Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It begins as the smallest of seeds and grows into a tree large enough to provide shelter for the birds. From something seemingly insignificant comes something that can change the world.
Over the past 20 years, the team at Outreach magazine has striven to hold up a magnifying glass to the amazing work that God’s Spirit is doing through his church every day, often in efforts that start small, yet grow to have a massive impact. We want to draw attention to the things our human eyes often miss, so that the glorious, unfolding plan of our great God becomes just a little bit clearer to those who hope for his coming.
As we look back to celebrate the past 20 years of God’s faithfulness to use Outreach magazine to encourage his church, we looked back to leaders that shaped and influenced us. In this article, we also want to encourage us to look forward—to learn from the next generation. As such, we wanted to draw from leaders representing a variety of ages and backgrounds, and they serve the Lord in distinct and beautifully creative ways. But what they share in common is a love for God and his church and a passionate commitment to share the good news of the unfolding kingdom in their unique spheres of influence to the glory of God alone.
AUBREY SAMPSON
West Chicago, Illinois
Occupation: Co-planter of Renewal Church in West Chicago, teaching pastor at Renewal Church and Timberlake Church in Seattle
Age: 44
Aubrey Sampson is no stranger to sorrow, but for a long time she didn’t know how to deal with it. She had a particularly difficult 2015 when she lost a dear cousin, was diagnosed with a debilitating disease and was caring for a son with major physical challenges. Her marriage, ministry and faith were stretched to the breaking point.
“I had been a Christian for decades at that point, so I knew that I was called to ‘Rise above’ and to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always,’” Sampson says. “But I was woefully unprepared—in any of my spiritual formation—to deal with crushing grief.”
Out of those experiences and her heart for at-risk women, she embarked on a journey to help the church learn to practice biblical lament as part of our spiritual formation.
Seven years later, she is the author of three books—Overcomer, The Louder Song and Known—co-host of the Nothing Is Wasted podcast, a frequent speaker at conferences and events, and is partnering with Propel Ecclesia to empower women in church leadership.
“Through my writing, preaching, podcasting and broadcasting, God has given me beautiful opportunities to communicate the gospel to hurting souls,” Sampson says. “And I’ve seen them experience his healing.”
JORDAN WHITMER
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation: Founder and CEO of the HowToLife Movement
Age: 24
According to Barna Research, only around 4% of Gen Z holds to a biblical worldview. It’s statistics like this one that drive Jordan Whitmer’s passion to galvanize his generation for the gospel. Growing up in a ministry family as the grandson of evangelist Ron Hutchcraft, sharing his faith has always been part of Whitmer’s life.
In March 2015, when he was a junior in high school, Whitmer and several friends organized the first HowToLife outreach event. The totally student-led event featured worship songs, testimonies and presentations of the gospel. Over 750 students showed up and more than 75 made a commitment to Christ.
Out of that first event emerged a movement and a nonprofit organization that is mobilizing Gen Z to reach Gen Z across the globe. Over the past seven years, 125 HowToLife events have been held in 25 states and six countries, drawing over 25,000 young people with over 2,300 making professions for Christ.
In addition, thousands of young leaders have been equipped for kingdom work. The key is raising up a local team of student leaders to lead each event.
“In order to see Gen Z Christians rapidly discipled, we must turn them loose to lead,” Whitmer says. “Christian youth are less likely to leave the church when they are empowered as teenagers. It is our responsibility to do whatever we can to train, equip and turn loose teens and young adults to lead for Christ.”
CORY ARD
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Occupation: Hip-hop and spoken word artist, urban missionary
Age: 31
As a teenager, Cory Ard was one of the founding leaders of the fastest-growing gang in Colorado Springs. His father had gone to prison for attempted murder when Cory was five months old, leading the boy to turn to the streets to escape the hardships and abuse he faced. But at age 16, God radically saved and transformed him.
Now he uses his powerful testimony to reach out to the gang members, at-risk youth and juvenile detention centers with the hope of the gospel. He also inspires Christians and non-Christians alike through hip-hop, spoken word and leading worship with his singer-songwriter wife Ryann at Zeal Church.
“[Younger leaders] are hungry and ready for truth, authenticity, community and the power of the Holy Spirit,” Ard says. “If you can cultivate those things, both biblically and relevantly, I believe we will see a move.”
FAITH EURY CHO
Paramus, New Jersey
Occupation: Co-pastor of Mosaic Covenant Church in New Jersey, Founder and CEO of The Honor Summit
Age: 36
For as long as she can remember, Faith Eury Cho has been searching for God. She came to America from South Korea when she was four years old, and though she was born into a non-Christian family, she always had a hunger to know her Creator. She finally found Jesus, and became a preacher at age 19. As she has navigated the complexities of being an Asian American female minister, wife, mother and follower of Christ, her heart has grown for marginalized people.
