Missions
We want to make an impact throughout the world. We participate in God’s work abroad through prayer, supporting missionaries, and sending workers to needy places for short-term projects. With 20% of Sunday offerings, we support 15 missionary families (six of whom were sent out from our body) and three different groups of native church planters in Russia, Nigeria and Serbia.
B Family | Sensitive Location
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Laboring to build up local churches.
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Bousmans | Papua New Guinea
Ministry Website |
Chris Bousman was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. He began working on vehicles in high school and attended Nashville Auto-Diesel College to further improve his abilities. Chris has been working as an auto mechanic since 1997. The Lord has called him to serve with World Outreach to help those who help spread His Word. Chris uses his God-given abilities and experience to service vehicles used to travel to remote villages. Roads are barely passable through the rugged, mountainous jungle terrain in Papua New Guinea where Chris serves. Chris and Mary met in Papua New Guinea and were married in January of 2021.
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Bulyhins | Ukraine
Ministry Website |
Andre and Luba, and their daughters, Katya and Oksana have been a part of World Reach since 2000 and serve in Sumy, Ukraine. Andre has worked closely with the Bible Institute ministry serving as a coordinator, translator, and teacher. In addition, he has had an active ministry with summer youth camps.
Andre is a leader at Gospel House Baptist Church. Increasing numbers of international students began coming to Sumy to study at local universities and some began attending Gospel House. As a result, in 2011 the idea for an international church was born. In 2012, Andre began the role of church planter for World Reach to help establish a church for the growing number of international students with services held in English. Andre’s focus is on developing relationships with university students, sharing the Gospel, and getting students connected to the Church family. Over 1,000 international students study at universities in Sumy, representing over 40 countries. Countries of origin include Iraq, Nigeria, Turkey, Syria, Tanzania, China, India, and Australia. A majority of the students are Muslim, though many African students are from areas with Christian influence. |
Chins | Hickory Cove Bible Camp
Ministry Website |
Micah and Ruth Anna have been serving full-time at Hickory Cove Bible Camp (Taylorsville, NC) since 2013. After working for Bank of America for nearly 10 years and being active members of Harvest, Micah (and Ruth Anna) both felt called to move to Taylorsville so they could be part of Hickory Cove's mission "where young people are challenged to become effective, kingdom-minded Christ followers through sound Bible teaching and meaningful discipleship relationships."
Micah currently serves as the Executive Director, overseeing all fundraising and marketing events and activities. Ruth Anna volunteers in a number of capacities, including planning and directing Hickory Cove's annual women's retreat, summer camp decorating, kitchen help, and Family Camp planning. Their five children -- Elijah, Sophie, Noah, Lilah, and Judah -- currently serve as official QA testers for all things fun at camp and can often be found working tirelessly testing items such as diving boards, pool slides, zip lines, canoes, paintball guns, and bow & arrows. |
Frankas | Serbia
Ministry Website |
Ondrej and Milina Franka, and their daughters, Andrea and Margaret, are native Yugoslavian/Serbians. Ondrej was raised in a Christian family and went to church, but did not come to know Christ personally until after he attended a Billy Graham crusade as a youth. In 1973, he married Milina, a Christian girl from the same town. The Christian life was not easy in the communistic system – secular education was highly emphasized and the church did not have any biblically trained leaders who could communicate truths to young people. It was a life of frustration for Ondrej and Milina until some Pocket Testament League missionaries from the U.S. came to Yugoslavia. They discipled Ondrej, and eventually he and Milina left their secular jobs to go into full-time ministry. Ondrej studied at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Ondrej and Milina share a tremendous burden for evangelizing the people of their own country. In the early 1990’s, when communism fell apart in Yugoslavia, Ondrej seized the opportunity to establish the first independent mission organization: The Christian Evangelistic Center, The Pocket Testament League of Yugoslavia. In 1992, civil war came to Yugoslavia, and refugees started to come from all sides. Ondrej started a humanitarian ministry; TELL and FEED. Through this ministry, many have tasted the goodness of the Lord, both physically, through food, medicine, and clothing, and spiritually, through the Word of God. As a result, many have come to know the Lord. The next need was to train these refugees as they returned home. The Bible School was established in 1995, with the goal of training refugees and other young people, and sending them out to plant churches. It was the only Bible School in the country. The year 1999 produced the most recent war in Serbia, and Ondrej again headed up the project TELL and FEED / BUILDING BRIDGES, a ministry to refugees and others affected by this war. Today, Ondrej and Milina Franka’s ministry, Yugoslavian Evangelistic Society, involves many different aspects including: Bible School and conferences, Tell and Feed/Building Bridges project, literature printing and distribution and youth ministry and choir.
In addition to the Frankas, Harvest also supports several native Serbian church planters. |
Fretheims | Nigeria
Ministry Website |
Peter and Miriam Fretheim are missionaries serving the Lord in Jos, Nigeria with SIM USA. They have four children – Hannah, Elizabeth, Hunter and Sarah. Peter is very involved with evangelism and Miriam coordinates visiting short-term teams and impacts both missionary and neighborhood children. Together they work in a ministry called Gidan Bege, which means “House of Hope” in the Nigerian language of Hausa. They try to provide “hope for the hopeless” as they minister the love of Jesus to many groups of rejected people including orphans, street children, the blind, handicapped, lepers, poor, diseased and unreached peoples. Their women’s programs minister to approximately 200 needy women at a clinic. Nurses tend to physical needs and volunteers teach the truth of God’s love.
