On the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras sits a massive garbage dump in which thousands of families live and work. This community is plagued by poverty, violence, the mafia, gangs and drugs, the sex trade, and all sorts of tragic evil. This context is not fit for anyone - especially children. I am privileged to work with a ministry called “Amor, Fe, y Esperanza” which serves these children and families and dreams of transformation with them. I work with local, indigenous leadership to reach out to families in the dump, to provide a holistic education center, a church-planting movement, and soon a self-organized community with dignified houses for dump dwellers.

Attempting such an audacious dream requires God’s help and wisdom. I studied at both the School of Intercultural Studies and the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary but felt that I lacked the research skills to innovate in a community with such deeply embedded issues. My wife and I both felt called to Honduras and we eager to minister there. Once I heard about the DMiss cohort program, everything started to make sense. The DMiss program allows me the opportunity to continue studying and yet remain in full-time ministry in Honduras. The DMiss program provided an ideal situation to deal with a garbage dump community that has served as my missional focus and research subject. The program is helping our team answer the question: how do we bring about transformation in the garbage dump community of Tegucigalpa, Honduras? The members of my cohort have provided constant support and godly guidance through this journey. I have built deep friendships with my classmates over the course of four wonderful years. I truly believe the garbage dump community will experience the power of the gospel and I owe much to the training I received in the DMiss program.

I have worked for the Worldwide Church of God for 31 years and currently serve as the denomination’s representative in the Caribbean.  Our denomination is committed to becoming more missional and so has changed the job-title and job-descriptions of all our regional representatives from Regional Directors to Mission Developers.  As part of the re-training offered to us by the denomination I enrolled in Fuller’s D-Miss program.  This program was an easy choice because it is designed for practitioners actively involved in mission and designs its cohorts around the common interests of students who apply.   As someone helping to lead institutional change the opportunity to study with others who are focused on leadership has been very stimulating and enriching.  The practical nature of this program has meant that I am able to apply much of what I learn directly to my ministry context.  This program has the depth, flexibility and practical approach that I, as a mission-practitioner, have looked for.

As a Christian leader and Executive Vice President of Pacific Rim Bible College deeply involved in 'local' ministry, the Fuller Dmiss format of two week intensive with face-to-face studies with our focused cohort permits me to still remain active in Hawaii, and use the benefit of technology like web access, email, etc to collaboratively critique and encourage one another’s research in context. Furthermore, this multicultural cohort provides a rich hue of perspectives which enhance the projects praxis and enlarge our world view.

The purpose of my research is to understand how the ukulele functions in Hawaii through ukulele events in relationship the people in Hawaii, to express their individual  identity and yet foster community.  The goal in this research project is to discover what is happening when people gather to perform at ukulele centered events by examining how the ukulele functioned during events in the past and present, and identifying the possibility for expressing our individual identity and yet build unity through music and ultimately with implications for its use in the Hawaii Foursquare Church. 

I hope that my research will show that the people find the ukulele an accessible instrument to play, sing, and perform with. Ukulele event gatherings enable multi-ethnic people in Hawaii to sing about songs that express their cultural individuality while celebrating their Christian unity.  I hope to develop guidelines for the appropriate use of ukulele performance events the Hawaii Foursquare Church that celebrates our cultural identity and our shared Christian faith.

I serve as the International Ministries Director for 10/40 CONNECTIONS.  Our work engages some of the least reached people groups of the 10/40 Window addressing areas of church planting, justice for women and girls, and slum revitalization.

As both a missional practitioner and a leader of a non-profit organization, I was looking for a program that would incorporate key areas of missiological reading and field research in an academically challenging environment.  I also wanted a global perspective that deepened and broadened my understanding of Word, World, and Church.  The strong academic reputation and thoroughly biblical approach that comes with Fuller gave me confidence that the type of education I received would expand both my mind and my spirit. 

This particular DMiss program, with its non-residential component, allowed us the freedom to continue in ministry during the four years of coursework.  I could not have been in the program otherwise.  Additionally, the smaller cohort size along with the intensive two-week classes gave us access not only to the professional knowledge but also to the personal lives of some of the professors.  I believe that writing the dissertation, while quite a challenge, lifts the caliber of the program academically from other degrees that do not require this type of discipline.

My field of study (how Trinitarian relations provide an ideal model for husbands and wives in North India) has already opened up speaking opportunities, writing opportunities, and relational networking opportunities.  Doors have opened within both the Christian and majority communities of North India.  In addition we have modified our organization to allow further expansion of these issues as God leads.  I appreciate the work that our friends at Fuller have done to make this type of program available.

I serve as the Executive Director of 10/40 Connections.  10/40 involves itself in a variety of contextual ministries including church planting, slum revitalization, justice for women/girls, and church mobilization.   We work primarily in India, East Asia, and Nepal. 

Because I desired to remain in full-time ministry, I needed a program that allowed me to pursue a degree with high academic standards while continuing to serve.  I have a passion to serve God as a practical theologian.  My dissertation enabled me to delve into a theological concept that I believed directly correlated to the fulfillment of the Great Commission and to research the application of this theology on the field.  Due to the research, I have re-structured elements of 10/40’s ministry enabling me to directly apply this theology more effectively and strategically. 

To me, the greatest strengths of the program involved the reading before and after each module which allowed me to reflect while engaging in ministry and then discussing the books with professors.  I also enjoyed the intensive interaction I had with both Dr. Dan Shaw and Dr. Doug McConnell.   Both demonstrated humility in the way they taught and interacted with me as a student which was important to me.  Since I desire all believers to engage in God’s mission, I think academic arrogance can harm the Church.  Their attitudes and commitment to Christ, combined with their expertise, serves as a great example!

I am thankful to Fuller for this DMiss program.  I continue to pray that God will allow me to serve the Church more faithfully as a result. 

For two years, my wife and I were missionaries in a mud hut in southern Sudan.  Although I had grown up in Africa, it was far removed from this world virtually void of electricity, running water, or infrastructure.  While there, I led an oral Bible school while my wife taught in the primary school and used her nursing skills in the local mud clinic.  It was an amazing time there, yet we had so many unanswered questions about how to best engage in effective ministry in the bush of southern Sudan. 

In 2006, I was privileged to become the Executive Director of Aid Sudan, a nonprofit missionary organization based in Houston, TX.  Aid Sudan ministers to southern Sudanese in the U.S. and in southern Sudan, focusing on the spread of the gospel and community development.  Although we now live in Houston, I still travel to southern Sudan three times a year, overseeing missionaries and projects there.

After coming to the States, the Lord began to speak to me about pursuing a doctorate in missions.  I hoped this would help address some of our unanswered questions.  After much research I ended where I began – with Fuller’s Doctor of Missiology program.  I was drawn to it because of the quality of professors, the nonresidential setup, and the cohort format.  Now in my second year, I can testify to the strength of these components.  The professors have strongly challenged me, the cohort format has allowed us to learn in community, and the nonresidential setup has enabled us to take what we learn and immediately introduce it into our ministries.  This program has already impacted my ministry and personal walk with the Lord in powerful ways, far beyond what I had ever even hoped.  I am deeply grateful to see that impact – from Pasadena to Houston to the bush of southern Sudan!