Brent Mudde comes from a long line of missionaries, so it was no surprise that he decided in his teens to become a missionary pilot. In this podcast Brent talks about the process of becoming a missionary pilot with MAF as well as the day to day challenges missionary pilots face.

Agent Strawberry had her sights set on running a business in the financial sector, however, God had eternal dividends in mind. In this podcast Agent Strawberry (wife of Agent Shwarma) talks about the Syrian refugee crisis from the dual perspective of a Lebanese citizen and a Christian, sharing why the love of Jesus has compelled her to spend her life loving her enemies.

Smita would be the first to say that she would never have thought God would use her to start four aftercare homes in Kolkata, India, but use her, He has. Smita oversees four homes that help trafficked children and women recover from their trauma and reintegrate into society. On this podcast we talk about the journey that led to her to start her first aftercare home. She talks about how God “called” her to this work and some of the stories that have inspired her along the way.

Armed with a degree in nursing, Carolyn left Ontario as a young twenty something, moving to Alberta as the only medical professional in a remote Indigenous community. This was the beginning of a mission’s career among the Indigenous peoples spanning four decades. In this podcast Carolyn talks about culture shock and what it takes to build trust in the Indigenous communities. She also talks about how walking through the grief of loosing her husband and nineteen year old son has helped her connect more deeply with those also grieving significant loss in her community, and has led to a widow to widow Bible study that has grown from just 4 ladies to over 200.

“You love people for all their idiosyncrasies not because of their cultural manifestations,” Kristen Fraser says as we talk about the tension of living graciously in a state of cultural dissonance. Kristen talks about many things in this podcast: Raising third culture kids, the bare bones of effective ministry and cross-cultural survival, the homeschooling question, and the surprising gift of 13 Africans in Ukraine.

At the time of this podcast’s recording, Tahlia Knight is a missionary in the making, ready to jump into her first long term missionary assignment. Currently she has spent several months in Poland. On this podcast we talk about why she decided to go to Poland for two years, what she is hoping those two years look like and what it has been like to raise support for the venture. She also mentions Kairos, a course she is taking to help shape her view of God, the church and the world. You can learn more about this course online at kairos.outreach.ca/

In this conversation about his missionary journey, Matt Fraser talks about why he went to Zambia and then to the Ukraine, and what he has learned along the way.

Ron Pearce show #5On a Sunday night in the middle of winter, young Ron Pearce walked down the aisle of his church during an evangelical crusade to make his decision of faith “official.” As he knelt at the alter, he said to God, “Please don’t make this boring.” Ron Pearce’s life and ministry have been anything. On this podcast we talk about all the places God took him from pastoring to business experience to prepare him for what it would take to start Empower Ministries. Ron now circles the globe investigating how the Western church can help supplement the vibrant and growing ministries of international Christian leaders. Ron talks about the ways God is moving in the world and bears witness to the explosion of Christian faith in areas like China, Ethiopia and Asia. We talk history of missions and how missions is changing today as well as the explosion of dreams and visions in some parts of the world.You can visit his website at empowerministries.caThe book Ron spoke about: “Dreams and Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim world?” by Tim Doyle *note on China: Since recording this podcast, many of the people he spoke of on this podcast are experiencing extreme persecution for their faith. The Chinese government has established new laws that make it impossible to express faith without repercussions. In addition, the Chinese government is destroying Bibles and making their own “official” Bible which they have altered to serve their purposes. To read more specifics visit Ron’s website at empowerministries.ca

On this podcast I interview “Agent Kalahari,” a Bible Translation Consultant with Wycliffe, who has been part of over 43 Bible translation projects in as many different languages. Agent Kalahari talks about her journey from ambitions for presidency to landing in linguistics and eventually finding herself in Chad, Africa working on her first Bible translation project. You will laugh with Agent Kalahari as she talks translating fails, as well as learn from her dedication and clear vision of discipleship. Agent Kalahari’s journey is varied and often fraught with difficult cultural issues to navigate, but through it all, her passion for the Biblical narrative will delight and inspire.

Agent B, a missionary with Wycliffe Canada, talks Mathematical Olympics, finding his way as a computer programmer, African assignments, third culture kids and more. In this episode of Conversations With Missionaries, learn how God can use computer skills to further his kingdom.