About

In 1984, Deborah (my wife) and I signed up for a one-month summer mission trip to Manila, Philippines, to help establish a church and campus ministry in Manila’s famous University Belt. That one-month mission trip stretched to two months, then six months, then a couple of decades.

That original U-Belt church is now known as Victory Church Manila, one church that gathers in eighteen Metro Manila locations for weekend worship. Approximately 10,000 Victory Group leaders have been equipped and empowered to make disciples in small groups all over Metro Manila. Over the decades, more than 150 Victory churches have been established all over the Philippine Islands, and Filipino cross-cultural mission teams have established churches and campus ministries in twenty-two nations.

In 1994, two long-time friends and ministry colleagues stayed overnight in my Manila home on their way to explore ministry opportunities in Southeast Asia. As we discussed the open doors for the gospel, we decided to merge our mission efforts together in what became known as Every Nation Churches & Ministries. Together, we have established churches and campus ministries in over eighty nations.

In 2016, after thirty-eight years in vocational ministry, I went back to school, eventually earning a Doctor of Ministry degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. My dissertation was entitled: “Post-Founder Sustainability: Building Ministries that Outlive Their Founders.” That dissertation research was turned into a book titled, The Leadership Runway: A Strategy for Ministry Succession, Leadership Transition, and Post-Founder Sustainability. I wrote or cowrote some other books including WikiChurch, 100 Years from Now, and The Purple Book.

I get to serve as a preaching coach to Every Nation Seminary students and as a professor teaching Apostolic Leadership, Relational Discipleship, and Pastoral Theology.

Deborah and I have three adult sons, three daughters-in-law, and nine grandchildren, and now split our time between Nashville, Manila, and Delta Airlines.

Occasionally, but not often enough, I ride my Indian Chief Vintage on the backroads of Tennessee.