OUR MISSION
Over 6,000 people groups around the world have no church, no Bible, and no one they know who can share the truth about Christ with them in their language. This breaks our hearts! We want to see every people group reached with the good news about Jesus, and that’s exactly what Ethnos360 does.
Ethnos360 sends missionaries into these people groups. They live with the people, learn their language and culture, and then are able to teach God’s whole story in the heart language of the people. As people hear the good news, they believe in Christ and lives are changed! The missionaries stay with the people, discipling them and translating the Bible until a mature church is established that can continue for generations.
Before those missionaries can go out into unreached people groups, they need training. Mexico is a nation with over 14 million believers, and many of these Christians are excited about missions and going out to the world. Our role is to train these future missionaries at a Bible Institute in Chihuahua City, Mexico. There, they will get the Biblical foundation they need to effectively teach and translate the Bible in the language of an unreached people group.
There are groups in Mexico still waiting to hear the gospel too! With over 68 languages spoken in Mexico and 350 dialects of those languages, many indigenous people have no access to God’s word in their own language. Some of the missionaries trained at the Bible Institute will go to these groups, while others will go on to serve in places around the world.
For all of these reasons, we can’t wait to begin serving in Mexico and be part of training the next generation of Latin American missionaries to go out to the world!
OUR STORY
Both of us grew up going to church and learned about God from an early age. It wasn’t until we were in our late teens, however, that the concept of grace was truly cemented in our lives. We realized that we had nothing to bring to Christ, but that he had done all the work on the cross. We are completely unworthy, but He invites us into fellowship with Him because of His sacrifice. Fully grasping this good news inspired our hearts to be part of sharing the gospel with the world! Through short-term missions work that took us to Germany and Tanzania (Ian) and South Asia (Abby), we discovered more about who God has made us to be and how we might fit into His mission of reaching the world.
Through years of prayer and missions training, we learned that God has designed us to be equipping and enabling believers to go out to the nations. Our hearts are for discipleship and training, and giving people the tools they need to understand the Bible fully and teach it among those who have never heard.
To this end, we will be serving in a Bible Institute context. Ian has training as a Bible teacher and will be teaching classes on theology as well as different books of the Bible. Abby has experience in mentoring and discipling women and will be working with many of the ladies who come through the Bible Institute.
Originally, we thought we might be serving in a Bible Institute in the United States. But when God led us away from that, we began to reach out to Bible Institutes in other countries within our organization. Mexico became a clear path very quickly.
The Bible Institute in Chihuahua City has been there for decades, training believers from all over Mexico and Central America to go out to the nations. But right now, the needs for staff are crucial. They have only three full-time teachers, with two of those retiring in the next five years. They currently have about 30 students in missionary training each year, but would love to expand the program if they had more staff. When we look at how God has equipped and prepared us, as well as the needs in Mexico, we can see how He has designed us to take part in this ministry. We are incredibly excited to move to Mexico and join the Bible Institute staff!