Now she is co-pastor with her husband of Mosaic Covenant Church in New Jersey, a multiethnic church that exists to introduce the presence of God to their neighborhood, and help people discover the worth of knowing Christ. She is also the founder and CEO of The Honor Summit, a growing ministry that centers the voices of Asian American women in the mission of God.
She has appeared on Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Better Together, is a frequent speaker at national events, and is the author of a forthcoming book scheduled for release in the fall of this year, tentatively titled The Purpose of Wilderness (WaterBrook).
“The gift of the gospel is the presence of God, and I believe that everything I do points to that gift,” Eury Cho says. “I have found that no matter what my supposed limitations have been, God’s presence is enough.”
JACOB COYNE
Johnson City, Tennessee
Occupation: Social media evangelist, co-founder of Stay Here
Age: 30
Every 12 minutes there is a death by suicide in the U.S. It’s currently the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans (Save.org). Jacob Coyne, co-founder of Stay Here (StayHere.live), is on a mission to make Gen Z suicide free. Stay Here is a mental health organization that brings awareness, support, community and resources to people struggling with mental illness. To date, they have saved countless lives and trained over 13,000 people to prevent suicide and bring care to the brokenhearted.
Additionally, Coyne reaches out to millions of people through his social media channels every day with the message of the gospel—he has 1.3 million followers on TikTok alone—and has led over 100,000 people to Christ since 2020.
“God has given me a platform to reach millions around the world with the gospel on social media, and in person,” Coyne says. “[He] put a fire in me during my teenage years, and it’s still burning bright today.”
MYRON ROLLE
Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation: Neurosurgery resident at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital, founder of the Caribbean Neurosurgery Foundation
Age: 36
From a young age, Myron Rolle had two dreams: 1) play in the NFL 2) become a neurosurgeon. Even as he pursued his NFL dream as a safety for Florida State University, the medical dream never went away. When he received a Rhodes scholarship, he took a year off from football to attend Oxford University. After being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2010, he spent the next two seasons trying to make it onto the field, with the Titans and briefly with the Pittsburgh Steelers, before deciding in 2013 to let go of his pro football dreams to pursue medicine full time.
Now Rolle is a neurosurgery resident at Harvard-Massachusetts General Hospital and the founder of the Caribbean Neurosurgery Foundation, an outfit that seeks to build capacity and provide timely access to neurological care in his native Bahamas and around the world. He attributes his success to his life philosophy of “the 2% way” of pursuing incremental improvements every day that lead to long-lasting results—which he details in his memoir with the same title—and to his deep faith in God.
“My faith is helping me now as a practicing physician,” Rolle says. “My life could have gone in a whole different direction if God didn’t intervene.”
TORI HOPE PETERSEN
Defiance, Ohio
Occupation: Co-founder of the Beloved Initiative
Age: 26
Tori Hope Petersen spent her childhood in and out of 12 foster homes and living with a mother struggling with mental illness. At 18, she was emancipated and instantly became homeless. But her track coach stepped in with encouragement and the hope of the gospel. She became a four-time state champion in track and field, and graduated from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, on a full-ride athletic scholarship.
Now she is a wife, the mother of two biological children and one adopted young adult, and an advocate for survivors of foster care, human trafficking and abuse. She and her husband are the founders of the Fostering the Good scholarship at her alma mater, and in 2020 they founded the Beloved Initiative, a nonprofit that helps marginalized people and victims of trauma share their testimonies through speaking engagements and writing retreats so they can see how powerful it is that the worst parts of their lives can be used for good.
“Words of encouragement are so important,” Petersen says. “Words are life and death. Speak life.”
This past year she told her story in her bestselling memoir Fostered and was named Mrs. Universe 2022. She continues to build healing spaces and communities for survivors.
JOEL MUDDAMALLE
Charlotte, North Carolina
Occupation: Director of theology and research at Proverbs 31 Ministries
Age: 37
Joel Muddamalle spent a good portion of his life just trying to fit in. He was born in Chicago to immigrant parents, but spent two and a half years of his early life with his grandparents, four aunts and two uncles in India. His earliest memories are of watching his grandparents preach the gospel in rural villages in India, and his first language was Telugu.
When he returned to the States, he felt different from everyone else. But that fish-out-of-water childhood helped him see past petty divisions in the church, and allowed him to deepen his theological knowledge by learning from several different streams of the faith—undergrad at a Pentecostal college, seminary at a Presbyterian institution and a PhD from an SBC seminary.
“The biggest thing I learned in the process is that there is so much more that connects and unifies us than threatens to divide us,” he says.
That ability to bridge theological gaps helps him in his current role on the preaching and teaching team at Transformation Church in South Carolina, and as director of theology and research at Proverbs 31 Ministries, where he co-hosts the Therapy and Theology podcast with Lysa TerKeurst and Jim Cress.
