Relentless Pursuit Podcast

What happens when the gospel first comes to an isolated tribe whose culture in which violence and treachery are considered virtues? In this bonus episode, produced by our friends at the Compelled Podcast, Pioneers president Steve Richardson tells the story of being raised by missionary parents in the jungles of Papua, Indonesia (formerly Irian Jaya) and seeing firsthand how the gospel transformed the Sawi culture. Be sure to check out other episodes of Compelled for more stories of transformation. Fifty years after arriving in the jungle as a baby, Steve returns, with his father and two brothers. Never the Same is a short film Pioneers produced that documents their trip, including firsthand accounts from people who were alive when they arrived. The missions classic Peace Child tells the story from the perspective of Don Richardson (Steve’s father). An edition for younger readers was recently released titled Treachery on the Twisted River. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

Do you have to take a test? Should you be fluent in a foreign language? Are you too old? Too young? In a nutshell, what does it look like to join Pioneers? In this bonus episode of the podcast, we talk with Kim, one of our Mission Mentors, about the process of joining a mission organization. Kim shares a bit about her personal story of being a “high maintenance” missionary serving refugees in Western Europe—as well as a bit about her current role, as she helps people discern whether God is calling them to serve among the unreached. **BONUS Content** Who stole baby Jesus? That’s what everyone was asking when a doll disappeared after a ministry outreach Kim was leading. You’re not going to believe where the doll reappeared, and how God used the incident to bring an entire family to faith in Jesus. Check out our president, Steve Richardson’s book, Is the Commission Still Great? Steve’s book addresses many of the misconceptions people have about what missions is all about. We’ve got a free small-group curriculum and links to purchase the book at Pioneers.org/myths. Explore is the first orientation in the process of finding out whether Pioneers is a good fit. You can find out more about what the week looks like here. Ready to chat with Kim or one of our other Mission Mentors? Go to Pioneers.org/Start to schedule a call.

The Arabian Peninsula is a land of contrasts. Starbucks coffee shops may be ubiquitous, but ancient traditions are hard to overcome. Still, God is at work, and local gatherings of believers are growing. Our guest in this episode has loads of encouraging stories about discipling Arab seekers, and he gives us a glimpse of what church planting looks like in this challenging but rewarding part of the world. **BONUS Content** Local authorities in our guest’s host city began investigating them, and they had to leave the country in the middle of the night. Less than a year later, they were back on the field in a nearby country. Our guest reflects on how God showed Himself faithful in this unexpected redirection. Getting redirected—either before you go to the field or while you’re there—is a common occurrence for missionaries. Check out Pioneers’ new book, Items May Have Shifted: When Missionaries Get Rerouted, for five stories of divine disruption. Check out this article that answers the question, “What does it take to go to the hard places?” Our Multiply video series gives a glimpse of what church planting looks like in different locations and cultures around the world. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today. Have you enjoyed this season of the Relentless Pursuit Podcast? Be sure to give us a five-star rating and leave a review. Also, stay tuned for a few bonus episodes, dropping in the weeks to come.

If you were a missionary starting ministry in a new community, how would you identify people open to spiritual conversations? In the past, it may have taken years to find and cultivate such relationships. In this episode we talk with Amber, who leads a team that coaches missionaries on using social media and the web to engage with people in unreached parts of the world who are using these same tools to find answers to their spiritual questions. **BONUS Content** Nadia was praying at Islam’s holiest site when she had a realization that the God she was praying to was not alive and could not actually hear her prayers. For as little as $30, you can fund the ads that allow six spiritual seekers to make contact with one of our missionaries and their partners on the ground. From a Forest Temple is a video that tells the story of Tom, a South Asian man who came to faith through media (albeit one of the oldest forms of it) and now uses digital technology to make disciples. Also, don’t miss Googling Jesus, nine stories of spiritual seekers coming to faith through digital media outreach. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

We’re living in a time at which the nations are coming to our doorstep as immigrants, refugees and international students—an unprecedented opportunity for people from unreached parts of the world to be exposed to the gospel. It also means we can partner with Christians from other cultures who have come to make the United States their new home. In this episode, we talk to Paul, a leader in Pioneers’ “diaspora” ministry who served for many years in East Asia and is now working in Austin, Texas. Paul opens our eyes to the amazing new ways anyone can get involved in engaging the unreached, whether you live in a big city or in small-town America. **BONUS Content** When Paul was looking for mission agencies to join, he had a simple criterion: How quickly can they get me to the field? Find out what happened when Paul asked Pioneers that question. Download a free ebook (epub and PDF) of Unreached Peoples, Least-Reached Places, by J.D. Payne, which is chock-full of statistics and practical insight on reaching diaspora peoples. What happens with Muslims and Christians go on a 50-mile hike through a desert canyon? Watch our video, A Canyon, a Cathedral, to find out. Also, diaspora people can be found in other countries. In From Albania to Greece, a team in Athens is planting a church among Albanian immigrants. Want to get some real-world, on-site experience and training making disciples among unreached peoples? Check out Pioneers’ partner International Project and their residential program, Equip Missionary Training in New York City. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

