Don’t force anything. Sometimes the Lord closes the door on a specific

team or location. Sometimes He closes the door in going overseas all together.

Trust His providence.

3. Count the cost. There are many sacrifices necessary for long-term, overseas work. Talk to others who serve overseas and ask about sacrifices they’ve made. Then ask yourself if you could do the same.

REACHING & TEACHING AND 9MARKS PARTNER TOGETHER TO PRODUCE MISSIONS TALK, WHY IS THIS PARTNERSHIP KEY? Mack: The endorsement of 9Marks gives credibility and broad reach to Missions Talk. Missions Talk gives 9Marks expertise in missions. It’s a wonderful partnership.

Ryan: If we want our missions efforts to be church-centered (and we do!), then we want to make sure we’re thinking clearly about the local church. I can’t think of any other organization that I would want to influence Reaching & Teaching’s global work more than our friends at 9Marks. There isn’t a lot of material out there that promotes church-centered missions and our hope is that this podcast provides answers to some practical questions.

AS YOU LOOK BACK ON THE LAST YEAR OF PODCAST RECORDINGS, WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? Mack: That people are listening to podcasts more than they are reading books. I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Ryan: I’ve learned the limitations of a 3060 minute episode. We try to provide nuance where we can, but there’s often a ton of content we want to cover in a short amount of time. I’ve learned to be okay with the limitations. I’ve also continued to grow in my admiration of Mack. It’s a privilege to host alongside him and learn from him along the way.

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE OF THE PODCAST? Mack: Keep doing them, following Ryan’s lead.

Ryan: I’d like to keep exploring important theological and practical topics with experienced missionaries. I’d like to

keep the stories of faithful missionaries who have served in different contexts.

I’d like to continue to have meaningful conversations with pastors who have sent missionaries well.

Find Ryan and Mack’s bio’s at rtim.org/missions-talk

LISTEN TODAY

Missions Talk Podcast Reaching & Teaching is excited to partner with 9Marks on the production of Missions Talk.

Missions Talk is a regular conversation about biblical and practical elements of missiology.

Subscribe to Missions Talk wherever you listen to podcasts.

WHY THE PRACTICUM? JIMMY WINFREY

Mobilizer & Practicum Coordinator The mission of the RTIM Practicum is to serve churches and students by providing a holistic, cross-cultural ministry experience alongside RTIM global workers who are committed to church-centered missions. Each element of this mission statement is important: 1. SERVING CHURCHES AND STUDENTS RTIM desires to serve local churches in the US by giving their students a handson opportunity for ministry around the world. We want them to get a true taste of life on the mission field. Over the course of six weeks, Practicum students will grow in their understanding of God’s church around the world as they experience everyday life and ministry on the field.

2. A HOLISTIC, CROSS-CULTURAL MINISTRY EXPERIENCE What exactly do students do? Most importantly, they will have the opportunity to learn from Global

Workers as they live alongside them.

They’ll experience the challenges and joys of language learning and other aspects of cross-cultural acquisition. Six weeks living cross-culturally allows the student to get a small taste of culture shock and homesickness.

For young people who are considering whether or not to commit their lives to serving overseas, the Practicum offers a glimpse of what life is actually like for long-term, cross-cultural missionaries.

3. ALONGSIDE REACHING & TEACHING GLOBAL WORKERS Perhaps the biggest reason to consider the Practicum is that students have an up-close-and-personal view of how our Global Workers manage life, family, ministry, and cross-cultural living. Our hosts understand this as a tremendous opportunity, not an inconvenience.

There’s little more rewarding than investing in young people in order to grow their desire to see God’s glory expand to the ends of the earth through healthy local churches.

4. COMMITTED TO CHURCHCENTRIC MISSIONS RTIM is convinced that the local church is God’s chosen means for accomplishing the Great Commission.

We want Practicum students to develop deep convictions about healthy, churchcentric missions no matter what role they may play in the future.

Any missions strategy that deemphasizes the importance of the local church is ultimately not following God’s plan for his people. Those who participate in the Practicum will discover the importance of the local church both in sending missionaries to the field and in serving them once they get there.

Our prayer for Practicum students is that the Lord would cultivate a life-long love for His church and His mission in young believers.

Learn more about the Practicum at rtim.org/go/practicum

JIMMY WINFREY

Mobilizer & Practicum Coordinator Jimmy has served with Reaching and Teaching since 2015, including several years on the mission field in Ecuador. While continuing to travel overseas to train pastors, Jimmy now also works in mobilization, partnering with churches to send healthy, prepared workers into the harvest. Additionally, Jimmy is the Practicum Coordinator in which he collaborates with RTIM missionaries on the field to host students interested in cultivating a heart for missions. Jimmy is a 4 time graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (B.A., MDiv, ThM, and PhD). Jimmy and his wife, Heather, live with their 6 children in Louisville, KY and are members of Bullitt Lick Baptist Church.

