Mitch & Amber
Church Planters @ Garden City Church in Edenvale, South Africa
My life has been characterized by God’s gracious, glorious, and scandalous pursuit of my wayward and wandering heart. I was born into an incredible family who loved God and His Church. Despite attending church regularly and serving in ministry all my life, I found myself feeling empty and lost, craving love and acceptance that always seemed elusive. My wandering heart led me down various destructive paths in pursuit of this love, leaving me feeling unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and alone. Until one day, God, in His grace, revealed to me that my attempts to run away from Him were gloriously unsuccessful. He was always one step ahead of me, calling me to stop running.
At age 17, I surrendered my heart to Jesus and He gave me a new heart. Jesus graciously rescued me from my sin in a church plant in 2011 and gave me the privilege of sitting with the elders of this church planting team. God’s grace was revealed to me in abundance in the ups and downs of church planting. As a community, we rode waves of joy as people came to know Jesus and serve His bride. I experienced intimate community. We were also taught the nature of true joy as Christ carried us through deeply trying times.
It was in the midst of this wonderful period that my community, my elders, and my own heart sensed a call into church planting and leadership. I was given the privilege of serving God and His people in many different ways over the years, all of which pointed me to His call to serve His people full-time. When God gifted me a wife who shared my heart for intimate community and life-on-life discipleship, we both sensed that God was reiterating His call on our lives to be a part of a church plant. My wife and I are so grateful that God has given us this wonderful privilege of training as church planters.
God is so good. All the time.
Cassio Moura
Worship and College Minister @ Icon Church
I’m originally from Brazil but have been living in Texas since 2017. Back in Brazil, I found faith at a young age and had a desire to serve God, but my path took a detour as a teenager and young adult. After a period of struggling to find who I was, and who God called me to be, I felt a strong calling to full-time ministry. I said yes, left everything behind, and joined a Christian program in Texas. I remember I had many leaders investing in my Spiritual life. They have helped me be closer to God, spend time with Him, and find hope in His Word. I felt God was calling me to do the same for other young adults. My mission is to become a Worship pastor, but I also want to invest in the lives of young adults, and then invest in new disciples, Men and Women who receive and reflect Jesus in every area of their lives. As a missionary, my life goal is found in Acts 15:41: “Every place they went, Paul and Silas left the church stronger and more encouraged than before.”
You can be part of that MISSION!
Last fall, I felt God’s call to serve at Icon Church in Plano, Texas. Our church’s vision is to Reflect Jesus, Embrace Harmony, and Create Community, with a focus on reaching the multiethnic, intercultural, and multilingual community in the DFW area. I initially had various roles while working part-time to support my ministry. This summer, I felt led to fully devote myself to the mission at Icon and now serve as the Worship Minister.
Looking ahead, I’m aiming to relocate closer to the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) to connect with non-Christian international students. Our goal is to impact their lives through evangelism, discipleship, and partnerships with campus ministries like Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU). To make this vision a reality, I’m forming a support team. Your prayers and financial support, with a monthly contribution of $25, $50, $100, or your choice, will be invaluable. This journey is about going, praying, sending, and supporting, as we reach this mission field.
Your generosity will help us make a meaningful impact on international students at UTD. Thank you for being part of this endeavor.
Alexis Folse
Missions Mobilizer
Growing up in the Lutheran Church, I always confessed with my mouth that Jesus died and rose from the dead for my sins, but I was not led with the heart conviction to live my life in reflection of this truth. For many years, I attended church, yet sought my own sinful way of living. Because of my sinful lifestyle choices, I found myself constantly trying to shape myself into the mold of others, ultimately leaving me majorly depressed and alone.
In my feelings of worthlessness and abandonment, Jesus met me and changed my life forever. He welcomed me home with open arms to a place of true belonging in His family. Because of Jesus, I now walk with the conviction of being fully known and fully loved by the God who created the Heavens and the Earth.
Since becoming a devoted follower and disciple of Christ, God has not only given me a family of many brothers and sisters in Christ, but He has also developed a strong passion in my heart for unreached people groups. Through my time at Icon Church and as my life’s mission, I pray that I may play a small part in getting the Gospel to those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ. I pray that I will be able to serve God’s Kingdom as I join the mission of Icon by equipping our people to reach all unreached people groups in the DFW area and worldwide.
Rev. Ric Sun & Jocelyn Sun
Pastor of Partner Care @ LIFE International
Ric Sun serves as the Pastor of Partner Care for Life International to support global hub development through shepherding and caring pastors and national leaders. For over 10 years, Ric and his wife, Jocelyn, have been serving in various ministries included urban missions with Apartment Life, overseas missions, pastoral ministry, church planting, leadership training as well as maintaining a virtual Tae Kwon Do ministry along with their older daughter to promote spiritual discipline and family discipleship. They travel to strengthen the churches locally and globally as a family of seven (including two heavenly precious children) to be an advocate at speaking on the topics of the Sacredness of life, Biblical Sexuality and Abortion Recovery.
They are passionate about homeschooling, evangelism, family missions and journeying alongside wounded hearts to be healed and set free for God’s grander mission. They have a deep desire to see lives radically transformed to have total dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ and burning heart to reach and teach the next generation of pastors and leaders in the partnership of fulfilling the Great Commission. Their family mission statement is “Engaging the lost, equipping the believers and empowering the leaders to be all that God has created, called and gifted them to be for God’s glory!”