Everyday Mission Podcast: Recent Episodes
3DM North America
As followers of Jesus, we've been called and equipped by God to live our lives on mission - but sometimes we just need some encouragement, some ideas, and some resources to help us do it. THAT'S what this podcast is all about!
Gina's guests are JD and ChristianAnn Larson who are pastors of an innovative church plant in Minneapolis called North City Church. They're here to talk with Gina specifically about what they call "Dinner Church" which they see as a way to follow Jesus' example of taking temple things into table spaces. Their story is sure to give you some creative imagination for mission in your own neck of the woods!
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- People of Peace Prayer Exercise(FREE DOWNLOAD)
- North City Church, Minneapolis
- 3DM Web Site
Jo Saxton is back for part two of her conversation with Gina that began on the last episode. Jo is the founder of Ezer Collective, which is a 2-day leadership intensive made up of about 75 women from all industries, life stages, and leadership roles. She's also a speaker, podcast host, author, and leadership coach. On this episode, she and Gina talk about why it's so important for women to step into their missional calling, and they also talk about how Jesus invested in women and empowered them for ministry and mission.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- 3DM Web Site www.3dmovements.com
- Ezer Collective www.josaxton.com/ezer-collective
The Ezer Collective is a 2-day leadership intensive made up of about 75 women from all industries, life stages, and leadership roles. November 2023 in Minneapolis and February 2024 in Portland, Maine.
FEATURED BOOKS BY JO SAXTON:
- Ready to Rise www.josaxton.com/ready-to-rise
- The Dream of You www.josaxton.com/the-dream-of-you
Shannon Martin is Gina's guest on this episode of the Everyday Mission Podcast. She's just written a book called Start with Hello (And Other Simple Ways to Live as Neighbors). It's a field guide for helping all of us become more connected to the people around us. She's here to share her family's story of moving from a rural farm to a city full of neighbors and shares what they have learned about building deep connections with those who live close to them. Shannon also shares some very practical tips and ideas to help us do the same in our neighborhoods. www.3dmovements.com
On this episode, Gina is joined by Marika Springer and Brittney Bowers who are two of the women who are students in our 3DM Discipleship School. Both have committed to taking ten months out of their lives to press-in to discipleship and mission, and both have given up a lot to do it - jobs, family, friends, and one even sold her home! But as you will hear, they both say it's worth it!
Gina is catching them as they are completing the first of four stages of the Discipleship School and preparing to move-on from Maine to make their way to Indiana. They'll then go to California and finish in Lima, Peru. Ten months in all with immersion into four of our 3DM missional contexts. What they're learning and experiencing and what they'll share with us on this episode are valuable and practical discipleship and mission tools and practices.
On this episode, Gina is joined by Chad and Megan Wade whose calling and on-going story is quite amazing. After 10 years of church planting in Connecticut, God called them to move into one of the most diverse neighborhoods in New York City to become good neighbors who carry the good news to the people in that neighborhood. As God is bringing them people of peace, they are inviting them into Discovery Bible studies which is leading to the planting of multiple house churches. They have an amazing story to tell of God's faithfulness in the midst of the joy and hardship of being God's ambassadors in New York City. www.3dmovements.com
Gina's guest is Pastor Dan Koller who is leading a church "revitalization" process in Yakima, Washington that is using both the gathered and scattered expressions of the church to move forward in discipleship and disciple-making. Dan joins Gina to talk about the struggle that many church people are experiencing - especially those who have caught the vision to make disciples who are now wondering if there is any real discipleship value in the gathered expression of the church (i.e. Sunday morning worship).
Many are tempted to consider that the scattered approach of doing church (like missional communities, micro-churches, and home churches) is the better way. Dan believes that both approaches are effective, needed, and beneficial for discipleship and disciple-making, and he's here to explain why he believes this and how his church is using both approaches.
RESOURCE: On Ramp Huddles www.3dmovements.com/huddles
Jesus made it clear that we are to be His witnesses wherever we are to whomever we are around. His final words to His disciples recorded in Acts 1 say as much - and these words apply to His disciples today as well. The question then becomes: How do we gauge how well we're doing as His witness? For sure, we know that part of that answer lies in our actions and in our love for others, but we all know that our conversations play an important part in our witness as well -and this is where many of us struggle. What do we say to others to bear witness to Christ in our lives without coming across as trite, as rehearsed, or even worse, as overbearing?
Gina's guest today is here to help! Alyssa Tocci is a mom and pastor of a house church network in Boston. She's here to talk about how she and her husband engage in intentional yet very natural spiritual conversations with their neighbors, and she offers us some really helpful ideas on how we can do this ourselves.