JONATHAN SWINDELL Former Practicum Student

You should consider the RTIM Practicum because it’s an incredible opportunity to see healthy, church-centered missions in action. It’s also an opportunity to be discipled by faithful cross-cultural workers, to serve and learn from a different local church, to encourage long-term workers, and to be a witness for Christ in the community.

workers’ children so that their parents could rest or enjoy a date night. We learned a lot from our team about how to share the gospel in our context. One of the biggest takeaways was the need for language learning. We tried to have deep conversations with friends we met using Google Translate. Now I see its limitations much more clearly!

I wanted to learn how to do faithful, church-centered, cross-cultural ministry.

Through the Practicum, I observed first-hand as the body of Christ worked together to do this. I realized how easy it is to be misunderstood in another culture, and this opened my eyes to many factors. In some ways, crosscultural ministry looks like normal life and ministry. But living in a culture where Christianity is an opposed and misunderstood minority certainly has its effects.

Perhaps the biggest blessing of all was getting to know local believers here.

Almost all first-generation Christians in this country are disowned by their families. The few second-generation Christians face economic hardship and social disownment. Yet in the face of these trials, I was amazed and encouraged to see the gospel adorned as church members bear one another’s burdens and live together in a joyful, vulnerable, and repentant community.

More than once, I saw members of the church point one another to the allsufficient person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We prayed often that we encourage our host family and the local church in our city. God answered this prayer by giving us opportunities to serve the

JONATHAN SWINDELL Former Practicum Student

Jonathan Swindell is a Ph.D. Student at Baylor University studying Computer Engineering and a member of Hope Robinson Church.

He had the opportunity to be a student in the Reaching & Teaching Practicum in 2023. This experience gave him increased clarity about how to faithfully plant healthy local churches for the glory of God!

GLOBAL TRAINING UPDATE LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024 SCOTT MESCHER

2023 has been a very full year for me both personally and in ministry.

Personally, I walked my oldest daughter down the aisle to be married and saw my youngest graduate from high school. We also moved to a different house. In ministry, I visited Southeast Asia for the first time, participated in a graduation in the Amazon, and oversaw significant change among our Training Facilitators. As a Global Training team, we accomplished 9 site surveys and facilitated 35 training trips to 18 sites in 10 different countries. We also established three new sites for Pastoral Training and three for the Women’s Institute. All in all, we served close to 1,398 students.

We cannot predict God’s next move, but as we reflect on what He has done we can track the trajectory of where He is taking us next. So, as 2024 approaches, I want to share some opportunities that God has placed before us alongside ways you can pray for our ministry:

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE OPPORTUNITIES It has been exciting to see the new work in Europe and Southeast Asia. God is opening opportunities to teach women in Asia and the Caribbean while giving us glimpses of potential partnership in sub-Saharan Africa. Pray for wisdom to manage schedules and clarity to respond to the most urgent needs.

PASTORAL TRAINING IN THE CARIBBEAN This region is very accessible from North America and many churches already exist. However, the leaders of these churches need help as they prepare the next generation of church leaders. Pray for discernment as we establish new relationships.

SERVING CHURCHES IN EUROPE God has established relationships with pastors who are leading their churches toward church health. Pray for clarity as we seek to serve them well.

EQUIPPING IN THE MIDDLE EAST Ministry in this region serves some significant needs even as it presents a

variety of logistical challenges. God has connected us with local pastors who are working to establish healthy churches among different people groups. Pray for clarity as we seek to serve them well as they establish new work in a difficult context.

NEW STAFF FOR WOMEN’S INSTITUTE In short, there are more opportunities than our current staff can effectively serve. Pray that God would provide a woman (or more) with a heart to equip women, a burden for the nations, and the availability to travel throughout the year.

NEW STAFF FOR PASTORAL TRAINING In 2023, one of our Training Facilitators retired and another returned to serve on the ministry field. Pray that God would provide men with a heart to equip pastors and leaders, a burden for the nations, and availability to travel throughout the year. Pray also that they would have the ability and/or willingness to learn another language.

Thank you for praying with us. We look forward to sharing more about what God is doing through this ministry.

