"As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" - John 20:21
Zion supports many missionaries both locally and around the globe
The Isaza Family
Serving in Columbia
When we moved to Chicago, we knew that it would be temporary. Our hearts have always been drawn to serving abroad, especially in Colombia. In January 2012 our family of four moved to Medellin to serve with the Covenant Church of Colombia.
We are partnering with the Colombian Covenant Church in church planting and leadership development. This is truly the intersecting of our passions and gifts. God is at work in Colombia doing amazing things and we are so excited to be a part it!
We are living in Medellin and meeting regularly with a core group of people with the vision of being a church community that engages young adults and university students. This group meets to grow deeper in God’s word and to be equipped to share their faith with others both in word and action, living out the gospel in their schools, families, neighborhoods and places of employment.
In addition to working with this particular church plant, we are serving as church planting catalysts in general, as the vision of the Covenant is to train more leaders and plant more churches so that the good news of Jesus continues to be shared in more communities around the country. We regularly visit other church plants and work with them to train their core team of leaders.
Jason & Heather Fader
Serving in Burundi, Africa
Dr. Jason Fader just won the first Gerson L’Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service in Burundi.
Jason Fader isn’t the average American doctor. The 39 year-old medical missionary, currently serving at the Kibuye Hope Hospital in Burundi, can do up to eight surgeries a day and treat dozens of people in between. His patients number in the thousands and he’s responsible for more than forty students currently studying at the hospital. His workload is heavy but according to Dr. Fader, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“God gives us talents that we’re meant to use to serve others,” Dr. Fader tells Guideposts.org. “I feel obligated to use mine in this way.”
Missionary work is in the doctor’s blood. His father, a surgeon, and his mother, a nurse, both worked in Kenya during his early years. When he was in the fifth grade, Dr. Fader saw his father perform surgery for the first time.
Fader and his wife connected with other families wanting to serve as medical missionaries and raised money to spend a year abroad in France, learning French and Kirundi – the two languages most prominent in Burundi. He spent time serving as a medical missionary in Kenya, learning alongside other long-term missionaries, before heading to Burundi. He chose the nation because of its shortage of doctors (there are just 13 surgeons for 10 million people) and for its teaching hospital.
Eric & Brittany Pedersen
Serving in Madison, WI
The purpose of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is to establish and advance at colleges and universities witnessing communities of students and faculty who follow Jesus as Savior and Lord: growing in love for God, God’s Word, God’s people of every ethnicity and culture, and God’s purposes in the world.
Similar to many other InterVarsity chapters this past year, InterVarsity at UW–Madison has learned how to organize more outdoor events. They also adapted to meet the most critical needs of today’s students—focusing on topics like self-care and mental health during a time that has left many students feeling isolated.
This fall, the UW, just like many other campuses across the country, saw its largest incoming class ever. Pray the Lord continues the work he’s begun on these campuses, strengthening campus ministers and student leaders into the spring semester.