The Giffone Family

As the center of global Christianity continues to shift to the so-called “Majority World,” Western approaches to missions must evolve. Whereas Western Christians once thought of ourselves as primary evangelists and church planters, we must now see Majority World people in those roles, and serve them as trainers, equippers, and supporters.

Estimates are that as many as 84,000 people are added to the global church daily. In the US, there is one pastor for every 230 Christians. By contrast, in the Majority World the ratio is one trained pastor for every 450,000 Christians.[1] In some contexts, the church leader is simply the one in the community with the biggest house! Roughly 85% of church leaders are largely untrained or under-trained.[2] That leaves these new churches vulnerable to heresy, divisions, and spiritual apathy.

[1] https://equipleaders.org

[2] https://bobinthebush.com/training-leaders-international/the-desperate-need-for-theological-education

Formal theological education (TE) is conducted at accredited seminaries, Bible colleges/institutes, and training schools that offer degrees. Formal institutions have libraries, accredited bachelor’s and MDiv programs (sometimes in English, often in local or regional languages), and conform to an accrediting agency’s demands.

Formal TE institutions are great resources, but cannot keep pace with the current need for training. “If every Christian training institute in the world operated at 120% capacity, less than 10% of the unequipped leaders would be trained.”[1]

[1] https://shepherdsglobal.org/non-formal-biblical-training

ITEN (itenglobal.org) workers collaborate with national church partners around the world, in formal, non-formal, and informal TE programs to accelerate pastor training among rapidly growing churches. Non-formal TE consists of seminars and training programs that are not accredited and do not have the trappings of seminary or Bible institute programs, but are often recognized by regional churches as having merit. Informal TE includes one-on-one mentoring relationships, and often occurs during “down-time” alongside formal and non-formal TE programs.

Currently, I am involved in three types of ministry. I have served since August 2024 as a half-time transitional solo pastor at a congregation in my presbytery. This call will likely continue into 2026, when this congregation will (Lord willing) be in a position to call a permanent pastor.

Since 2022, I have taught Old Testament at a seminary in South Asia (see below). This amounts to a half-time appointment.

In 2025, we have now joined World Outreach (epcwo.org/benjcorrie). Starting in September 2025, I will travel at least twice per year to teach at one of ITEN’s partner sites in South/Southeast Asia (location withheld for security reasons—ask me!), as part of its non-formal education programs.

Alongside all this, I am a husband to Corrie, father to Daniel and Elizabeth, and try to keep things running on the home front! Corrie teaches at a Christian school, where our kids attend. Her salary and my church salary are not sufficient for our living expenses at this time, and when the transitional pastorate concludes, we will need more income.

Formal theological education includes degree programs that provide qualifications for those who teach in Bible colleges/institutes and seminaries (i.e, training the trainers!).

As a half-time graduate professor in a seminary in South Asia (again: ask me where!), I teach in the MTh and PhD (Old Testament) programs, two or three courses per year. One course runs for 15 weeks and is entirely remote, with meetings on Zoom each week. Other courses are in-person, compressed over two weeks. I also supervise MTh student theses throughout the year. This seminary is one of the only evangelical seminaries in South Asia that offers a PhD in Old Testament.

Teaching for research-based degrees is very labor intensive. Much of my time is devoted to helping the students become better writers. Being competent researchers and self-learners sharpens their thinking and their preparation for their own teaching down the road, and equips them to address unanticipated challenges in their churches and denominations.

My teaching, preparation, thesis supervision, and research constitutes roughly a half-time academic load.

Well-established advanced theological education degrees allow national/regional churches and seminaries that train their own leaders, rather than having them move to other countries.

In the very-long-term: strong national churches in the Majority World will be equipping and sending missionaries to reevangelize the West.

Non-formal education aims to equip church leaders in emerging churches, serving the least-reached. Non-formal education programs usually involve rural leaders traveling to a central location for one- or two-week sessions, conducted in translation, several times over the course of a year or two. Some of these seminars include:

• Basic preaching exposition, taught via the book of Jonah
• Spiritual Formation
• New Testament survey and basic Christian theology
• Discipleship and spiritual community development, conflict resolution, specific cultural issues in evangelism

These leaders of emerging churches are often first-generation Christians, for whom it is not feasible to attend a Bible college or seminary due to job, visas, languages, or costs. I travel to one of these locations twice a year for two weeks, to train a cohort of leaders among largely-unreached people groups in Southeast Asia.

I am an ordained teaching elder (minister) in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In addition to my ministry training and ordination, I have advanced degrees (PhD in Old Testament) and subsequent research experience that qualifies me as a graduate professor supervising research.

I have been involved in theological education since 2014. Until 2022, I taught at a Christian university in Lithuania. Since 2022, I have been teaching remotely and in-person for the South Asian seminary on a volunteer basis (no pay), even amidst transitioning back to the USA. In addition to training and vetting as members of EPC World Outreach, I have taken continuing education courses on cross-cultural theological education and research supervision through ICETE.

Corrie has been involved in music and discipleship ministries since college. She has bachelor’s degrees in music education and biblical studies, and a master’s degree in TESOL.

Equipping national Christians to reach the unreached can be more effective than sending Western missionaries, who would require years of training in theology, language, and culture. In some cases, it is difficult or impossible for Americans to receive residency permits to do ministry in these countries. Foreigners often stand out or are looked upon with suspicion. Equipping local believers overcomes these obstacles. ITEN theological specialists go where national churches have expressed needs and invited us to partner with them. One of the greatest challenges for Western missionaries abroad is family and ministry stressors: language, cross-cultural living, threats of expulsion from the country, etc. This was a challenge for us when we lived in Europe previously (2014–2022). Ministering in this targeted way through remote contact and short trips allows for family stability. We have no plans to move overseas at the moment, but are open to this if God leads and opens doors.

Right now, we need people and churches to pray for us, and to partner with us financially.

We do indeed view this work as a partnership with our sending churches and families. We go through your blessing and your prayers; we take the DNA of our churches and supporting communities into the places we go. And we bring back to our churches the blessing and the fellowship of the believers we serve abroad.