CROSS CULTURAL WORKERS

Paul & Stephanie Thompson (& Jack!)

Mazatlan, Mexico

Paul and Stephanie are new missionaries, planning to serve with Shoulder to Shoulder. Along with their son Jack, the Thompsons will spend a year in language school before moving to Mazatlán, Mexico. Once there, they will work closely with local Mexican pastors and their churches, providing training and support, with the vision to see the Mexican church be healthy and thriving.

If you want to follow along on their journey you can at www.notthemainstage.org

WINCHEL DEMOSTHENE (CHELO)

Bercy, Haiti

Chelo is the pastor of Eglise de la Grace (Grace Church) in Bercy, Haiti. We have enjoyed a partnership with Eglise de la Grace partners for 13 years seeing many people come to Christ, leaders raised up, a school established and ongoing life change in the community and in our short-term teams.

We continue to build relationships and get much of our guidance from him as to what is needed and wanted in his community when our teams are in Haiti. We also work in partnership with Significance of One to sponsor children, support schools, and advance projects in Bercy.

Ben & Tonya Falkenberg

Mazatlan, Mexico

Ben and Tonya, along with their three daughters, are in Mazatlan, Mexico, working with Shoulder to Shoulder. They work alongside churches and pastors to encourage, support and equip them to continue in ministry to their communities.

Ben and Tonya also play a huge role in planning for and executing the work that each short term team does while they are in Mazatlan.

You can listen to the podcasts that detail their journey to this point right here. 

*You will need to create an account with Central Missionary Clearinghouse to begin supporting Ben and Tonya at the link below.

John & Rachel Reaser

Mazatlan, Mexico

John and Rachel Reaser are the founders and directors of Shoulder to Shoulder Mexico. Their passion is to bring every possible resource to empower the local church, bringing hope and light to the world.

The church is God’s simple yet amazing plan to be His hands and His feet in every corner of the world.  When we work with the local church bringing food and shelter to the homeless or building a house for a widow or when we give a Bible to every home in the community, provide medical and dental care and rebuild roofs after a hurricane, we multiply our work through the efforts of many and shine the Light that will never go out.   The church continues to point people to the true hope that is Jesus Christ.  When STS can help the local church expand its impact in the community, God brings a transformation in lives that lasts for all eternity.

The Reasers have been missionaries in Mexico for 20 years.  Their extensive experience in church planting and development is what inspired them to establish a ministry that serves, supports and trains the church in creative and tangible ways.    As directors of STS they lead a team of missionaries who are passionate about serving the local church.  A church that is thriving, impacting the community and reproducing.  A church that is showing up to make God’s presence felt.

*You will need to create an account with Central Missionary Clearinghouse to begin supporting the Reaser’s at the link below.

The S Family

Central Asia

I grew up attending Grace Church. I was involved in the youth group and went on two short-term trips to Haiti, where God helped me to understand His heart for the nations. In college I met my husband, who like me had grown up in church and through short-term missions had come to understand God’s heart for the nations. A couple years into our professional careers in nursing and engineering we realized that God was gently guiding us to go and minister among the unreached. We are just an ordinary family, with Akron roots, who are seeking to live in obedience to God’s Word.

We now live and work in a creative-access nation in Central Asia where 99.9% of the population are Muslim. Not only are we called to boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and make disciples, but we are also leading a team which exists to pray for, mobilize, welcome, coach, and nurture the health of people during the time of initial culture & language acquisition (CLA). This is so that we can send out more teams to regions of Central Asia that are still unreached and unengaged.

“Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged places a broad valley. And the glory and majesty of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.”  Isaiah 40:3-5

Naomi Bogue

Mazatlan, Mexico

Naomi Bogue is a full-time missionary serving with Shoulder to Shoulder (STS) in Mazatlán, Mexico. After choosing to obey the Lord’s call on her life to global missions, Naomi stepped out in faith to invest her life in sharing the gospel and loving people across cultures. She has a deep passion for helping children understand the truth of God’s Word in clear, simple, and personal ways.

In Mazatlán, Naomi serves on the STS team by helping develop a children’s ministry training department, supporting short-term mission teams, and assisting with Safe Zone—an after-school program that provides a safe, Christ-centered space for local kids who are at risk of being drawn into sex trafficking or cartel activity. Her heart in this ministry is to break chains, present a clear and whole gospel, and create spaces where kids and families can encounter the love and hope of Jesus.

