Missions Prayer Guide
Praying for Arizona Missionaries
Read the stories of Arizona Southern Baptists who are serving around the world, living out their faith. You can download bulletin inserts and PowerPoint slides to share with your church family.
Sep 27 - Arizona Baptist Children Services
ABCS is a faith-based, non-profit social service ministry that serves the full spectrum of Arizona families, from unborn babies to seniors.
Sep 20 - Skip & Kathy Ford*
Skip and Kathy serve as Church Planting Catalysts in the U.K. (London) reaching the Chinese Diaspora. Their ministry involves evangelistic outreach, discipleship, equipping, mobilizing and church planting.
Sep 13 - Brian Hawkins
The Hawkins family — Brian, Kati, Madalyn and Winston — sold everything and left their comfortable life behind to go where the Lord was leading.
Sep 6 - Arizona Mission Offering
Each September, the Arizona Mission Network challenges its churches to participate in the Arizona Mission Offering.
Aug 30 - Carson & Noelle West*
Carson has stepped into the city leader role for the Dakar Urban Team and will work closely with other workers to engage the city and Dakar region.
Request Prayer Guide
Join us in praying for Arizona missionaries by requesting a printed copy or downloading a digital copy of the 2026 Missions Prayer Guide.
Weekly Reminders
Each week we will send an email that highlights this week's prayer focus. It will also include links to the bulletin insert and PowerPoint slide that you can use with your church to engage them in praying for Arizona missionaries.
Archive 2026
Sep 27 - Arizona Baptist Children Services
ABCS is a faith-based, non-profit social service ministry that serves the full spectrum of Arizona families, from unborn babies to seniors.
Sep 20 - Skip & Kathy Ford*
Skip and Kathy serve as Church Planting Catalysts in the U.K. (London) reaching the Chinese Diaspora. Their ministry involves evangelistic outreach, discipleship, equipping, mobilizing and church planting.
Sep 13 - Brain Hawkins
The Hawkins family — Brian, Kati, Madalyn and Winston — sold everything and left their comfortable life behind to go where the Lord was leading.
Sep 6 - Arizona Mission Offering
Each September, the Arizona Mission Network challenges its churches to participate in the Arizona Mission Offering.
Aug 30 - Carson & Noelle West*
Carson has stepped into the city leader role for the Dakar Urban Team and will work closely with other workers to engage the city and Dakar region.
Aug 23 - Ryan Fields
Ryan serves as the pastor of New Covenant Community Church in Chandler.
Aug 16 - Bruce Cannon
Bruce serves as the Associational Mission Strategist for the River Valley Baptist Association.
Aug 9 - Scott & Brenda*
Scott and Brenda share, “We are so thankful that the Father has allowed us to see Him work mightily in this unreached people group.”
Aug 2 - Chris & Amy
Chris and Amy have served as IMB missionaries for 22 years. Their current role is as the area directors for Send Relief in Sub-Saharan Africa. Send Relief responds to crises and strengthens vulnerable communities around the world in Jesus’ name.
Jul 26 - Hispanic Ministries
The Hispanic Fellowship of churches affiliated with the Arizona Mission Network continues to experience great blessings through prayer gatherings, joint worship services and strategic pastoral planning meetings.
Jul 19 - Hudson Garcia
Hudson is the lead pastor of Vintage Church, a brand-new gospel outpost in north Phoenix.
Jul 5 - Tim Pruit
Tim is the Associational Mission Strategist for the Gila Valley Baptist Association.
Jun 28 - Zona Camp
Every June, hundreds of teens from churches across Arizona travel to Southern California for Zona Camp, held at California Baptist University in Riverside.
Jun 21 - Lyle Harrenstein
Lyle was called to ministry four years ago while serving at Cross Church, Surprise.
Jun 14 - Jack & Rachel Thompson
Jack and Rachel have now been serving two years with the International Mission Board in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Jun 7 - Jeremy Butler
Jeremy is a Christian Challenge campus missionary serving with Campus Community Church in Tucson.
