Who among us can go to the furthest ends of the earth to share the gospel with those who have never heard? We desire to go where there is no Bible, no teaching about Jesus, no church, and give people the opportunity to hear the gospel in full. Part of this work includes providing a functioning literacy program so that remote peoples can learn to read and write in their heart language. Our hope is to eventually give them a Bible in their Indigenous tongue. We are not convincing people to pray a prayer. Rather, we hope to raise up believers mature in their walks with God. This article is intended to be a resource for people who want a clearer picture of God’s ministry through us and His work around the world.

Vivian and Tanner both believed in Christ’s sacrifice for them at a young age. We are amazed by how simple God made salvation. We believe that God sent His only Son to pay for the sin of the world with His life. This act provided an avenue for humanity to have a restored relationship with God and, if a person will trust in Jesus’ sacrifice for them, that is enough to save them from eternal separation from God. No child or adult needs to fully understand all the complexities of Who God is to believe in Jesus.

The faith we had as children was founded in Jesus’ love and that was enough, but there was still so much to learn! As we grew physically and emotionally, we also grew spiritually. In our twenties, the two years at Ethnos360 Bible Institute in Waukesha was a beautiful time of growth for both of us as we delved into the Bible. Solid teaching from books like Romans and Ephesians taught us about the grace of God and who we are regardless of our circumstances. We especially value learning about God’s view of us as His children.

Even prior to attending EBI, Vivian felt God’s call to missions on her life. She had been blessed by the opportunity to serve as a homeschool teacher for a missionary family in the Philippines. During her time overseas, she was able to experience overseas ministry in real time. She was convinced that God wanted her to pursue missions by the time her service in the Philippines was complete and believed EBI was the first official step of training that she needed. While there, she met Tanner who felt the call to overseas ministry during his time studying at EBI. They asked, “Are you able? Are you willing?” And his answer was yes.

After EBI, we got married and pursued further training at Ethnos360 Training Center. We benefitted from our two years there in many ways – classwork, discipleship through training teams and mentorship, work detail, and local ministry. We had the opportunity to learn culture and language acquisition strategies, off-grid technology practicums, and church planting steps and fundamentals. As we completed training, joining Ethnos360 as missionaries was an easy decision. Scripture makes it clear that being a missionary is what a Christ follower is, wherever we happen to be in the world. We accept the exhortation in Psalm 96:3, “Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

Ethnos360 does not accept every random person who applies for membership to be a missionary, however, even after all the training we participated in. We were evaluated throughout our two years at Bible school and the two years at Ethnos360 Training. Our character, relationships, and functional abilities were observed by leadership on campus and submitted to Ethnos360 with our application for membership, so the most educated decision about us could be made.

At the time of membership, we were taken on as employees of Ethnos360. Being employees gives us practical advantages, such as health insurance, tax assistance, and member care to name a few. This could easily become a lengthy description, so we encourage you to talk to us if you have any questions about the benefits and necessity of membership.

Members of Ethnos360 do not receive a salary. We rely solely on financial gifts from our ministry partners for our livelihood, which is why we are currently spending a year or two connecting with churches and individuals. We are looking for people to partner with us as an integral part of our church planting efforts. Some people may choose to partner with us financially. Others might want to connect through prayer. And still others in their own unique ways. We need all these connections to successfully serve overseas.

As we look to serve in the Philippines, they require all missionaries accepted on a missionary visa to be self-sustaining. We will not be permitted entrance or residence in-country if we take local jobs or use their government assistance. Understandably then, this time of raising support is crucial because we are committing our lives to ministry. Without proper support, this endeavor is not sustainable. This mission truly takes a village to accomplish!

From this point forward, we would like to paint a brief picture of what life will look like for us once we are in the Philippines. Our time will be divided into two stages: E2 and E3. These stages will each be explained in their own time below.

E2 is a span of roughly two years of further preparation for ministry in country. This begins with several months dedicated to adjustment to a new life and culture. We will not be thrown into the deep end to plant a church on day one. This time allows us to acclimate to unfamiliar surroundings, move into a temporary home, and learn to do regular activities like grocery shopping. The rest of E2 is spent acquiring the national language and culture. We anticipate learning Visayan, as it is the language of wider communication on the island of Mindanao, where we will be stationed. Our desire is to be able to build meaningful relationships with local believers, government workers, shopkeepers, and others because we want to follow Jesus’ example of ministry. This means taking the time to understand how to be culturally sensitive, respected, and effective.

At the end of our time in E2, we will meet with field leadership to discuss our future ministry. Church planting is perhaps the most well-known ministry, but there are many support roles we could serve in as well. We might have hopes of being church planters, but once again, we are being evaluated. If at the end of two years we have struggled to assimilate to our new host country, have continued difficulty grasping language, or fail to build relationships with the national people, we will need to look at the realities of ministry moving forward. Similarly, it is possible that we have thrived in areas we were previously unaware that we were gifted in. Thankfully, we will have the opportunity to communicate with field leadership to determine whether we should be a part of a church planting team or join the team of support missionaries who allow church planters to function well in remote locations.

E3 is when we move into full time ministry. As a support missionary, that might mean we become full time guest house managers and hosts, or supply buyers, or something else entirely. Support missionaries are a vital part of church planting, as they allow church planters to be fully invested in their remote villages by taking care of their grocery shopping, finances, regular government paperwork like visa renewals, etc. As part of a church planting team, there are two larger options, and each one would determine our course. There could be opportunities to join existing church plants. That means there is an incomplete team of church planters already in a remote location that we have been invited to join. There are also opportunities to form a new church planting teams to go into places that have no gospel presence.

We believe that whatever role God calls us to fill, we are striving to model Christ with our lives. We recognize that day one of our ministry affects day one hundred. As God’s image bearers, we are responsible to live in the fruit of the Spirit, being at peace with our teammates and local community, submitting to authority, actively seeking discipleship opportunities in the community, parenting our children Biblically, and so much more. We need to foster this heart-attitude now, before we go overseas, because we have a lifelong commitment to whatever spiritual children God blesses us with.

As we participate in overseas ministry, we understand that we must learn to be intelligible communicators of the gospel aiming at the clear target of mature believers and churches. We have been provided with an excellent scope for this called W.I.L.D. These four letters refer to four areas any church (or believer) needs strength in to become mature – Word of God for the church, Identity of the church, Life of the church, and Discipleship of the church.

Psalm 67:1-2 says, “May the Lord be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us so that your ways may be known on earth. Your salvation among all the nations.” What a privilege it is to be an ambassador for Christ and, as His church, be part of the mighty work He is doing among the nations. We are very blessed to know the truth that we know. It is not a matter of if we should share the gospel, but whom we should share it with.