John F & Anita Koeshall

At AGWM, our mission is to plant and establish the church by reaching, training and serving. That means that every person who applies to be a missionary associate or fully appointed missionary is in some way involved in this endeavor.

What an awesome responsibility and privilege…sharing the Good News with people who have never heard, discipling new believers and planting churches that will thrive till Jesus comes back.

And what a challenging task! When we interact with our global workers throughout the world, we hear them dealing with questions that aren’t easy to answer: a secular person in Europe asks, “why should I want to live forever? that sounds like a curse”. Or a Muslim new believer who asks, “Can I participate in the Mosque and just say other prayers under my breath?" or an animist in Latin America who says: “We need a building just like in America in order to be a church”. Or an African animist who wants help dealing with evil spirits in his home?

On a larger scale, our missionaries deal with people migrations, pandemics, visa issues, wars, and hostile governments. Being a missionary is an incredible task that calls for highly trained, adaptable men and women.

How do we prepare people for such a task?… Many applicants come to us, called and committed but without biblical training, cross-cultural expertise, or ministry experience. I (Anita) serve with a team of global trainers to teach the task of cultural discovery both pre-field and on the field, and we have the privilege of traveling to many areas of the world, working with new teams to help them exegete their cultures.

We want to see those who are sent fully equipped, so they can flourish, be fruitful and plant churches that are biblically based and culturally appropriate.

So thank you for your support so that we can be involved in this incredibly important role. Please pray for discernment as we prepare people not for the moment, but for the next decade or two…so they will be an adaptable, spiritual, and ever-learning force for the kingdom of God.