ONE Prayer... MANY Cool People...

A week from this past Friday, i spent the day with some really cool people. Seriously. The people in this photo have literally changed the face of the world, and while you've never seen their faces on a political ad (or "most wanted list"), these people are some of the Smartest Zombies i have ever had the privilege to meet.

We'll be working with each of them through the ONE Prayer movement to facilitate the goal of planting 500 churches in 4 countries, and each of them works with an organization that is handling the planting implementation in one of the key geographic focal points.

Let me tell you their stories quickly:

Bob Craft (New Generations) - left side, closest to camera - Bob has worked in SE Asia for nearly 10 years, and has done a variety of missions oriented church-planting initiatives for most of his adult life. Currently, working with New Generations, Bob coordinates planting and partnership development for most of SE Asia, including Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and beyond.

Waldemar Kurz - left side, closest to wall - Waldemar is one of those people that Indiana Jones describes as "you'll never find him... he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, fall through... with any luck, he's found the Ark already!" Working from the Ukraine and Russia all the way to China, Waldemar has literally been behind the scenes training, resourcing and networking local churches since before "the wall came down" and beyond.

Vicki Miles - right side, closest to wall - Vicki owns her own software development company, and has just returned with her husband from a stint in Portugal, resourcing a local church in that country and also working with ex-pats. Vicki has graciously volunteered her time to help us figure out all the complexity of the ONE Prayer movement and is helping us to put together (and track) our budgets, implementation strategies, and reporting.

Renata Kurz - right side, in the middle - Renata is married to Waldemar and operates a ministry called "Little Lambs" that focuses on resourcing orphans and other "forgotten" people in the former Soviet Union and beyond. She's intense, and you can't help but immediately be won over by her passion and determination to care for those who truly have fallen through the proverbial "cracks" of society.

Ron VanderGriend - right side, closest to camera - Most of us all already know Ron (aka "WorldMan") VanderGriend here at GCC. I liken Ron to the following analogy: "Let's say that you are pastoring a local church and you decide that you would like to have an IT Dept at your church. Then let's say that Bill Gates just happens to attend your church and says that he would like to help." Ron is "that guy". He has personally mentored, instructed and helped us to do all that we do at GCC from a missions point of view, and we are privileged to know him!

Between the 5 of them, they have been instrumental in planting over 50,000 local, indigenously pastored and led churches in over 50 countries in the last 30 years. And when i say "churches", i don't mean "we met for a Bible study one time", i mean "we meet regularly to engage in worship, service, community, discipleship and reaching out to our communities". Honestly, these people are the kinds of heroes behind the massive movements of the People of God in unreached and developing nations that you simply never see, and i was privileged to get to spend the day with them talking about what we'll be doing together through the ONE Prayer movement.