May 31 - Disaster Relief
Southern Baptist Disaster Relief traces its beginnings to the actions of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1966, when the Home Mission Board authorized $50,000 for relief efforts.
May 24 - Josue Castro
Josue serves as the Hispanic Ministries Facilitator for the Arizona Mission Network.
May 17 - Eric Woods
Eric serves as the Associational Mission Strategist for the Desert Pines Baptist Association as well as pastor of Overgaard Baptist Church.
May 10 - Doug & Cheryl Derbyshire
Doug operates a full-service rural medical clinic, supported by a dedicated team of like-minded believers who are trained in evangelism and church planting. This team reaches out to unreached areas and supports church plants in two nearby cities. Cheryl leads a women’s ministry called Thai Country Trim (TCT), which produces handcrafted ornaments sold worldwide. TCT employs 30 full-time Christian staff also trained in evangelism and discipleship.
May 3 - Gateway Seminary
The year 2026 marks Gateway Seminary’s 30th year in Arizona!
Apr 26 - Jeremiah Semmler
Jeremiah is the Lead Pastor at CityView Church in Phoenix and also serves as the Associational Mission Strategist for the Thrive Network.
Apr 19 - Parker Jonnes
Parker is the Christian Challenge campus missionary working on three campuses: Arizona Christian University, Grand Canyon University and Glendale Community College.
Apr 12 - Eddy Pearson
Eddy has served as a part of the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists for the past 28 years.
Apr 5 - Miriam Holman*
Miriam has been serving with the IMB for 30 years in a variety of locations. For the past 13 years, she has lived and served in the Middle East.
Mar 29 - John & Wanne Dina
John and Wanne have been serving more than 30 years with the IMB.
Mar 22 - John Pope
Mosaic Church, where John serves as pastor, started as a dream five years ago.
Mar 15 - Timbo Fowler
Timbo was elected in September 2025 as the Associational Mission Strategist for the Catalina Baptist Association.
Mar 8 - Ethan & Jasmine*
Last year, Ethan and Jasmine developed a leadership team that reached out to the villages where foreigners cannot go.
Mar 1 - Annie Armstrong Easter Offering
Even though she lived more than 100 years ago, Annie Armstrong’s influence and sacrifice continues today.
Feb 22 - Mike Stallcup
Mike is the Associational Mission Strategist for the Cochise Baptist Association, which is comprised of 27 churches.
Feb 15 - Andrew & Beth Hipps*
For the past 10 years, Andrew and Beth have served with the IMB in a mainland country of Southeast Asia.
Feb 8 - Marc Hill
Marc is the state director for Christian Challenge collegiate ministry.
Feb 1 - Issam Alatallh
Pastor Issam is planting Messiah Arabic Church, currently meeting at Faith Bible Church in Glendale.
Jan 25 - Who's Your Next Conference
On February 5, the Arizona Mission Network will host a "Who's Your Next?” Conference with speaker Mac Lake.
Jan 18 - Rodney Hammer
In 2025, Rodney became the Associational Mission Strategist for the Estrella Association, comprised of 40 churches.
Jan 11 - Lee & Jin Gideon
Lee and Jin grew up at Tucson True Light Church and since 2009 have been serving as IMB missionaries on the Korean Peninsula.
Jan 4 - Monty Patton
Monty was elected to serve as the Executive Director Baptists in July 2025. He had been serving as Associate Executive Director since 2023.
Archive 2025
Dec 21 - Scott & Brenda*
Scott and Brenda have been working for more than 25 years to bring the gospel to a predominately nonliterate, unreached people group.
Dec 14 - Matt & Hanna Rose
Matt and Hanna were sent by Wellspring Church in Goodyear to plant Orbit Church in Buckeye in February 2024. Orbit Church exists to help people find peace and develop purpose by revolving everything around Jesus.