MACKENZIE (MAC) BRIDGES & MACKENZIE (KENZ) DURHAM
Charlotte, North Carolina (Mac)
Nashville, Tennessee (Kenz)
Occupation: Co-founders of Delight Ministries and For the Girl
Ages: 29 (Mac), 30 (Kenz)
MacKenzie (Mac) Bridges (pictured right) and MacKenzie (Kenz) Durham (pictured left) first bonded over a shared name, but now they connect over a shared passion. The two women met in the cafeteria during their freshman year at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and quickly discovered two things: They both had a hunger to follow Jesus, and they both struggled to find authentic Christian community. So, a few months after they met in August 2012, they started a small Bible study for women on their campus, and as their little group grew, they discovered that a lot of other girls longed for the same things they did.
Ten years later, that Bible study has grown into Delight Ministries, a national organization that provides resources for Christ-centered communities of college women at over 200 universities across the nation. Last semester alone, an estimated 14,000 women joined a Delight chapter and experienced the beauty and joy of finding a place to belong.
“It’s wild to think that the prayers we prayed, the conversations we had and the choices we unknowingly made as sophomores in college paved the way for thousands of women to actually find, deepen and solidify their faith in college,” they say.
In addition, Mac and Kenz have created the For the Girl podcast and national tour to help young women encounter Jesus in their everyday life.
“This generation doesn’t need more head knowledge,” they say. “What they need is someone to invest in them and show them what it looks like to live every day out of the heart knowledge of God’s immense love for them.”
ELI BONILLA
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Occupation: Next-Gen director for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Empowered21 North American next-gen co-chair
Age: 30
Eli Bonilla is a powerful voice speaking to the potential of the growing Latino church population in America to transform communities and culture. As a fourth-generation minister on his father’s side and third-generation minister on his mother’s side, and a next-gen director for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) and Empowered21, he is a catalyst in several spheres for the kingdom of God.
Alongside his work convening Latinos and collaborating with the global church, he is also a next-gen pastor at Bethany Church, a multisite, multiethnic church in Louisiana. There he oversees a ministry reaching 11 public schools and two major universities in Baton Rouge. Almost 600 young people have been discipled in those public schools, over 300 inner-city kids have been mentored, and hundreds of university students have experienced gospel community on their campuses.
“Our vision is to see young people transformed by Christ into agents of transformation in both culture and society,” he says.
NOAH HERRIN
Nashville, Tennessee
Occupation: Evangelist, church planter
Age: 27
Though he grew up in a home with parents who are pastors, it wasn’t until Noah Herrin’s senior year of college at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, that he truly gave his life to Christ through a YouTube video a friend showed him. Soon after that, Herrin started a Bible study on campus that grew from nine guys to over 600 students meeting weekly, and became known as The Gathering.
Since 2020, Herrin and his wife have traveled to conferences and events all over the world, sharing the gospel and praying about planting a church. In the past year alone, Herrin has preached the gospel over 50 times and has seen over 7,000 people respond to the good news. Last September, the Herrins and several other families from around the country moved to Nashville to begin fundraising and laying the groundwork for Way Church, with the vision to show the city that there is a better way through the person of Jesus.
“If we want to reach and keep the next generation, we have to teach them practically what it looks like to follow Jesus,” he says. “An encounter with Jesus will set you free, but your habits will keep you free.”
CHICHI ONYEKANNE
Fort Worth, Texas
Occupation: Youth pastor, worship leader, spoken word artist
Age: 30
ChiChi Onyekanne’s path to ministry was unconventional, to say the least. He is one of five children born to immigrant parents, and sought the approval he wasn’t getting at home through popularity at school. On the outside he was excelling, but inside he was plagued by suicidal thoughts. One morning, he went to the local Walmart to pick up his favorite snack food, and an older man he’d never met told Onyekanne he’d been sent by the Lord because God was pursuing Onyekanne and would give him a chance to be “caught.” The next night, he got his chance at a church event where the pastor singled-him out and he gave his life to Christ.
Today, Onyekanne is the youth pastor at Lights Church in Fort Worth, Texas. He travels around the nation to lead worship and help churches and nonprofits develop a better digital presence to further God’s mission for them. He also partners with Fellowship of Christian Athletes to reach 400 students weekly, and partners in digital media spaces every month with ministries that reach millions for the sake of the gospel.
LUKE LeFEVRE
Nashville, Tennessee
Occupation: Founder of Consecrate
Age: 25
Luke LeFevre was raised on stories of the great revivals in history. Learning more about the first and second Great Awakening, the Hebrides Revival, Azusa Street and the Welsh Revival put a fire in his belly to see God do the same thing in his generation. In 2020 he felt God asking him to call young Americans to “consecration” and holiness in preparation of a move of his Spirit.