Naomi’s desire is to equip the next generation, build intentional relationships, and faithfully say “yes” to whatever the Lord asks of her.

*You will need to create an account with Central Missionary Clearinghouse to begin supporting Naomi at the link below.

Dave & Sue Guiles

United States

Dave and Sue Guiles have been in ministry and global missions since 1987 serving in Argentina for 13 years and then as the Executive Director of Encompass World Partners for 23 years.

Dave has transitioned to serving with the Charis Alliance through church planting, training leaders, and blessing communities. Sue is developing a ministry of intercessory prayer and encouragement for the spouses of global leaders and women in key leadership roles.

B and B

N. Africa

Our family, B and B and three children, have been living and serving in SE Asia for nine years. While SE Asia will forever have a home in our hearts, God unexpectedly opened the door to the North African region in the spring of 2024.

Our hearts beat to see Jesus made known wherever we are, in word and in deed, through friendship, interdependence, taking a posture of learning, and in demonstrating hospitality.

We are passionate about holistic life transformation and opening our hearts and home as we build into our local community and the local church, for our collective good and for God’s glory

Matthew 5:16

Reginald & Lovely Lubin

Cap Haitien, Haiti

Reginald and Lovely live in Croix de Bouquet and serve in and around that community. They are committed to sharing the love of Jesus with women and children. They do this through outreaches at maternity hospitals, women’s jails, and local churches focusing on meeting physical needs as well as spiritual and emotional needs.

If you would like to support the work of Reginald and Lovely, you can write a check to Grace Church with “Hearts for Haiti” in the memo line.

Javier & Jeanette Leyva

Mazatlan/Mexicali

Javier and Jeanette Leyva are a Mexican couple who have been involved in missions since they were single. They got married in 2004 with the heart of doing missions in Mexico and having 3 children. And now Javier and Jeanette have 3 children Josue, Jared and Jonatan. Since 2014 they have joined the effort and vision of Shoulder to Shoulder together with the founders of the ministry. Initially STS Mazatlan worked with 2 churches, currently we work with about 50 churches.

STS’s reason for existence is to see “thriving churches that impact and reach their community for Christ.” The Leyvas enjoy dedicating their lives to this vision and find it fascinating to develop connection and relationship with local pastors, and to have the opportunity to serve and strengthen them in every way possible.
They have witnessed the benefit that comes to the local church and its community when God through STS serves and empowers the pastor and his leaders.

Recently, the Leyvas received a challenge from God to initiate the launch of the next STS base in another city in Mexico. They feel honored to be considered for such a large project. God allowed them to be part of the founding, construction, and establishment of STS Mazatlán, and now, the opportunity has opened for the Leyvas to lead the opening of the next STS campus.

*You will need to create an account with Central Missionary Clearinghouse to begin supporting Javier and Jeanette at the link below.

Steve LaVoie

Japan

In 2012, the Lord led Steven to go on a mission trip for the first time to Haiti. He obeyed and went in faith. It was there in an unknown land with a different language and culture that he felt the push to pursue cross-cultural work.

After his mission trip, Steve had the opportunity to attend the Moody Bible Institute for 4 years in his hometown in Ohio. While attending Moody, he sought out local mission opportunities and ended up serving the Chinese for around 1 year and half, ministering to Chinese students and learning some of the language and culture. While he greatly enjoyed working with the Chinese, he decided he would like to work with other people groups.

 After graduation, he was connected with a mission agency based in Atlanta, GA that provided additional training and it was while he was in Atlanta he started serving with a Japanese Christian organization, Second Level. For five years, he worked for Second Level, ministering to the Japanese students and families. He enjoyed his work in Atlanta but felt called to pursue missions in Japan through Christar.

To give to Steve through Christar, please click the link below and type in the number 769.

ANDY SHANK

SEEDnet

Andy Shank has been planting churches with SEEDnet since 2008. Before his days planting churches among the “least of these,” Andy lived in the apartment complex in Ashland, Ohio, where Pastor Nathan planted his first church. Andy surrendered his life to Christ on April 15th, 2007, and God immediately called him to ministry. Since then, Andy has been planting churches with SEEDnet, specifically with the “street” people. He targets S.E.E.D. (Spiritually, Emotionally, Economically, & Developmentally) areas that are in the city, and these areas are usually apartment complexes, or “projects.”

Andy is currently planting, supporting, or coaching, multiple church plants from Ashland, Ohio to Oakland, California. Andy lives with his beautiful wife Kim, and his two children, in Ashland, Ohio.