Dec 7 - Ethan & Jasmine*
Last year while in country, God opened the doors for Ethan and Jasmine, International Mission Board workers, to develop a leadership team that reaches out to the villages where foreigners cannot go.
Nov 30 - Lottie Moon
International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood remarked at a IMB Sending Celebration, “Who but God could have imagined that one little girl from the hills of northwestern Virginia would inspire Southern Baptists to give more than $5.5 billion (in total through the years) to an international missions offering named in her honor?”
Nov 23 - Jack & Rachel Thompson
Jack works to assist International Mission Board staff across Sub-Saharan Africa with bank transfers, expense reporting and taxes. Rachel has recently begun a role as team prayer advocate.
Nov 16 - Abraham & Susana Estrada
Abraham and his wife, Susana, are planting Centro Familiar Cristiano, a Hispanic church in Tacna.
Nov 9 - Ministers in Crisis
One of the eight recipients of funds from the annual Arizona Mission Offering is the Ministers in Crisis Fund. Many pastors go through times of overwhelming crisis.
Nov 2 - Anna Quill*
Anna and her team — made up of three national partners, a Vx family, an International Mission Board family and two IMB singles — work with an unreached people group called the “Vx people” in a mountainous region in the Asian Pacific Rim.
Oct 26 - Kari Vansickle Binkinz
Kari is the Christian Challenge campus missionary on the Mohave Community College (MCC) campus in Kingman.
Oct 19 - Mariah Tellechea
Mariah is the Christian Challenge campus missionary at Glendale Community College.
Oct 12 - Lee & Tiffany Davis
Lee and Tiffany, along with their three children – Micah, Zane and Asher – are planting King’s Church in Anthem.
Oct 5 - James & Katherine Burks*
James and Katherine currently serve at the International Mission Board’s International Learning Center, where prospective missionaries are trained for their new assignments.
Sep 28 - Jean & Eugenia Ndahiriwe
Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe and his wife, Eugenia, are planting Christ Embassy Church in Avondale. Their church plant is dedicated to bringing hope and healing to those on the margins through the transformative power of relational evangelism and discipleship.
Sep 21 - Mikah Nix
Mikah is a part-time Christian Challenge campus missionary at Central Arizona College, serving both the Signal Peak and San Tan campuses.
Sep 14 - Doug & Cheryl Derbyshire
Doug and Cheryl have served with the International Mission Board in rural Thailand since 1992. Doug is a physician and runs a clinic staffed by 25 employees. Cheryl is director of Thai Country Trim.
Sep 7 - Arizona Mission Offering
Each September, the Arizona Mission Network challenges its churches to participate in the Arizona Mission Offering. This offering supports eight key ministries in Arizona: Christian Challenge (collegiate ministry), Disaster Relief, Church Planting, Church Revitalization, Zona Youth Camp (student ministries), the Pastors and Wives Retreat, Ministers in Crisis and Hispanic Ministries.
Aug 31 - Miriam Holman*
Miriam has been serving with the International Mission Board in the Middle East for 12 years. The mission of her ministry is to see the people group she serves establish relationships with Jesus.
Aug 24 - George & Pauline Mungai
George and Pauline followed God’s call to plant Neema Community Church, a congregation for Swahili-speaking communities in the Phoenix metro area. Swahili is a common dialect in six countries in East Africa.
Aug 17 - Michael & Alicia Grigsby
Michael and, his wife, Alicia, are planting Reflection Church in downtown Phoenix. Its mission is to seek God’s heart and reflect His love for the kingdom, the city and for individuals.
Aug 10 - Mikal Hoodenpyle
Mikal Hoodenpyle is the Christian Challenge campus missionary at Arizona Christian University in Glendale. She is currently discipling five student leaders and helping them run their Challenge communities (small group Bible studies).
Aug 3 - Chris & Amy
Chris and Amy serve as area directors for Send Relief in Sub Saharan Africa. Send Relief responds to crises and strengthens vulnerable communities around the world by meeting physical and spiritual needs in Jesus’ name.
