Introduction to Journey Podcast

In this opening episode, hosts Bill and Christi introduce the heart behind The Journey Podcast and the burden that led them to create it.

Drawing from decades of missionary experience across Asia and the Arab world, they discuss why lifelong learning matters for Global Workers, how easy it is to drift into survival mode or ministry autopilot, and why formation—not just training—is essential for long-term fruitfulness.

Whether you’re prefield, in your first term, or decades into ministry, this episode invites you into a learning posture that helps you stay effective, reflective, and aligned with God’s mission over the long haul.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Hi, this is the Journey Podcast where we take myciology off the shelf and bring it to life because you deserve to be equipped for the call. My name is Christy Trimber. I have served in the Arab world since 2004, had a PhD in intercultural studies, and I have lived in lots of countries and we're team leaders.

SPEAKER_00 0:22

This is Bill Snyder. I've been with AGWM since 1986. We spent most of our time in Asia, launched a ministry called Asia Pacific Media that exists today. I am thankful to have done PhD studies at AGTS and have visited and worked in a number of countries in that region of the world.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

What we want to do is first in this introductory podcast, just talk about why we are even doing this. So what is the whole purpose of this podcast? And so we're here to support lifelong learning. So uh, Bill, you want to tell us more about like why lifelong learning is critical to our hurtfulness?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Several years ago, I was introduced, and by the way, it's great to be with you. Several years ago, I was introduced to Robert Clinton's work. He was a professor of leadership at Fuller, and he coined the phrase that most leaders don't finish well. And a lot of his uh doctoral students wrote papers on leaders contemporary or biblical, and he came up with things that helped people to realize if we will finish well, these need to be a part of our life. One of those things was a learning posture, lifelong learning. Those that finished well did that. And so we see this podcast as something that contributes to you continuing to grow in your mission work and the service that God has called you to do. So that's a little bit of the background. Pre-field is not enough, Christy. It's so fast and it's so concentrated that at the end of it, it's like, what did I do? You know, so this is this is another step.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Exactly. Pre-field is like drinking from uh a fire hose. And so this is now that just normal kind of water trickling down so that it gives you good nourishment. So, like you think about your first term, that was just all survival and learning. I was honestly, and when I think back to my first term, it was a lot of just like, how do I eat today? Uh, how do I ask for what I need in the language that I'm speaking? Where now, you know, I've been in this for a while, and so there's lots of questions about long-term impact and what direction and trajectory are we going. And I remember in one of my uh classes for my doctoral work, um, reading a part of one of Sherwood Lingenfelder's books, and he talks about how some missionaries just redo their first year 30 times rather than having 30 years of ministry. And so what we want to do is help each other have 30 years of ministry rather than just redoing the first year 30 times because we need formation, not just training.

SPEAKER_00 3:11

And and where do the resources come from? You know, it's it's really difficult to put learning into uh a lifestyle that is really full already. I think that's what most of us feel when we're on the field. I mean, it just keeps coming at you. How do you fit learning into this?

SPEAKER_02 3:30

And that's kind of the idea. And I mean, our lives are so full. And, you know, my husband and I were just talking about this the other day about how it just we thought things would slow down and they just keep getting faster and faster and fuller and fuller. So we're we have busy ministry life, and so we don't naturally keep learning once we're on the field. So we have to be so intentional about it. Um, and remember that we need to learn, not just lead. So oftentimes we're leading instead of learning, um, and that our mysiology is assumed and not necessarily examined and really thought about. So we want to make sure that we're not just going through the motions, but we're learning and we're expanding who we are in as uh global workers, as missionaries, um, that we're not that because this is for the Lord. I mean, we want to give our best for him.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

There's sometimes a gap between what we know or have been taught and how we actually live it out. Because there's there's defaults that are built into our lives, and it takes intentional effort to change those defaults, especially as a cross-cultural worker.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Yeah. And so I think, you know, when we think about, you know, what I was taught as, you know, in the very beginning, that was a long time ago. And life has grown and changed, and um, the way I see ministry and then the way I see myself has grown and changed. And so we just want to keep learning. So, Bill, let me ask you this. What are we trying to actually create with this podcast?