Cynthia didn’t fit the “missions mold”—if there is one anymore. She was single, in her 40s and had worked in the business world. But God had given her a vision of helping young girls in South Asian villages avoid being trafficked. And she was convinced that making disciples and planting churches in their communities was at the heart of the solution. Now, ten years later, she has seen God bring her vision to reality. **BONUS Content** When Cynthia began telling Bible stories every night to a group of children from the neighborhood, she couldn’t have imagined what one young boy would do with his newfound knowledge. Pioneers’ media partner, CommNet, produced a video about Cynthia’s ministry in South Asia. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

Some things are just meant to go together. Salted caramel and chocolate. Peanut butter and jelly. Agriculture and church planting. Maybe you didn’t see the last one coming, but this episode may change your mind. Dave has served in Peru for more than 15 years and seen the challenges of taking the gospel to remote areas where finding food and water is the equivalent of a full-time job. Now, he’s training local church planters to use sustainable agricultural practices to provide for their families and improve the lives of unreached people groups living in the jungle. **BONUS Content** Rats with an apparent salt deficiency. Coffee filtered through a sock. Eating fish—bones and all. Dave tells the story of a three-day hike through the jungle to visit an unreached tribe. Here are some examples of other Pioneers workers combining a passion for church planting with agriculture. In part 4 of our Middle Ground video series, Rob visits an orchard in Central Asia, where agriculture provides livelihoods of local gospel workers. Echo is a ministry that trains missionaries (and local believers around the world) to apply sustainable agriculture practices in the communities they serve. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

The physical beauty, cultural sophistication and culinary delights of of France can sometimes conceal the spiritual challenges faced by believers in that country—and the missionaries who go there to share the gospel. A native of the secular Pacific Northwest, Lindsey moved to France more than a decade ago with eyes wide open to this reality. Since then, God has given her unique opportunities to build relationships and share the gospel—often through the unlikely connection of a baking class she teaches. **BONUS Content** Don’t go to the mission field looking for a spouse, but don’t put it past God to provide one for you. Check out Starting from Scratch, our video documenting Lindsey’s ministry in France. (Warning: Don’t watch if you’re hungry!) Still not convinced Europe is a legitimate mission field? Read our article and photo essay, “Is Europe Unreached?” Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

Do you believe in miracles? Muslims do. Rafik is a Pioneers area leader who is responsible for teams in North Africa, one of the most challenging and volatile parts of the world. On this episode of the podcast, Rafik regales us with amazing stories of Muslim seekers coming to faith—stories that sound like they were pulled from the Book of Acts. **Bonus Content** Gedo’s persecutors thought their efforts would keep him quiet. They were sorely mistaken. For more stories like the ones Rafik told in this episode, check out our free online book, Googling Jesus, which includes nine accounts from around the world of people coming to faith through online evangelism and discipleship. Check out the Maverick podcast, a story of an emerging movement of multiplying disciples in Central Africa. Social media gets a bad rap as a waste a time at best and an intrusive tool for advertisers and political agitators. But in some parts of the world, it’s where people go to get answers to their spiritual questions in an anonymous environment. Find out how media outreach works with our brief explainer video. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team or chat today.

Hannah is a missionary from Finland who works in a country in Europe that has a Muslim majority. She is part of a team that helps vulnerable pregnant women who are considering whether or not to keep their babies. The relationships they build and the care they provide are building a foundation for making disciples and planting a church in their corner of the world. **Bonus Content** Don't miss Hannah's story about how God provided (in advance) a way for a pregnant woman to provide an income for herself so she could keep her baby. Check out our article and photo essay, “Is Europe Unreached?” Also, our video “From Albania to Greece” gives a good picture of what ministry in Southern Europe looks like. Pioneers offers summer Edge opportunities in Europe, serving non-religious people groups, as well as immigrants and refugees from around the world. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at Pioneers.org/Start, or chat today.

Just before Koko and her family moved to Southeast Asia, she was diagnosed with medical condition that she was told would eventually cost her the ability to speak. As someone with a calling to teach, this news upended her expectations of what ministry overseas would look like, and it drove her to explore how suffering can shape our perspective on God. Prefer to watch the discussion? Check it out on YouTube and don't forget to subscribe and ring that bell! **Bonus Content** When Koko’s family needed to renew their visas, it included both navigating a treacherous flood and the equally challenging cultural and bureaucratic pitfalls of getting their documents signed during Ramadan. Sometimes it pays to play dumb. The Spiritual Survival Handbook for Cross-Cultural Workers is a book Pioneers published that has been used by countless missionaries to prepare themselves spiritually for the challenges of cross-cultural ministry. Sojourner’s Workbook: A Guide to Thriving Cross-Culturally is a book Pioneers developed for missionaries during their first year of ministry. Check out our Multiply video series, which gives a glimpse of what church-planting ministry around the Pioneers world looks like. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team at https://pioneers.org/start, or chat today at https://pioneers.org/contact.