Jul 27 - Church Revitalization
Churches have ups and downs, just as all of us do. When a church finds itself in a place where things are not going well, the Arizona Mission Network can help restore the health of a church through revitalization.
Jul 20 - Ken Herman
Ken, a retired prison chaplain, was named director of chaplaincy for the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists in 2024. Chaplains serve communities in ways the average church leader cannot. Their calling is to shoulder the burdens of people in crisis, every day.
Jul 13 - Dan & Anne Diffey
In the Spring of 2024, Foothills Church in Ahwatukee sent Dan and Anne to plant New Covenant Community Church in south Chandler.
Jul 6 - Mike & JoAnna
Mike and JoAnna served with the International Mission Board for more than 25 years in East Asia and have now been serving in the United Kingdom for almost four years.
Jun 29 - Eric & Brittany Gibbs
Eric and Brittany began Live Love Ministries in 2010 after answering God’s call to serve the Gila River Indian Community and the Tohono O’odham Nation in southern Arizona. They were commissioned as missionaries by the North American Mission Board and receive support from the Arizona Mission Network.
Jun 22 - Russell & Arizona Valko*
Arizona and Russell left a life in comfortable, middle-class America to share the gospel in a nation with tremendous need. They finished their missions training and were commissioned the summer of 2024.
Jun 15 - Kimberly Sandoval
Kimberly is new to Arizona and currently serves as the International Mission Board’s Next Gen missions recruiter in the West.
Jun 8 - Zona Camp
Zona Camp, the Arizona Mission Network’s summer camp for youth, is held each summer at California Baptist University in Riverside. Middle and high school campers hear from Christian speakers, worship together and join in fun activities.
Jun 1 - Don Vickers
Don Vickers leads Arizona Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, a partner of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, one of the largest disaster response agencies in the U.S. Currently, 300 trained volunteers from local churches in Arizona work together to bring help, healing and hope after a disaster.
May 25 - Hispanic Ministries
Every summer, Hispanic church youth groups across Arizona unite to rejoice in faith, truth and Yuma’s famous monster tacos.
May 18 - Henry Phan
Henry serves with the International Mission Board as the western region (made up of eight western states) diaspora mobilization strategist.
May 11 - Pete & Susan Strupp
Pete and Susan, International Mission Board missionaries in southern Taiwan, are involved in various ministries from kids camps to English classes to adult Bible studies, as well as serving the local church on Sunday mornings.
May 5 - Gateway Seminary
Gateway Seminary is one of six Southern Baptist seminaries. Gateway operates a system of five campuses situated near urban cities in the western region of the United States.
Apr 20 - Titus Vester
In the spring of 2024, Titus, Christian Challenge campus missionary at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, began meeting with local college students from his church to cast a vision for reaching Embry-Riddle and to train them to engage with the ERAU students.
Apr 13 - Carson & Noelle West*
Carson and Noelle have been serving the past three years at the International Mission Board’s International Learning Center (ILC). Currently, they help missionaries on the field connect with churches in the United States.
Apr 6 - Marshall & Kali Morris
Marshall and Kali Morris are planting A Prayer Away Church in south Phoenix. Their mission is to teach everyone, everywhere to always pray and never give up (Luke 18:1), as the Morrises believe that prayer changes things.
Mar 30 - Kyle Villa
Kyle is the Christian Challenge campus missionary at the Arizona State University Polytechnic campus in Mesa. This campus, which focuses mainly on engineering, is unique because of the types of students who attend.
Mar 23 - Caleb & Tricianne Spacht
Caleb and Tricianne, International Mission Board missionaries in France, experienced a very busy year in 2024. In addition to many gospel-sharing opportunities they had during the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris, the Spachts completed language training and relocated their family to a new home in western Paris.
Mar 16 - Bishnu & Kamala Regmi
Bishnu and Kamala moved to the U.S. in 2011 for their children’s education, but their journey led them to plant a church among Nepali-speaking people. Though the church almost closed during COVID-19, they replanted in 2022 and merged with Westown Baptist Church.