LeFevre launched Consecrate in fall 2021 as a rallying point for radical holiness, audacious faith and total devotion to Jesus and his mission. Since then, LeFevre has released his first book Holy Unto the Lord, launched a podcast with the same title, established Consecrate Worship to create songs for the movement, and has reached over 1,000 young people.
“The best way to reach the next generation is through the next generation,” he says. “And if we want to do that, it’s going to be messy and require a lot of intentionality, patience and grit.”
MANNY ARANGO
Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Teaching pastor at Social Dallas, creator of the ARMA Bible study platform
Age: 35
Manny Arango’s name might as well be Miracle. His mom was only 13 when she was pregnant with his older sister, and his dad took him to a crack house for the first time when he was five years old. That he escaped his family’s cycle of dysfunction can only be attributed to God.
“My life is proof that God’s grace and redeeming power is real,” he says. “Statistically speaking I should’ve been aborted, incarcerated, uneducated or caught in the cycle that my family of origin got stuck in. But God doesn’t consult statistics when determining our purpose or destiny.” Arango tells his story of God’s redemptive work in his life in Brain Washed (Bethany House).
Today, he’s a teaching pastor at Social Dallas and his passion for biblical literacy and theology led him to create the ARMA online Bible study platform. ARMA is focused on boosting the Bible literacy rates of Christians in America through on-demand courses, community and learning resources. It currently has over 1,100 subscribers.
BRIAN BARCELONA
Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Founder and president of One Voice Student Missions, creator of The Jesus Clubs
Age: 32
Brian Barcelona was saved at 16 years old, and within a matter of years, he went from believing in nothing to preaching the gospel in high schools around the nation and reaching the world online. He founded One Voice Student Missions and The Jesus Clubs with clubs on six continents. Barcelona also is the author of The Jesus Club and Don’t Scroll (both Chosen).
When the pandemic shut down schools in California (where he was living at the time), and he could no longer preach in high schools in person, he became one of the pioneers for evangelism on TikTok, where he has 429,000 followers.
“I believe [God is using my life] to see youth reached with the gospel,” Barcelona says.
FAITH SCHILLER
Chicago, Illinois
Occupation: Associate online campus pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois
Age: 26
Faith Schiller grew up in the same church at which she is now serving. She describes how as an early teen she was shy and introverted, preferring to serve in the kids ministry over attending youth group. But when she was 14, a pastor took her aside and told her that she had leadership potential. From that day forward, she knew she wanted to serve in the church.
After she graduated from college, Schiller joined the Global Leadership Network staff, working with U.S. and International host sites and with the content and speaker acquisitions team. In 2018, she became the young adults pastor at Willow Creek, and she is now the associate online campus pastor.
“I have the opportunity to help build a brand new way to connect with people,” she says. “I am passionate about figuring out ways to leverage technology to help more people learn who Jesus really is.”
GABRIELLE McCULLOUGH
Waco, Texas
Occupation: Evangelist, disciple maker, Bible teacher
Age: 21
Gabrielle McCullough is one of the leading Gen Z female voices, calling her generation to a radical faith and love for Jesus. One person we talked to for this article called her the “Gen Z Beth Moore.”
“From a young age, God met me, pursued me by his grace and radically transformed my heart by the power of the gospel alone,” she says. “I believe that by restoring the Word of God in the next generation, we can give a generation plagued by [relativism] a clear view of who God is and what his Word says.”
McCullough is the college women’s community coordinator at Harris Creek Baptist Church in McGregor, Texas, reaching out to students from nearby Baylor University. In addition, she is a frequent podcast guest and a speaker at events like the Consecrate Conference and Q Ideas.
“I was told once that whoever wants this generation the most will get them. The reality is, there are a lot of voices begging for our attention,” she says. “But I believe with everything in me that Jesus is after this generation.”
DEBARON HUGHES (DJ4:12)
Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation: DJ
Age: 28
Debaron Hughes has always loved music and bringing people together. He played the saxophone from sixth to 10th grade, until one fateful day when he went to a friend’s house and discovered turntables. When the friend’s family decided to sell them, Hughes’ older brother bought them for him, and he’s never looked back.
In 2013, DJ4:12 was born, and since then he’s toured with such artists as Lecrae, Swoope, NF, KB, Tedashii, Canon and Trip Lee. He’s also been a DJ for conferences like Destination Imagination, Creationfest, Catalyst and Propel Women, and events for the Atlanta Track Club. He also serves as a bridge between the gospel and secular music scene, going to places where people aren’t used to hearing Christian music and presenting it in relatable and infectious ways.
“Since I first started deejaying, I told my mother that I wanted to throw a party for Jesus every week,” Hughes says. “I have been given the unique opportunity to create environments where people can come be free in the presence of the Lord.”