Looking Back in 2025

“...to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.“ Eph 4:12, 13

Table of Contents

A Foundation for Endurance - A glimpse into a global gathering focused on the first two years on the field.

A Foundation for Endurance

In January of 2025, around 400 church planters and leaders from around the Pioneers world gathered to learn how to equip new field members so they can thrive and bear kingdom fruit. Our team’s lofty goal was to provide attendees with everything they need to meet the challenges of the first two years on the field. These years are when new members struggle the most, and when preventable attrition is the highest. How can we as leaders be good stewards of those coming to the field today?

Besides the massive task of organizing an event in another country for hundreds of people, our team worked with dozens of presenters and facilitators to structure the content of the intensive 5-day gathering. Working alongside veterans of missionary work and hearing their experience and deep thinking on their subjects showed us the extreme privilege we have to be not only in fellowship, but also in collaboration with such high caliber people. This week at the Summit was God’s body at work!

On a spiritual level, the first few years are intense. They need to cling fiercely to the Lord, not to earn anything from him, but out of the knowledge that he is pursuing them. They need a robust theology of suffering, attention to his Word, and a lifestyle of prayer. Humility and brokenness should become a hallmark of their lives. And they will want a deep understanding of God’s grace–how our weakness plus his grace equals power.

On a relational level, a missionary needs to learn about setting expectations, developing healthy accountability, and practicing unhurried leadership..

And then there are practical ministry skills that they must grow into such as: language learning, cultural research, church-planting principles and practices, partnering with local churches, and how to expand the work into new unreached peoples and places.

At the Summit we offered two additional tracks focused on the dynamics of multi-cultural teams (like when Brazilians, Australians, and Americans work together) and facing mental health challenges on the field.

By the end of the week, every attendee had pages full of notes and a list of action steps. But most importantly, many left with new relationships and opportunities for collaboration.

Mark was also tasked with recording most of the sessions and workshops on video for later use. Daniel and Caleb were able to attend. Being able to connect with other “Third Culture Kids”–kids who have grown up in a culture other than their passport culture–was encouraging and life-giving. We are so grateful for this opportunity.

What happens after the Summit?

In the months following the conference, our Global Equip Team worked hard on creating a resource tool that compiled the videos, slides, notes, and resources from the sessions and workshops so that our leaders around the world could access and use the training back with their teams. We are still getting requests for and comments about this resource.

We are also part of a team putting together a two-year, twelve-module curriculum called Life-on-Life Equipping. This content, based on the material from the Summit, will help a team leader lay a foundation for their new arrivals so that they have every opportunity to thrive in the work of bringing God’s glory to the nations.