SPEAKER_00 5:06

You know, it's a conversation. I think the best podcasts are something that you feel like, hey, I could participate with those guys. So we want it to be a conversation, not just a dump of more content. The last thing you need is a content dump. So we want this to be friendly, authentic, approachable. You feel like you can sit in and listen and grow with us because we're still growing.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Absolutely. I mean, I know I'm still learning, and I am hoping that everyone who's listening, you know, has their cup of coffee and is sitting there and feels like they're just with us, or they're, you know, on a walk through whatever city you live in and just inviting us into your space so that we grow together. And we want to, we really want to emphasize the real life application.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Because that's where the rubber meets the road, that it's not just about missiology for missiology's sake, but it's about, you know, this taking what we learn and using it in our everyday life.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

And I think we want to transform translate missiology into real practice. Myssiology is not a scary word. Um if it's if it's unpacked well, it enables us to be better servants where we are at. And and the things we learn along the way help us to do that. And hopefully you're experiencing that as you grow along. Well, this is just one more piece of the puzzle that may push you in the direction of, hey, I hadn't thought about that before, or that's a really good insight. You know, if you can take away one good insight from a podcast, it's been a worthwhile 30 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Amen. And because when it comes, when it stays just theoretical, there's like this disconnect between what we're actually doing and what we say we are doing. And so we want to bring those two things into alignment and so that all of us are doing our best to expand the kingdom of God for the glory of God. Because this is where missiology meets real life. It's where it just is as a part of who we are as missionaries. So let me ask you this, Bill, that's we've talked about what this podcast is. What is it not?

SPEAKER_00 7:29

All right. It is not a course, it is not a requirement. There is no pressure. There's no pressure. You don't have to complete an assignment. It's something you could listen to and just be okay, that was worth my investment of time. So it's a resource. And we've said that before, but it is a resource. And so I'm thankful that we can offer it to you as uh as that way. We don't want it to be a burden, we want it to be a resource.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Yeah, and so, and just because it's a resource, we want to give you some ideas of how you can even use this podcast. Um, because, you know, why would you listen to it if it doesn't serve you well? So, what we what we were envisioning as we were designing this podcast was that it might be you as an individual, as you're driving, as you're walking, as you're, you know, we're all on airplanes all the time, uh, and just listening to these kinds of things, um, and just interacting with the material on your own. And that's totally fine. The other way that this can be used is in groups or if you're on a team uh for discussion and reflection. So every podcast, there will be show notes that have different reflection questions that you can think through on your own or you can discuss with others. And so we want to make sure you're interacting with the material. And we recognize that not everyone is on a team. So if you're not on a team, find someone to process with. It could be someone on your field with a friend in another country. I mean, just someone anywhere in the world. It's a beautiful thing that we have this ability to communicate all over the place. So we want to just we want you to engage with the material because these are mysiological issues that we want to wrestle with and really come to terms with and understand, you know, what they mean and why and why it's significant to us in our context where we live today.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Yeah, at the end of the day, we want it to be a resource that will help you to serve more effectively, to have insights into, I think, further your journey, which is the name of the podcast. We're all on this journey of serving effectively in the place of our calling.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Well, before we go any further, we should probably let you know who we are, um, because you know you've been listening to us for some minutes now. And um yeah, so Bill, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 10:01

I have been in missions for over 35 years. Uh we served in Asia Pacific, specifically the Philippines, and I went there with the goal of back in the late 1980s, marrying media with missions so that media furthered the gospel into places where it wasn't. And um, of course, uh many of you would recognize the fact that what was media in the 1980s, 90s, it wasn't what we have today. So uh we uh started on a journey that enabled us to begin a ministry called Asia Pacific Media that still works today in multiple countries across Asia and into the Pacific Islands, uh, training the next generation of workers, creating stories, dramas, movies, music uh that is in multiple languages. And um that has been an exciting growth thing that we've been on. Uh, second thing is that I worked as a in the area director role for a number of years and um worked with a lot of national churches and our missionary teams. Uh, it was in that role that I really felt the need. I've got to grow more because I'm facing unique situations that I want to offer something that's helpful. And that started me on the journey to advanced studies that ended up at AGTS and uh uh dissertation work that never completed, but I did pass comprehensives, so there. Um really focused on the subject of partnership, partnership in missions, and uh a lot of writing and study on that. But I'm a practitioner at the end of the day, I'm a practitioner. Uh one beautiful wife, two sons, seven grandkids, uh, life is good, and uh wonderful friends and relationships in many countries of Asia. But Christy, tell me about you.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