FEATURED RESOURCE: New Fall Learning Communities https://www.3dmovements.com/l-c
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12 tells all Christ followers (then and now) to "Practice hospitality." In 1 Peter 4, Peter encourages us to "offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." Evidently, grumbling was a thing back then when it came to offering hospitality! The same could probably be said for many of us today. Offering hospitality can be difficult. It can be inconvenient. And it often calls for sacrifice. But…
Hospitality is to Christianity what peanut butter is to jelly. Because God has shown us such incredible and all-encompassing hospitality thru His Son, Jesus, we are called upon by Him to do the same for others. For some Christ-followers, this comes naturally. But for others, extending hospitality does not come so easy.
Gina's guest on this episode is one of those Christ-followers for whom offering hospitality comes naturally. Heidi Macias is here to help all of us "up our hospitality game" with literally dozens of helpful, simple, and sustainable ideas for offering hospitality.
RESOURCE: “Help! I’m Leading a Group in My Home!” https://www.3dmovements.com/help-series
On this episode, Gina has a conversation with Joe and Melissa Eastman. After they had four young children of their own, Melissa experienced a life-threatening health issue that nearly ended her life. Just before this happened, God called them to bring more kids into their home thru foster care. They are here to share their story of fostering children, adopting some of them, and walking together thru the valley of the shadow of death. Theirs is a story of courageous obedience in the midst of very bleak times, but it's also a story of God's abundant provision, care, and blessing.
Have you ever considered that business could be a powerful tool for mission and ministry? Gina's guest today does because he’s ALWAYS thinking about this. As a seminary-trained pastor and church planter, Pat Dierkse, is using his catering company in Compton, CA as an intentional tool for not only making money for his family but also for providing jobs for those in his neighborhood and for making disciples. Pat and his wife, Julie, planted City Church in Compton over a decade ago, but Pat soon recognized that most of the pastors in Compton were bi-vocational, so he decided to do the same. Together with his love for people, desire to make disciples in his neighborhood, and his passion for culinary arts, Pat started City Catering which now employs several people from the community and feeds the homeless there on a weekly basis. Pat also now coaches others who desire to marry business with mission, and he’s here with Gina to tell his story.
See more about the mission of City Catering and the innovative space Pat and City Church are developing in Compton called "The Lab" at www.citycateringcpt.com.
On this episode, Gina is joined by Cath Livesey who is a part of the 3DM UK team and the leader of an organization called Accessible Prophecy that helps local churches grow a prophetic culture. If you've been involved in the 3DM movement for any amount of time, you're probably familiar with Cath because she's the author of a book that we use called "My Sheep Have Ears" that has helped many people learn to listen to the Lord in their own lives and in the life of their missional community and church.
Cath is with Gina on this episode to talk not only about how to hear from the Lord, but she's got a new book out called "Holy Disruption: Harnessing the Prophetic to Shape a More Christlike Church," and she's with Gina to help us see how a healthy prophetic culture in our churches can lead to creative and effective mission.
Gina is joined by Brandon Kelly who is the Lead Pastor of College First Church of God in northwest Ohio and the co-director of an organization called 5Q. 5Q provides a rich and biblical way for leaders who are committed to equipping and releasing the church to be on mission for the Kingdom of God.
Some of you may be familiar with the term APEST - which is one way to remember what the five-fold gifting is that the Apostle Paul spoke of in Ephesians 4. APEST stands for Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher. Brandon is with Gina today to specifically discuss how we can engage in mission thru our 5-fold gifting - and how to help those we lead do the same.
5Q Web Site: www.5QCentral.com
3DM Web Site: www.3dmovements.com
Gina is joined by an everyday person who is leading a discipleship and house church movement in India. Josh Howard is the Director of Leadership Training and Multiplication for the Central India Christian Mission, and his story of how literally thousands of everyday people have been and are being trained to make disciples who make disciples is incredible!
Gina is joined by three guests on this episode: Tanner Morgan, Gaelin Elmore and Kayla DeJesus Rodriguez - all of whom have deep connections with Athletes in Action. Tanner is the starting quarterback of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Gaelin is a former NFL player and current speaker and facilitator, and Kayla is the team leader of Athletes in Action in Puerto Rico. Each guest shares what they learned about discipleship through Athletes in Action and how God is opening opportunities for them in the area of discipleship and mission.
3DM Web Site: www.3dmovements.com
Gina is joined by an everyday husband, dad, fund manager, and introvert who is also a neighbor on mission. Chris Gleason has been following the Lord since he was a child, but something happened when he was 8 years old that caused him to say that he would never share the Gospel with anyone ever again. That is until about 7 years ago when he blindly agreed to go to a 3DM training event that he says, "floored him." Chris' story is one of God breaking into his life in such a powerful way that he ended up experiencing the redemption of his 8-year-old self and was given a powerful ministry of "presence" in his suburban neighborhood where he is seeing spiritual fruit as he allows the Holy Spirit to lead him and his family on mission.