Mar 9 - Angel Oswood
Angel, an International Mission Board worker, partners with the Nigerian Baptist Convention in the progress of the gospel for not only Nigeria but for the world. She serves at one of the Baptist colleges of theology in Nigeria.
Mar 2 - Annie Armstrong Offering
The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering was started in 1895 by Woman’s Missionary Union, a Southern Baptist Convention auxiliary organization that was founded in 1888 to pray for and systematically raise money for Southern Baptist missions.
Feb 23 - Sub-Saharan Africa
Under the leadership of David Johnson and Monty Patton, the Arizona Mission Network prayed and felt led of the Holy Spirit to enter a partnership with the International Mission Board in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023.
Feb 16 - Molly Petry*
Molly, an International Mission Board worker, lives and serves in a land forgotten and largely unknown in Central Asia, among unreached people groups with less than one-tenth of 1% who know Jesus as their only hope.
Feb 9 - Gale Trow
Gale is a retired minister who has begun a new chapter of Christian Challenge at Cochise College in Sierra Vista. Cochise College classes have been offered in the Sierra Vista/Fort Huachuca area since the 1960s.
Feb 2 - Tyler Trusley
Tyler and his family have planted Cross Church El Mirage in the West Valley after serving for several years as a youth minister and church staff member.
Jan 26 - Chris Baker
Chris is the Christian Challenge campus missionary at Central Arizona College — Superstition Mountain. The Superstition Mountain campus is transitioning into a trade school campus.
Jan 19 - Andrew & Beth Hipps*
Andrew and Beth transitioned to a new location in 2024 after serving with the International Mission Board in one location in Southeast Asia for nearly 10 years.
Jan 12 - John & Wanne Dina
John and Wanne have been serving for more than 30 years with the International Mission Board. In 2023, they became the leaders of the Training Team for the Sub-Saharan Africa Affinity. They are now living in Nairobi, Kenya, after serving many years in Mozambique.
Jan 5 - AZMN Staff
The Arizona Mission Network staff serve churches across our state in a variety of ministries including collegiate work, evangelism, church revitalization, Hispanic ministry, disaster relief and more.
Archive 2024
Dec 22 - Gateway Seminary
Gateway Seminary, headquartered in Ontario, California, is one of six Southern Baptist seminaries. The Arizona campus of Gateway Seminary, under the direction of Dr. Dallas Bivins, is one of five Gateway Seminary campuses. All Southern Baptist seminaries receive Cooperative Program dollars, thereby helping to make seminary training affordable to all Southern Baptists.
Dec 15 - Jeremy Butler
Jeremy is the Christian Challenge campus missionary to the University of Arizona in Tucson. UofA currently has around 45,500 students enrolled, making it the second largest university in Arizona and a source of pride for local Tucson residents.
Dec 8 - Scott & Amy Winter
The Winters serve as Christian Challenge campus missionaries to South Mountain Community College in Phoenix. SMCC hosts about 3,500 students, and is close to Laveen, Guadalupe, and Ahwatukee.
Dec 1 - Lottie Moon Offering
Lottie Moon was sent as a Southern Baptist missionary to China from 1873-1912. She saw firsthand the world’s greatest problem — LOSTNESS. Meeting so many people who had never heard the Gospel compelled her to write letters to American churches describing the need for a greater missionary presence.
Nov 24 - Miriam Holman*
Miriam works with new immigrants in a country in the Middle East. She teaches English as a way to connect with them. She organizes an English Camp for adults and children each summer. Miriam and her teammates are also working with local churches and helping them reach out to others with the love of the Messiah.
Nov 17 - Justin Akine
Justin is the Christian Challenge campus missionary to Scottsdale Community College. SCC is known for a variety of programs, including its film and culinary majors. While over 7,000 students attend SCC, a majority of them are part-time. Justin has been able to connect with students through gaming (video games and board games) on campus and disc golf.
