Hi everyone, it's my pleasure to introduce to you the speakers for the CFC 2009 Missions Weekend! Check out the schedule at the end of this post and plan ahead so you can hear from all the great speakers that are coming to share their testimonies and experiences with us.

Tim
Pioneers

Growing up in Japan as the child of church planting missionaries, Tim looked forward to settling down in the US after high school and began planning for a career in architecture and construction while dreaming of fly fishing for trout for the rest of his life. God had other plans for Tim, however, and after reading “Through Gates of Splendor”, Elizabeth Elliot’s powerful story of the martyrdom of her husband and his four colleagues at the hands of the Auca in Ecuador, God called Tim to commit his life to cross-cultural missions.

In preparation for ministry, Tim enrolled at Columbia International University, where he met Kim. After their marriage in 1991, Tim spent three years teaching in the public school system in the US before moving to Central Asia where they learned the trade language and the language of the unreached people group to which God had called them.

God opened the door for Tim and Kim and their team to minister among an unreached people group of a remote oasis through an agricultural venture. The team prepared for this work with agricultural courses and on the job training. The venture provided employment for nationals as well as life-on-life opportunities for evangelism, discipleship and training. The project's agricultural products have been so successful that they command high prices several thousand miles away while God used the project staff to lead many into a relationship with Him and the establishment of a few fledgling churches.

SEMINAR: Business As Missions on Central Asia's Ancient Silk Road

Arloa Sutter
Breakthrough Urban Ministries

Arloa Sutter is the founder and visionary leader of Breakthrough Urban Ministries in Chicago. In 1992, Arloa opened an unused church meeting room and began to serve hot coffee and lunch to the homeless. She began to build relationships with those in need and focused the ministry on providing shelter, hot meals, counseling, and supportive services for homeless men.

In 2000, Breakthrough renovated a building in East Garfield Park on Chicago’s west side to expand their capacity to serve homeless women. Shortly after, a youth and family services program was added. In March, 2008, Breakthrough opened a second building in East Garfield Park. The new Breakthrough Ministry Center houses a shelter and service programs for homeless men and the headquarters for the ministry. Today, Breakthrough stands as a center of hope for community residents and families of Chicago’s west side.

Arloa is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and Western Illinois University and received an MA in Urban Mission from Lincoln Christian Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry degree from the Bakke Graduate University. She is on staff at the River City Community Church and serves on the board of the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund.

SEMINAR: Eat Your Vegetables, People Are Starving! - and more effective ways to engage
with the poor. Theological foundation for involvement with the poor. 6 practices that will move us into caring relationships with those Jesus called, “the least of these”.

Dr. Paul Chen
GoLiveServe

Dr. Paul Chen is the executive director of GLS. Paul founded GoLiveServe to provide long-term and short-term opportunities for professionals to serve in creative access countries. In 20 years, they have sent over a thousand students and professionals on various short-term service projects in several Asian developing countries.

In addition to supporting professionals in business, technology, education, heath service, etc. to serve long-term in Asia, GLS also sponsors faculty and student exchange, research, publications, conferences and scholarship programs for Asian universities.

Paul was educated in California and served on the clinical faculty of a leading medical school there for many years. During the early years of GLS, he was based in Asia for over 10 years, where he directed the field operation center of the organization. Currently Paul and his wife May serve together at GLS in California.

SEMINAR: Let Your Story Become A Part of God’s Story: Living With A Sense of History
* To reach the nations, why your education matters --
- Understand the 10/40 unreached peoples
- Learn from Paul & Jesus
- Learn from Matteo Ricci & William Carey
* How to prepare for serving overseas as a professional -- practical steps from current case studies

Fouad Masri

Fouad was born and raised in the war zone of Beirut, Lebanon. As a third generation pastor, he has a passion for sharing the love of Christ with an unreached people group and has spent most of his life doing that.

SEMINAR: What is God doing among an unreached people group in this country?

Schedule

See you all this weekend!