SCOTT MESCHER

Director of Global Training Scott has more than 25 years of experience in missions and local church ministry. Scott and his wife Corey live in Salado, TX, and have 3 children. He is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDivBL) and earned a PhD in Christian Apologetics and Worldview at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Scott leads the Global Training Team of RTIM to provide biblical and theological education to church leaders around the world and equip domestic church partners to teach in cross-cultural context. He is a member of the Executive Team.

REFLECTING ON 2023 Nate Brock

Do you remember that time Paul cried as he bid farewell to his pastor friends? As Paul finishes his farewell to the Ephesian elders, here’s how Luke describes the scene: “There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again” (Acts 20:37–38). If nothing else, this is evidence of the deep love that the Ephesian elders had for the apostle. We live in a different time, but the importance of pastoral fellowship is just as real.

Pastoral isolation is a real thing. The pastors I meet in minority Christian contexts often tell me that they desire more fellowship with other pastors.

They’re often one of only a few in their area. Pastor-to-pastor discipleship and encouragement is hard to come by.

Pastoral isolation can lead to pastoral despair, and pastoral despair can lead to the death of local churches.

Pastor’s gatherings have a vital role in the health of the global church. The pastors I spend time with through my job at RTIM crave this sort of time

together. You see it in the way they interact. It didn’t matter if I was leading one of our pastoral trainings in South Asia or attending a larger conference in Germany. It was clear they valued the time together.

The stated goal of our Global Training Team is to assist in the training of local leaders so that churches would grow in health. In practice, this looks like equipping the pastors through teaching. But in between each session, the classroom is full of pastors interacting with one another. These pastors develop life-giving relationships by learning together. I’m encouraged by the genuine joy and brotherhood that marks each of our pastoral training events. We hope and pray that the Lord will use these relationships to develop deep bonds that will lead to greater health in churches around the world.

NATE BROCK

Training Facilitator - Europe Nate grew up on the mission field in Northern Italy and currently lives in Louisville, KY, with his wife Rachel, and their four children (Charlie, Will, Kate, and Jacob).

He is a graduate of Clarks Summit University as well as The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (M. Div. in Christian Ministry). Prior to his role with Reaching & Teaching, Nate served as a pastor in Indianapolis, IN.

REFLECTING ON 2023 Kelly Cooper

This year, our Women’s Institute trained 481 ladies in eight countries. By God’s grace, we were also able to develop two new sites in Asia and one new site in Peru. We also celebrated our first graduation in Brazil!

While the breadth of the trainings is exciting, what’s most encouraging is the depth in which these women are growing in their understanding of God’s Word, God’s church, and God’s mission.

In South Asia and Italy, we’ve seen women grow from believing that God’s original plan for salvation was the sacrificial system to seeing the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ present in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. In Belize, we witnessed a woman publicly confess serving outside God’s good design by preaching in her local church.

She vowed to step aside so that a godly man could serve in this role, and she encouraged other women in similar situations to do the same. In Southeast Asia, we’ve walked alongside a sister who’s seeking to train up godly women to serve in their churches as Sunday School teachers. These ladies meet

regularly to study the Women’s Institute curriculum and to prepare lessons using the New City Catechism and The Jesus Storybook Bible. In each of these sites, we partner with local churches who are encouraging these ladies to continue to grow in their knowledge and practice of God’s Word to better serve His church in these regions.

To say we are in awe of what God is doing around the world is an understatement.

Lisa and I are incredibly humbled and honored to serve these faithful women.

We have learned so much about humility, perseverance, joy, and gratitude from them. Soli deo gloria.

KELLY COOPER

Women’s Training Facilitator - Asia Kelly came on board with RTIM as a Women’s Training Facilitator for Asia in 2022. She is passionate about seeing women grow in their faith through a deep knowledge of God’s Word. Prior to serving with RTIM, Kelly served in Bangkok for 3 years. She has also taught high school and university courses for Palmetto Christian Academy and Charleston Southern University. Kelly is thrilled to see how God is going to move among the women of Asia to make His name known to the nations!

GLOBAL FUND Visit rtim.org/give

Preview Day

Discover Reaching & Teaching rtim.org/preview-day

Why You Should Come Whether you are considering long-term missions or want to mobilize your church, our Preview Day is a great place to start!

What you can expect from the day:

Grow in a biblical understanding of missions Discover RTIM’S DNA Connect with like-minded Christians Learn how you can partner with us

Louisville, Ky Monday, January 15th Immanuel Baptist Church Los Angeles, CA Friday, February 2nd Bethany Baptist Church Minneapolis, MN Tuesday, April 9th Redeemer Bible Church rch Bayside, NY Thursday, April 11th North Shore Baptist Church Washington, D.C. Friday, May 31st Restoration Church

Time: 8am - 5pm Price per Individual: $50

rtim.org