When Oli and Judy Jacobsen were searching for a location to hold Global Partner’s board meetings, Judy remembered the camp and conference center their grandchildren recently attended in Talladega — Shocco Springs. It wasn’t long before the visit was scheduled and representatives from 10 countries were registered to attend.
Global Partners leaders from the Philippines, Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Columbia, Germany and other countries met at Shocco to discuss strategies on how to reach unreached and unengaged people groups globally — issues such as church planting strategies, culture language acquisition, literacy, Bible translation and general oversight.
Global Partners was founded in 1942 as New Tribes Mission by Paul Fleming, whose goal was to reach people with limited or no access to the gospel. Since then, the ministry has expanded to include over 2,500 career missionaries in over 35 countries across the globe. Global Partners is a network of ministries, including ETHNOS360 and others, united in doctrine, purpose and methodology, with training programs in 10 countries.
According to Oli Jacobsen, chairman of international ministries for Global Partners, the organization’s “mission is evangelism and our heart is church planting.”
Jacobsen, who lives in Montgomery with his wife, Judy, said Global Partners missionaries spend about two years learning the national language of the country where they are ministering, after which they learn the language and culture of the particular people group to whom they will be ministering.
Committed to the Word
Jacobsen remarked, “We are committed to translate the word of God into the vernacular of the people and teach them to read and write if needed. Missionaries also find themselves involved in areas such as community development and medical work.”
The goal of Global Partners is not to establish denominational churches, he said — just local, maturing churches. According to the ETHNOS360 website, “Missionaries learn their culture and language in order to understand and to be understood within the context of that culture, to clearly present the gospel and to effectively plant a church.”
Shocco Springs Executive Director Russell Klinner said it was a “blessing” for Shocco to host the group of Global Partners leaders “who are devoting their lives to sharing the gospel with people groups around the world.”
“It was a great reminder of how God uses Shocco to not only support our local partners in ministry, but also the global kingdom!”
For more information about ETHNOS360 or Global Partners and to learn how you can be involved in the ministry, visit ethnos360.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Shocco Springs is a Christian camp and conference center located in Talladega, Alabama, and is open to churches, schools, civic organizations and nonprofits. For more information about Shocco, click here.
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