Aron served in church leadership for 13 years before God called him and his family to serve in Peru. In this episode, Aron tells us about their transition to life on the edge of the Amazon jungle, where they led a Launch team for missionaries learning language and culture before heading out to unreached people groups throughout Peru. Find out what the Launch team journey looks like, and the qualities that make it possible for someone to take the gospel to isolated tribes. ** Bonus Content** Don’t miss Aron’s tips on how to make a tree grub taste like bacon. Want more info on the weird foods missionaries sometimes eat? Here’s a list of possibilities: Would You Eat These 10 Foods for the Gospel? See how a father and son team have taken more than 50,000 radios with audio Bibles into the rugged mountains of Bolivia in our Little Red Radios video series. Prefer photos? See the weathered faces and ancient traditions of the Quechua in our photo essay from the same trip. Peru isn’t the only place with a Launch Team. Check out this article that explains how Pioneers Launch Teams prepare new missionaries for success in their new areas of ministry. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team or chat today.

Taylor Murray is a TCK—a “third culture kid”—who lived in Japan from the age of nine until when she graduated high school. Although she lived in a loving family, she struggled with anxiety and an eating disorder that came to a head when she spent a gap year in Germany. While in rehab, she came to the realization that it was OK not to be OK, and she is committed to being vulnerable and transparent about her struggles—and helping others to do the same. Taylor wrote her first book about life as a missionary kid when she was 14 years old. Hidden in My Heart is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions. ‍More recently, she wrote Stop Saying I’m Fine: Finding Stillness When Anxiety Screams, available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon. ‍You can follow Taylor on Instagram to keep up with everything she doing. ‍Taylor’s family was featured in our video Of Donuts and Atom Bombs. Hear how her parents respond to Japanese who are still hurting from being bombed in World War II. Also, Takuma shares his story of coming to faith through a relationship with a Pioneers worker. ‍Check out a photo essay, The Streets of Japan. Read an article about How Pioneers supports TCKs. ‍Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team or chat with us today.

Summer has served in two countries in East Africa and now lives in Central Asia, where she is seeking to reach a nomadic people group. In this episode, she explains the unique challenges of building relationships with people who are on the move, as well as the lessons she’s learned about God and herself in the process. **BONUS Content** Summer tells about how she was surrounded by an angry mob, taken away at gunpoint and then encountered a special woman on her way to jail, in Ethiopia. Get the bonus story! Get a glimpse of what life and ministry in Central Asia is like, from slaughtering a lamb with a local family to jam sessions with local musicians: Watch the Middle Ground video series Also, check out an article that explains more about the characteristics of the 200 million people who are in nomadic people groups. Summer is part of a network called the Nomadic Peoples Network, which offers resources and training on reaching nomads. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team or chat today.

We had the privilege of having Emily host The Relentless Pursuit Podcast for the last 2 seasons. She and her husband have joined a multi-ethnic church planting effort in Kansas, so she is passing the baton to our new hosts Jess and Matt. Season 3 of the Relentless Pursuit Podcast drops Tuesday October 3rd! Jess was a missionary for several years in Japan and now works at the Pioneers-USA base helping people do partnership development (See what this means on Episode 11 of Season 2). Matt leads the Marketing team for Pioneers-USA and has had a wealth of travel experiences and interactions with missionaries on the field. Check out Jess' story when she was a guest on Relentless Pursuit, to hear more about how she went from a short term trip in Guatemala to a long-term missionary in Japan. Ready to take the next step, but not sure what it looks like? Schedule a call with our team or chat today.

Raising support is one of the biggest obstacles to new missionaries heading to the field. How do we cultivate a godly perspective on this important task? Listen in as Andrew shares about the deep spiritual and relational blessings of partner development. In this episode, we discuss: Books that Andrew recommends on support raising are: The God Ask by Steve Shadrach Funding Your Ministry by Scott Morton You can learn more about the training program Radius International here. You can learn about our other training program partners International Project and Global Frontier Missions too. Want to know more about missions and what going might look like? Come to Encounter 22. You can take our survey here.

Elijah and Emma served among Muslims in two North African countries. Learn about the challenges they faced and how the beauty of the gospel was revealed to their neighbors as a result. Content warning: violence, death, and infant loss Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/pioneersusa View show notes: https://podcasts.pioneers.org/podcast-episodes/finding-joy-in-suffering

After years of serving the Church through marriage ministry, John and Pat took up a new role as marriage coaches for missionaries. Hear what they say about common issues in marriage and how they show up on the field. Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/pioneersusa View show notes: https://podcasts.pioneers.org/podcast-episodes/how-to-make-your-marriage-thrive

Elyse serves in South Asia, a region that suffered much in the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen as she shares a beautiful story of Jesus healing and delivering a young woman. God’s power is unmatched. Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/pioneersusa View show notes: https://podcasts.pioneers.org/podcast-episodes/missions-in-a-pandemic

Jaden loved photography. But he didn’t know God would use that love to bring the faces of the unreached to the attention of the Church. How might God use your unique gifts and skills to expand His kingdom among the nations? Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/pioneersusa View the show notes: https://podcasts.pioneers.org/podcast-episodes/a-passion-for-god-and-photography