Nov 10 - Chris & Amy
Chris and Amy serve as Area Directors of Send Relief for Sub Saharan Africa. Send Relief is a collaboration between the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board for compassion ministry at home and abroad. Send Relief responds to crisis and strengthens vulnerable communities around the world by meeting physical and spiritual needs in Jesus’ name.
Nov 3 - AZMN Annual Meeting
Each November, Arizona Southern Baptists gather together to celebrate and be challenged about the work of over 470 churches and ministries that have been sharing the Gospel and showing God’s love in very tangible ways.
Oct 27 - Isabel Han & Zach Hsu
Isabel Han and Zach Hsu serve as campus missionaries with Christian Challenge on ASU’s Tempe campus. Isabel and Zach work alongside Brandon and Maddie Reimus to engage ASU students with the Gospel. All ASU Tempe campus missionaries are actively involved in serving with their partner church, Church on Mill.
Oct 20 - ILC
ILC is the International Learning Center where prospective IMB missionaries are trained for their new assignments. While there, it is a time of reflection, education and challenge. IMB missionaries Carson and Noelle West* and James and Katherine Burks*, both families from Arizona, are serving at ILC.
Oct 13 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) is a Taiwanese multinational contract semiconductor manufacturing and design company. It is constructing a large plant in northwest Phoenix which will employ up to 2,000 people initially, with an anticipated workforce of over 4,500. Many of their current staff have been transferred to Phoenix from Taiwan.
Oct 6 - Stephen & Kirstie Alderman
The Aldermans are Christian Challenge campus missionaries to the community college in Show Low, Arizona, Northland Pioneer. Show Low is part of the White Mountains in eastern Arizona, and the college campus serves around 6,500 students per year, of which about half are still in high school. 68% of students are the first in their family to attend college, and the surrounding towns have a heavy LDS (Mormon) influence.
Sep 29 - Christian Challenge at NAU
Maya Abe, Lainee Pegelow and Kyle Hall serve as Christian Challenge campus missionaries at Northern Arizona University along with Abby Liddie and Micah Abe Challenge church volunteers in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Sep 22 - Andrew & Beth*
Andrew and Beth and their four children have served in Southeast Asia since December 2015. Andrew works closely with their local pastor in establishing a church plant as well as connecting with a network of local pastors.
Sep 15 - Kyle Villa
Arizona State University Polytechnic in Mesa is one of four ASU campuses that has a Christian Challenge AZ chapter. Kyle Villa serves as the campus missionary to ASU Poly.
Sep 8 - Daniel & Jill*
Daniel, Jill and their four children moved to the Horn of Africa in June 2023. They are currently working on developing their language skills and building friendships in their community.
Sep 1 - Arizona Mission Offering
Every September, Arizona Southern Baptists are challenged to give to the statewide Arizona Mission Offering.
Aug 25 - Kyle Hall
Kyle and his family have felt the call back into full time collegiate ministry. As they have served with Christian Challenge throughout the years they knew this is where God was calling them. Between fall and the first of the year they will be relocating to Flagstaff and joining the team of campus missionaries and Challenge Church volunteers reaching the Northern Arizona University campus with the Gospel.
Aug 18 - Kyle Rosas
Kyle is a catalyst for Send Network Arizona, an initiative of the Arizona Mission Network and the North American Mission Board to catalyze church planting throughout the state. The catalyst’s goal is to come alongside churches to help them plant churches that plant churches.
Aug 11 - Scott & Brenda
Scott and Brenda have been working for more than 25 years to bring the Gospel to a predominately non-literate, unreached people group. After 70+ years of Christian work among this people, there are now believers and small groups formed in every area in which they live.
Aug 4 - Derek Kregler
Derek Kregler is the Christian Challenge campus missionary reaching out to Grand Canyon University. This ministry is one of Christian Challenge’s newest ministries. Grand Canyon is a private, Christian university located in Phoenix. GCU has experienced exponential growth in the past few years and is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation.
