324. Felix and Rita Raju, Chennai, India. Missionaries and HOPE Workers to Kolkata, India

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner Join me today as I talk to Gordon Ferguson.  Gordon has served as an Evangelist, Elder, Teacher and Author.  He talks about: His journey to Christ The secret to his happy marriage with his wife, Theresa How he got connected with the discipling movement What went through his mind as he lay close to death from cancer What he’d do differently if he had his life to do over again What he sees as essential for future growth in our family of churches More About Gordon: Education 1961-1965 Northwestern State University BME (Bachelor of Music Education) 1966-1968 Northwestern State University Graduate Studies (Edu. Admin.) 1970-1972 Preston Road School of Preaching Diploma 1974-1979 Harding School of Theology M.A. (New Testament Studies) Professional Ministry Summary  Over 50 years experience as a ministry staff member.  Served on ministry staff in five different states.  Preached and taught in many states of the US and many foreign countries, including most countries in Continental Europe, a number of countries in Asia and Latin America, Ukraine, and Great Britain.  Instructor in the Preston Road School of Preaching − Dallas, Texas.  Director of the New England/Continental Europe School of Ministry  Dean and teacher in the Ukraine Institute of Ministry and in the Asia-Pacific Leadership Academy.  Director of the Pacific School of Ministry in Los Angeles.  Part-time staff as teacher in the Dallas/Fort Worth Church.  Writing: seventeen books, numerous audio and video materials, plus articles and chapters in a number of additional books.  Roles: evangelist, elder and teacher in various locales. Family Wife: Theresa, married 57 years – January 30, 2022 Children: Bryan and Renee (five grandchildren – four grandsons and one granddaughter, ages 16-23) Age: 79 as of October 27, 2021

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner The Best of The Rob Skinner Podcast.  This episode was originally released in August of 2020 as episode 28.   Lynne Greene and her husband, Scott, planted a church in Hong Kong in 1987 that grew to 2,000 disciples in only ten years.  They returned to the US to lead the church in Seattle, Washington.  The Greens then decided to return to the mission field by moving to Berlin, Germany.  That's where she found out Scott had brain cancer.  After beating breast cancer, Lynne lost the love of her life in 2018.  Lynne reflects on what God has done in her life, how she made sense of her enormous loss, and her plans for the future.

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner   While on sabbatical I am releasing some of my most listened to episodes from my podcast.  Mike Fontenot's is one of my most popular interviews.  It was originally released as episode #7.    Please enjoy!   Who is Mike Fontenot? Mike Fontenot became a Christian in 1969.  After graduating from Louisiana State University, he went to Fuller Seminary for his Master's Degree.  He and his wife, Tess, planted a church in Sydney, Australia in the early eighties.  That church has grown to three hundred members and they have planted churches all over Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.  At an age that many have long retired, Mike is still passionately working to advance the gospel "Down Under."  In this interview, Mike shares about his journey as a Christian, church planter and church multiplier.  He shares how he has kept his spiritual fire burning brightly for over fifty years.  Program Outline   How did you become Christians? Tell me about the growth of the churches in Australia:  How many, how big, rate of growth etc. You just celebrated 50 years in Christ, how have you managed to keep your love growing? You are a couple that is making a difference, what drives you? What was it like raising a family on the mission field? What advice would you give a person, man or woman, who wants to make a difference and live "no regrets" life? What would you tell a younger man or woman who has leadership ambitions? Do you have any regrets, anything you wish you could do over or differently? You returned to Australia at the age most people retire, why? Facing a situation of little or declining growth, what was your plan, how did you execute it? What does "High Faith & High Expectations" mean? If someone is in a situation that has been stagnant or plateaued for a while, what advice would you give them? What is transferable from your situation? Tell me about a time when you came back from a setback or failure. What advice would you give to people who are dealing with failure or discouragement? Who else do you know that is really standing out and growing?  Multiplying disciples, leaders and churches? What advice would you give me to plant ten churches in the next ten years? Tell me about something that keeps your spiritual fire and ambition burning brightly.

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner In this episode, my wife Pam and I talk to Pat Gempel, a pioneer of women’s ministry and one of the "30 would-be disciples" who gathered in a living room in Boston and propelled the church to 60% annual growth for 10 straight years.  She shares: How she came to Boston What it was like at the beginning of the Boston Movement How she found her daughter that she had put up for adoption 23 years earlier How she lost her husband, Bob Her view on women’s ministry and the current discussion of women's role in the church This episode was originally recorded and released in December of 2021 as Episode 136

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner   Jose Luis Palacios was born in Spain, studied at the University of Idaho and played tennis there.  He graduated and started working in corporate America.  He was posted to Saltillo, Mexico, the "Detroit" of Mexico.  There he met and reached out to his future wife, Rosario Padilla.  He brought her to the nearest church 90 minutes away in Monterrey, Mexico.  He began meeting with his small group on Wednesdays and after a few years helped form a team from Monterrey that supplemented the growing group of disciples in Saltillo.  When he left after ten years, the church was at 30 members.  The church is still there and Jose Luis continues to support his "organic" church planting through his tithing.  Find out how they did it in this episode of the Rob Skinner Podcast!

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner I met Natalie Do when she visited our campus devotional in the fall of 1991 at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.  She was a powerful young woman from Hong Kong and became a Christian in only ten days.  She went on to do missionary work in Japan and then Vietnam.  She returned to the US and she rose up in the banking world to become Vice President of Torrey Pines Bank.  Listen to her story on the Rob Skinner Podcast!

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner Tom Nuelle leads a church in Madison Wisconsin.  When he took over the church in 2016, the church was in disarray and was bleeding members.  After starting over with 60 members, he has since grown the church to nearly 100 and one of the tools he is using is social media.  In the last six months he has baptized 10 people and most of them found the church through the church's social media outreach. Tom was also a cofounder of pure and simple, an organization to help men and women live a pure life in a dark world.  Find out what Tom is doing in this episode of the Rob Skinner Podcast!

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner Dima and Marina Dudnik lead a church in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Originally from Ukraine, they trained for ministry under Shawn and Lena Wooten and started leading the church in Sofia in 2020.  Both studied music growing up and Marina gave up her professional career as a violinist to serve Jesus on the mission field.  Listen as they share about their romance that started at the age of 12 and led to marriage at the age of 19.  

ow to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner   Felix and Rita Raju live in Chennai, India.  They have two adult children.  Converted in 1990 into a church of 40 disciples, they grew in faith and passion.  They were married in 1994 and went on the mission team to Kolkata, India.  They spent 9 years in Kolkata doing charity work for HOPE worldwide, building the church and serving in the administration of the church.  They returned to Chennai in 2003 and Felix started working for his cousin's Art Gallery.  They currently lead a group of around forty disciples in the Chennai church.

How to Support the Rob Skinner Podcast.  If you would like to help support my mission to multiply disciples, leaders and churches, click here:  https://www.buymeacoffee.com/robskinner   Joel Peed is a church leader and heads up Eremos Ministry, which helps ministers with spiritual wellness.  He wrote a book on how to make the most of a sabbatical, how to view sabbaticals and how to make them a part of a healthy ministry career.  Listen as I interview him about his book.