Come Together Go Further Results!

It was a great year to “Come Together” for our annual, regional, free, event…no snow, clear skies, keynote speakers all present and accounted for – and attendees coming with a desire to take this opportunity to “Go Further” in their personal or church life!

A significant highlight was a panel discussion that Brian Heerwagen, and John Jordan had with Dr. Dan Sered, a Christian Jew from Israel, and Dr. Fares Abraham, a Christian Palestinian from Bethlehem.  It was called “Consider the Global Church Response to the Middle East” and in a thoughtful, relaxed manner, they encouraged us to consider that both people groups need the Lord Jesus, and the life that only He can offer. We should not view the conflict as between “winners” and “losers” but with the eyes of compassion that Jesus would have for both sides. You may view it here.

Another highlight was the interview done with Tim & Gina Swanson who attended MissionConnexion Northwest years ago and ended up serving in the Philippines for nine years returning to the Grants Pass area to continue the ministry now among North Americans stateside.

And yet another…was being led in worship by The Collective a worship team from New Life Church in Conway, Arkansas, whose lives had all been impacted by having taken the Perspectives course together which led them to form this group! They also led worship for the 50^th Anniversary Perspectives Celebration conference last summer hosted by Moody Bible Institute. Have you taken this 15-week, life-changing course yet?

Those who came together in person reflected how they would take next steps to go further…

• “MissionConnexion was part of our walk to a specific mission in South Sudan to reopen a mission hospital after their civil war closed it. This, plus Perspectives and MissionNext helped us think through our reason to pursue the next step, make ourselves available to say “yes” to God’s next open door and walk into this ministry over the last 4 years. We have finished the startup phase.”
• “Christina Zeeb challenged us to begin to ask “Have you had a spiritual dream or experience?” as a conversation starter. And I have begun asking this and have had the most amazing conversations and opportunities for prayer.”
• “I brought a group of Teenagers who work in our Christian Youth in Action program to expose them to the wider world of missions. It was great to see them grow in their own skills and knowledge of missions.”
• “I connected with an agency to take the next step in Mission.”
• “I am a certified language interpreter. Pray Lord will give me courage and wisdom to share the gospel.”
• “I bring the high school students that I take abroad each year as part of their training. MC gives them a much bigger view of God´s work in the world.”
• “Our workshop was a lot more energetic than last year. We were full the whole time. We now have 9 people involved in training that signed up.”
• “We have been in Japan for over 50 years and yet return to do retired volunteer work on a regular basis AND also work with Japanese here in greater Portland. There are many opportunities to serve the Lord found at the many booths at MissionConnexion and this is an encouragement to me to find more meaningful ministries here.”

Attendees participating in person and online also had some planned and unexpected encounters…

• 1,600 attendees came in person from a variety of backgrounds and locations…
• 370 Churches were represented!
• Individuals: 37% attended for the first time!
• 31 States: Attendees from over 60% of the USA were represented in person including, in descending order: OR, WA, CA, TX, CO, ID, FL, PA, AZ, GA, IL, IN, MI, AK, WI, NC, TN, AR, MN, AL, MO, OK, KY, NE, NH, NY, VA, WV, MD, OH, RI, with first-timers joining us from Wisconsin, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, New York, and Maryland. Our online Live-Streaming audience included these, PLUS Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Iowa.
• 10 Countries came In-Person: Dominican Republic, Singapore, Ecuador, Jamaica, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Switzerland, and India.
• 5 Countries Watched Online besides the US, these countries joined online: Dominican Republic, Canada, Great Britain, Jamaica, Ireland,
• 103 Exhibitors was the most we have ever welcomed – and at least one college president worked their booth… Dr John Mark Yeats of Corban University enthusiastically engaged potential students!
• 90 Workshops: over 450 on average attended workshops during each of the four sessions with 20 tracks and 90 sessions to choose from. Listen to all of them here.
• Recordings of Workshop Sessions dealing with Apologetics, Spiritual Warfare, Bible Translation, and so many other topics you may access on our website here.
• Short-Term Mission (STM) Connexion provided a “conference within a conference” for the second year in a row, and Care Connexion also followed suit with an emphasis on missionary care.
• Videos: If you missed any of the Keynote sessions with Patrice Tsague, Randy Remington, Matthew Ellison, or Michelle Atwell, you may find them on our website here.
• Gift Match Challenge: generous MissionConnexion donors invested $35,000 toward a principal amount with hopes it could be matched during the January event. We are 78% of the way to reaching our Match Goal so if you would like to donate, you may do so online here, or send a check.
• Finally, in response to the “Next Steps” invitation at the closing of the last session, many people came to the front indicating their desire to serve as a Learn-er, Pray-er, Mobilizer, Sender, Welcomer, or Go-er!

Do you have a desire to “Go Further” in 2025? If so, we would love to hear about it! Write us here.

Thank you for joining us! With the help of the LORD, please plan to attend MissionConnexion Northwest, January 16-17, 2026, at a location yet to be determined where our speaker will be Dr. Ed Stetzer!