Jul 28 - Eric & Brittany Gibbs
Eric and Brittany came to Arizona in 2010 to serve as church planters under the North American Mission Board, planting on the Tohono O’odham Reservation near Casa Grande. The Tohono O’odham Nation is spread across 2.7 million acres, approximately the land mass of the state of Connecticut.
Jul 21 - Jenny Caylor
Jenny Caylor serves as a Christian Challenge campus missionary at Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC). EMCC is one of 10 Maricopa Community Colleges and is located in Buckeye.
Jul 14 - Jesus Bustamante
Jesus and his wife, Rosita, were sent to the US by a company for whom he has worked the past 21 years. When they crossed the border from Nogales, Mexico, to Nogales, AZ, they saw the need for a Baptist Hispanic church on the Arizona side, so they planted Iglesia Border Light.
Jul 7 - Steve Dokka & Aidan Altamirano
Steve and Aidan serve as Christian Challenge campus missionaries at Central Arizona College Maricopa. The CAC Maricopa campus serves residents of Maricopa, Stanfield, Casa Grande and the Ak-Chin Indian Community. Steve also serves as Christian Challenge campus missionary on the CAC San Tan and CAC Signal Peak campuses. The San Tan campus serves the communities of San Tan and Queen Creek, as well as the city of Florence. CAC’s Signal Peak campus is located four miles east of I-10 near Casa Grande, midway between Arizona’s two largest cities of Phoenix and Tucson.
Jun 30 - Central Asia
Most Central Asian believers are first-generation Christians. Only a handful have known Jesus for more than 30 years. There are over 400 million Central Asians spread across 10 countries, and they comprise 386 people groups. Of these, 39% do not have any church-planting efforts among them.
Jun 23 - Caleb & Tricianne Spacht
Commissioned and sent to France in 2023, Caleb and Tricianne, along with their two daughters, are living in Paris. Once they complete their language training, their primary focus of ministry will be sharing the Gospel with French-speaking Parisians.
Jun 16 - Eddy Pearson
Eddy serves as the Facilitator of Evangelism/Discipleship for the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists. One of his many responsibilities is evangelism training and coordination at ZONA Camp, Arizona’s statewide youth camp experience.
Jun 2 - SBC Annual Meeting
Each year tens of thousands of Southern Baptists gather to celebrate what God is doing through their combined ministry efforts and to deliberate on the direction of the Convention for the future. It has been said “the annual meeting combines the elements of an old-fashioned revival meeting with an open-microphone business meeting.”
May 26 - Sam Castro
Sam Castro leads the Christian Challenge chapter at Arizona Western College in Yuma. Located in the sunny, southwest corner of the state, Arizona Western College supports the Yuma and La Paz communities with over 170 degrees and certificates.
May 19 - Sylvia Miller & Andrew Miller
Arizona State University West is one of four ASU campuses that has a Christian Challenge AZ chapter. Sylvia Miller and Andrew Miller (no relation) serve as our Campus missionaries to ASU West.
May 12 - Skip & Kathy Ford*
Skip and Kathy, and their two daughters, serve in the United Kingdom as part of the IMB’s “Euro Diaspora” team. Their team works to reach overseas immigrants, to strengthen local churches and to help them gain a vision for fulfilling the Great Commission.
May 5 - John & Wanne Dina
John and Wanne have been serving for over 30 years with the IMB, the previous 29 years in Mozambique. They began a new assignment in late 2023 as leaders for the Training Team for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and are now stationed in Nairobi, Kenya.
Apr 28 - Pete & Susan Strupp
Pete and Susan partner with a local believer in a very unchurched/unreached area in southern Taiwan. They share the Gospel via kids camps in the summer and winter, and throughout the year they help elementary and junior high students with their English.
Apr 14 - Ethan & Jasmine
Ethan and Jasmine, and their two daughters, have been living in Southeast Asia for over 16 years, serving in the same city, building relationships. They lead their team of missionaries to be effective communicators of the Gospel in very hard-to-reach areas.