Sure. So my uh career has been in the Arab world. Um I have been serving there since um 2004, so long time. And uh I'm on my fourth country because if you live in the Arab world doing this kind of work long enough, you end up having to leave places. And that's been part of my journey of just having uh to leave and and see um the Lord do some pretty amazing things in places as he plants his church. Um my husband and I serve as now as team leaders. So I started out single on the field, uh, and he was single on the field, and then we got married, and now you know we have a little girl. Uh she is eight years old and you know, thinks she's Egyptian, which is super fun. Uh but so my journey into yes, true, uh into learning. I realized if I was gonna plant a church, I needed to, if I was gonna really facilitate that, I needed to understand it better. And so that started me on my higher education. I just finished my PhD, uh, and my study was looking at the ways in which the early church uh can inform the modern Arab church in their Jewish and Gentile relationship for the for the Muslim background believing and the Christian background believing churches as it relates to what I'm calling missional communitas, which is reaching out together to bringing other people into the body of Christ. So it's about church unity, is really what my focus was. And I am just really passionate about formation, spiritual formation, and the national church. So we work with the national church where we encourage, empower, and equip them uh to reach the unreached. Uh, and so it's it's a it's a fun journey that we're on right now as we um are seeing the the national church here in Cairo begin to uh embrace this idea of planting churches where they are not among people who do not know.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

It's it's interesting, Christy, because uh that was one of the ways that I think the Lord used us with national churches in Southeast Asia. Uh, in a couple of cases, the national church felt that the Muslim world was unreachable. Uh and they didn't even want to try. Um, but over a period of time through relationships, we were able to introduce them to people and situations where the whole picture has changed in several countries, where they are now sending some of their best and brightest workers into some of the most difficult places, and the church is being planted. But it came out of relationship, sharing vision, trust, and watching God by his spirit raise up people who are going to be the church planters in some of the most difficult parts of the world. So it's an exciting moment.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

That's right. And it's it's a beautiful thing when we're when we're all working together, because it is the global church as the body of Christ coming together to plant his church. And I love that so much. So let me ask you this question. What is our shared burden that led us to this? Because we are both very passionate about this podcast. So why?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

You know, working with a lot of missionaries over a period of time, um, the thing that captured my attention was we all need friends to walk with us in this journey who can support and encourage us. Not um help us to feel like we're really not measuring up, but instead giving the potential of resources and somebody that's a trusted friend that can speak into our life that has no authority over us but is just a friend, you know, a mentor perhaps. Um that that word can be defined in so many different ways, but to have trust and to build something in a person's life that they feel like, hey, maybe I can try this. This is somebody I can listen to, because at the end of the day, we want to leave a legacy where we're at. And that legacy is going to be the church. It's going to be people that God has allowed us to touch and influence who are taking it farther than we could. So um it's multiplication. Uh that's a word that we often use in Asia Pacific media. We're ministry to multiply. And so, out of this podcast, we want to see the multiplication of good praxis in people's lives that are going to change the way the mission field is moving forward. That that would be some of what a long answer to a short question.

SPEAKER_02 16:59

And for me, I it's it's really about staying effective in the long term. And I'm gonna give a very selfish answer. Um, that I am so passionate about what we do with the national church. And, you know, I'm the acting president of a Bible college and and trying to help them broaden what they do that I want to do it well. And in order to do it well, I need to have solid missiology. So I'm digging into this so that I'm learning too, because that's I'm so passionate about me myself growing in this and then also bringing others along with me as I grow in this. And so it's I love that it's all of us together learning how to give God more glory and worship Him through our our um study, through our learning, like that, as as much worship as you know, being on a in church on a, well, for me it's on a Friday morning, but for you probably Sunday morning. And so that we don't lose clarity over time because we want to make sure that our trajectory is is aligned with what the Lord wants to do. And remember that this is just it's experience, it's real experience, not just theory.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah, that's right. One more question, Christy. What are some of the things we're gonna talk about in these next few podcasts?

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Oh great question. So we are looking at we okay, let me back up. We have a fabulous team of people that are all missiologists, and they produce these amazing papers and they're on all kinds of different topics from what is a missionary to what does it mean to be unreached and all kinds of things. But they largely sit in a virtual drive collecting virtual dust because no one knows to access them or why they're there or what they're saying. And so what we're trying to do is read those papers and talk about them. And so that's what we're looking at is just over the next however many episodes, um, really digging into the issues of these particular papers um and recognizing that these are the issues that we wrestle with. And so I want to thank Bill because he has contributed to some of the papers that we're going to discuss uh and dig into, which will be fun in the future. But we want to do missions well. We want to do our mission that the Lord has called us to do well. We want to keep doing it well over time.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

So I hope that we've wetted your appetite a little bit so that you'll uh listen to the next episode. And um we appreciate your comments and your feedback. Uh, we're here for no other purpose than to provide a resource that can help you as you walk your dog, drive through traffic, or do whatever you're doing in a quiet moment. Um, and it will help you to think a little more clearly about how to serve well in the context where you're placed. So thank you for being a part of this podcast. We hope that you'll join us each time.