Epiclesis has recently expanded its mission partnerships!
We are now working with three (wonderful) sets of missionaries, and each of them are doing very different things in far-flung places.
Check out their stories here and use the links provided to learn a bit more about them.
Susan McCrary. Susan (right) serves as the Europe Regional Member Care Coordinator with “TeachBeyond.” Susan and husband Larry live in Madrid, Spain, and love their urban lifestyle. After 11 years of church planting with the North American Mission Board, they moved to Madrid with the IMB (International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) in 2001 with their two children, then 6 and 9, to begin church planting among urban professionals. They started a home group and a Spanish church plant in the northern suburbs of Madrid, and were also involved with an international church called Immanuel as well as a Spanish church. Larry moved into leadership roles becoming city strategist of Madrid, to leader of the Southern Europe countries and Susan received her ESL certification from a Cambridge program and began to teach.
After their affiliation with the IMB ended in 2019, Susan writes, “I began to seek God’s will for where I could work that would allow us to stay in Madrid and continue our local ministry here. I remembered 13 years ago our wonderful experience in Germany at the Black Forest Academy, which was started by TeachBeyond. That organization recruits and sends Christian educators, administrators, and workers to serve in many different schools and organizations across the globe. I reached out to them to inquire of any opportunities and accepted the position of Europe Member Care Coordinator. The position is responsible for ensuring that our staff in Europe have the resources and care needed to thrive in their overseas ministry and service.
“I am so excited to begin this new ministry as I have the utmost respect for TeachBeyond and its vision and mission of transformative education. It’s an honor to serve the TeachBeyond staff in Europe and feels like a gift from the Lord to have this opportunity. Larry continues to lead The Upstream Collective and consults with churches all over the world to help them develop a missional identity.
Dianne Collard. Epiclesis has long been a supporter of Dianna Collard and her ministries through the arts, which include “Montage International” and “Meraki Connection.” Dianne is the Europe Director for “Artists in Christian Testimony, International,” the author of I Choose to Forgive, and is a veteran missionary and intercultural trainer.
Dianne herself is a montage of many experiences, abilities, and roles, including being the wife of Glenn, a mother of three, and grandmother of five. She’s been a missionary and intercultural trainer since 1986, and is a well-traveled speaker and writer and spiritual mentor to many artists. She holds degrees in speech and communication, intercultural studies, and missiology.
She writes about her personal mission statemen: “To live my life in worship of God and be a messenger of His hope through speaking, writing and encouraging for the purpose of contributing to the development of people and the celebration of the Kingdom of God.”
Tim and Rebecca. We can’t share Tim and Rebecca’s full name or location because they are doing extraordinary work in a sensitive international location. The story of their calling is breathtaking, and Epiclesis members will long remember the day that they shared their passions and plans shortly before deployment. Tim, Rebecca, and family are working under the auspices of “Launch Global,” a missions organization that “exists to mobilize churches to develop laborers and leaders who multiply healthy churches among unreached people groups.”