Apr 7 - Brandon & Maddie Reimus
Brandon and Maddie Reimus serve as Christian Challenge campus missionaries on ASU’s Tempe campus. ASU is the largest university in Arizona, with almost 80,000 students, most of whom attend the Tempe campus. Students from all over the world come to study a wide option of majors to further their careers and futures. Brandon and Maddie, along with their partnering church, Church on Mill, help equip college students to share their faith on campus, disciple students, and mobilize servant leaders and missionaries.
Mar 31 - Josue Castro
Josue is the Hispanic Ministries Facilitator for the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists. As a Facilitator, Josue is involved in meetings with pastors from around the state, both prayer gatherings and in working sessions, with the purpose of aiding in furthering the work that God has entrusted to them.
Mar 24 - Jack & Rachel Thompson
Jack and Rachel completed their IMB training in September 2023 and are now serving in Johannesburg. Jack is using his accounting skills to provide financial help to missionaries in their Affinity. Although he is serving in an administrative position, Jack knows that whatever the task, God’s will is for all believers to share the Gospel and make disciples.
Mar 17 - John Ramos
First Southern Baptist Church, Kingman, is the partnering church for the Christian Challenge chapter at Mohave Community College (MCC). Established in 1970, MCC offers more that 60 degrees and certificate options.
Mar 10 - North Africa and the Middle East
Pray for Arizona Baptists who are serving with the International Mission Board in a region that has over 500 unengaged, unreached people groups. This is an area of extravagant wealth and extreme poverty. More refugees come from this region than any other place in the world.
Mar 3 - Annie Armstrong Easter Offering
Throughout the Southern Baptist Convention, the week of March 3-10 has been designated as a national Week of Prayer for The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO). This offering is the primary way Southern Baptists fund missions in North America.
Feb 25 - Sub-Saharan Africa
The Missions Team of the Arizona Mission Network’s Convention Council approved the development of a partnership between Arizona Southern Baptists and IMB Missionaries that are part of its Sub-Sarahan Africa Affinity.
Feb 18 - ASU Downtown
Arizona State University Downtown is one of four ASU campuses that has a Christian Challenge AZ chapter. Andrew Smith and Ellie Lambert serve as campus missionaries to ASU Downtown and are members of Mercy Hill, the partner church for this campus.
Feb 11 - Sending Celebration
Each year the International Mission Board hosts several Sending Celebrations throughout the country to gather
Southern Baptists to worship together, pray and send out Southern Baptists’ newest missionaries.
Feb 4 - Andrew Marchbanks
As a Christian Challenge missionary, Andrew Marchbanks is making disciples at Arizona Christian University in Glendale. This chapter of Challenge is unique in that Andrew is reaching out to a population that mostly professes Christ.
Jan 28 - Doug & Cheryl Derbyshire
Doug and Cheryl have been serving over 30 years in Thailand. Although a physician by trade, Doug’s greatest passion is sharing Christ with the many unbelieving Thais (mainly Buddist) he encounters daily. Cheryl is the head of Thai Country Trim, a company that makes handmade Christmas ornaments sold around the globe.
Jan 21 - Brandon Barrios
Brandon Barrios, along with his wife and 4 children are planting Way Family Church in Littletown — a hard-to-reach community in Tucson.
Jan 14 - Marc Hill
Marc came to Christian Challenge (CC) Collegiate Ministries in 1989 as campus missionary with the Northern Arizona University chapter. In August 2020, Marc became the Christian Challenge State Director.
Jan 7 - Monty Patton
Monty joined the Arizona Mission Network Executive Team in 2023 as Associate Executive Director, working side-by-side with Dr. David Johnson.
Jan 1 - David Johnson
David has served as the Executive Director of the Arizona Mission Network of Southern Baptists (AZMN) for the past ten years. AZMN is a network of 470 Southern Baptist churches.