In addition to the Fretheims, Harvest also supports 12 Nigerian church planters. |
Gillespies | Michigan State University
Ministry Website |
Phil and Julie are convinced their outreach to the youth on campus is a worthy investment of their time. As students, it was through Campus Crusade for Christ that they learned what it meant to serve the Lord and received the training necessary to serve in this full-time ministry. After their marriage, they took the position of staffing the outreach at the University of Michigan where they served for seven years. In 2000, Phil and Julie moved to Michigan State University to become the directors of Athletes in Action, the athletic ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. They have four adult children- Nathan, Rachel, Jack, and Rebecca. Jesus said in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful…” and in no place is that more evident than on the college campus. Students come to Michigan State University from all over the country and the world. Using the universal language of sports, Phil and Julie are exposing students to the claims of Jesus Christ, winning them to faith in Him, building them in their faith (discipling and training), and sending them to win and disciple others on campus and around the world.
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Gomez | Honduras
Ministry Website |
Noel and Reina joined World Reach in 2008 as full-time missionaries in Honduras. In 2009, they began a new mission to the community of Balibrea, which is located 8 miles from the center of Siguatepeque. Balibrea is a rural community of nearly 1,000 people. However, adding those living in nearby rural communities, the total population reaches 4,000. The majority of the families living in Balibrea are counted among the poorest of Honduras.
Their ministry includes a local church, training leaders to plant churches in nearby villages, childcare, education, and sports activities. |
Hills | Thailand
Don and Sai Hill have lived in Thailand since 2014. They oversee a church they helped to plant in a small village located in the province of Nakhon Ratchasima, colloquially known as “Khorat.” Sai was born and raised in a small village a few miles from where the church is located today. As a young adult she emigrated to the Cincinnati area, where she and Don met and were married. They have two grown daughters who live in Missouri and Virginia. The Thailand ministry focuses mainly on discipling youth who have responded to the gospel.
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Huyhuas | Peru
Ministry Website |
Bryan and Evelyng Huyhua minister through World Reach in Lima, Peru. They are very involved in the youth ministry at La Roca Christian Church, where they train youth leaders and encourage them in their walk with God.
Bryan also teaches at La Roca Christian School. He and Evelyng lead conferences for adults and parents with the goal of reaching them with the Gospel. They also lead youth conferences. Bryan is involved in discipling youth leaders, and Evelyng disciples women. The Lord has blessed the couple with two sons, David Josias and Nathan Elias. |
Johnsons | United States
Ministry Website |
Chris and Debbie Johnson served in Budapest, Hungary for many years and currently live in Charlotte as they continue to impact central and eastern Europe. Their primary focus with A.B.W.E. (Association for Baptists for World Evangelism) remains partnering with nationals to facilitate church-planting and missions movements. They do so now by using communication technologies and periodic trips to Central and Eastern Europe (and the Balkans).
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Mumas | Chad
Ministry Website |
Tom and Sheri Muma represent E3 Partners ministry in Chad. The gospel has the power not only to transform people, but also to transform culture. This is quite a challenge in Chad, a place where corruption has prevailed for the past two decades and war and strife for most of its existence. In 2005, Transparency International listed Chad as the world’s most corrupt country. This is a leading cause for the fact that 80% of the population of Chad lives below the poverty line and less than half can read. Christians are outnumbered nearly 7 to 1 by Muslims (dominant), animists, or others. The task is great, but the gospel provides hope for a better Chad.
Tom and Sheri served at Harvest for several years and Tom owned a software company. In mid-life, they sensed God’s call to sell the company and attend seminary at Columbia International in Columbia, SC. After that, they began ministry in Chad. |
Nystroms | Papua New Guinea
Ministry Website |
John and Bonnie Nystrom have been training local pastors in Papua New Guinea since 1987 to translate the Bible into their own languages and coaching them through the process from first draft to publication. They now do most of that work from the US, where they are primary caregivers for their parents. John returns to Papua New Guinea once each year to work with the translators in person.
They serve in the Aitape West Translation Project, which is producing Bible translations in 11 languages in print, electronic, audio, and video form; training local people to use the translations; and assisting the local translators as they help other translators do the same in still more languages. |
Tsutserovs | Russia
Ministry Website |
Sasha Tsutserov, a Russian and former communist, is Rector and Professor of Biblical Studies at Moscow Evangelical Christian Seminary. He previously studied at Asbury Theological Seminary (USA) and University of St. Andrews (Scotland).
Sasha is pleased with the progress at the Moscow Seminary. "95% of all of our graduates are in ministry, which is a great number. They go and plant churches, they join a mission group, they go to the places where neither you or I (for that matter) would be able to go because Russia alone is 11 times zones. It’s a huge land.” |
Local Missions Include...
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ESL (English as a second language). People from many countries whose native language is not English gather weekly to learn to speak English, with the Bible as the primary textbook.
International Students and Scholars. Several Harvesters are involved with doing life and sharing with those who have come to Charlotte as students or visiting scholars. There are many great stories of students and scholars who came to the U.S. with little or no understanding of who God is but have returned to their home countries after their time here as followers of Jesus Christ. Vacation Bible School. The third week in July, close to 200 children enjoy a week of fun and learning about God. |