Featured Resource: On-Ramp Huddles. www.3dmovements.com/huddles
We seem to be inundated with bad news these days from our schools, but on this episode, you will be encouraged to hear about some of the ways in which God is on the move in our high schools and on our college campuses. Gina's guest is a young man named Colin Jester who, when he was a sophomore in high school, sensed God calling him to begin a missional community in his school. Colin was an athlete and ran with that crowd, but he sensed God calling him to reach out to those who were different than him - those who were overlooked by some in his high school. His stories of how God moved are pretty incredible! Today, Colin is in college, and after a fruitful ministry in high school, he is continuing to follow the Lord's direction in developing missional relationships with people on his college campus as well. There is so much we can learn from Colin on the faith and prayer it takes to go on mission, and there is much encouragement to be had from hearing how God worked through him at such a young age.
On this episode, Gina is joined by Mark Burgess. Mark is an Englishman who left England over 15 years ago to go on mission in Lima, Peru. He'll share a bit of that story, and he'll share the amazing thing God did for his church during Covid. But Gina's main focus with Mark is on exploring the ways in which he has learned to listen to the Lord and step out in faith in areas like prophetic words and healing.
Gina's guest is Stacy Hendricks, an everyday mom of three teens who Gina discipled years ago. Stacy is someone who listens to the Lord for His missional direction, and what she heard Him tell her five years ago was quite a shock! She will join Gina to tell her about how she processed God’s surprise call on her life and how, after hesitantly stepping-in to this calling, God has used her in ways she never thought possible.
A recent study shows that 97% of America’s land mass is rural. 97%! While the majority of the population lives in urban areas, a whopping 64 million people live in rural areas – in small towns or in the country. So, the missional need in rural areas is huge, and while we often think the most effective mission is in urban areas, there are some who have responded to God’s call to live missionally in small towns and communities. Gina’s guests are living missionally in a small town in Southern Maine. Frank and Austin Catalano join Gina to share their story and to provide helpful ideas and strategies for doing mission in a small-town setting.
On this episode of the Everyday Mission Podcast, Gina sits down with Tom and Jen Catanzaro, parents of five young children, who are making a missional difference in the San Francisco Bay area. In a city that’s not very open to the gospel, they are utilizing a powerful and effective missional weapon - their front yard! If you’re looking for ideas on how you can make a difference for God’s Kingdom in your neighborhood, then this episode is for you.
Julie Dirkse is Gina's guest on this episode of the Everyday Mission Podcast. Julie and her husband, Pat, followed God's call on their life 10 years ago to move as missionaries and church planters into one of the most dangerous cities in America - Compton, CA. She shares their story about a city and a people they have fallen in love with as they live among them as neighbors and friends. It's a story of everyday people following the Lord where He leads them and experiencing more of God's goodness and grace than they could ever have imagined!
Gina's guest is Dan Wolf, a former full-time pastor at a multi-staff church in Florida who left there to go on mission in one of the most post-Christian cities in America, Portland, Maine - right in the middle of the pandemic. His story is a story of how God is at work in powerful ways through everyday people in a city where the hard soil is seeing gospel fruit starting to break through.
Gina's guest has an incredible story to tell! Gwen Adams is an everyday mom and grandma who God called out of the church she was serving to be the church way out on the margins of society. It all started with a simple missional challenge from the Lord to pray. And those prayers have led to a profound movement of crazy church ladies who are having an amazing impact combatting sex trafficking in Alaska.
What if your church caught the vision for seriously and intentionally equipping you and the others in your church to live everyday missional lives in your community. What if your church was so serious about this that you started hearing words and phrases like "decentralization of the church," "scattered church," and "home churches" being tossed around by your church's leadership?
Gina's guest today is Shannon Colwin, a pastor who has dared to utter these words. His story is a story of ups and downs, it's a story of great joy and lots of big hurdles, it's a story that is still being written, and it's a story that is sure to encourage you and make you think about what discipleship and mission could look like in your church and in your everyday life.
In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul told the church in Ephesus that Christ himself gives the church "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up." These are what many call "The 5-Fold Spiritual Gifts," and many believe that every believer has been given one of these gifts for the purpose of serving the church and building unity within it.
We often think of spiritual gifting being only for adults, but Caren Hunter, who is back with us for another episode, believes that these gifts are manifested even in children - and she and her husband are serious about identifying them and helping them grow in their own four kids.
Gina's guest today is Caren Hunter - an everyday mom of 4 kids who self-identifies as an "introvert." But she and her family decided years ago to step out and set up a weekly missional predictable pattern that is simple, often involves cereal, and is making a Kingdom difference in their neck of the woods.
On our very first episode of the Everyday Mission Podcast, host and director of 3DM North America, Gina Mueller, talks with Grace Maconochie - a woman that we think is pretty special - but like all of us, Grace is just an everyday person seeking to live her life on mission one day at a time. She's here to share her story of how in opening her home, her life, and her bathtub to her friends - God is growing His kingdom!