SPECIAL OFFER | As a listener of the show, you can get 25% off Josh Irby's new book, The Barnabas Factor, by using the code IVPOD25 at checkout at ivpress.com. We hope you enjoy this season!

[Editor’s note: Unfortunately, after the wonderful conversation we had with Layo and Kate, we discovered there were significant problems with the audio files. The conversation was too good to throw out, so we did all we could to rescue the audio. Please excuse the issues, and press through–the conversation is worth it!]

In Season 3 of Mission Shift, we engage in round-table conversations with contributors to the new InterVarsity Press book, The Barnabas Factor. Join us as contributors from around the world examine different parts of Barnabas’ life, ministry, and character–and then consider how they apply in this exciting era of global missions.

If you’re engaged in global missions, the topics are pertinent and conversations are challenging–but the occasional discomfort is worthwhile as we all seek to help everyone, everywhere make their best contribution to God’s global mission.

In this episode we talk to Kate Pocklington and Layo Leiva about visibility and mutuality as seen in the life and ministry of Barnabas.

Find guest bios below and past episodes of Mission Shift here.

Kate Pocklington

Kate Pocklington has been involved in God’s beautifully complex mission all of her life, based in four nations across three continents. She currently has a dual role in global mission, where she oversees leadership development and mission formation for the Pioneers Oceania Region, while also seeing Pioneers adopt the rich peacemaking framework and shared language at a global level. Kate has a Doctorate of Intercultural Studies from Fuller Seminary, with a focus in prayer. Her first book, Shaped by the Spirit, was released in 2024. You can enjoy more of Kate’s mission formation writing at Substack's Shaped by the Spirit.

Layo Leiva

H. Ladislao Leiva, originally from El Salvador, began his ministry as a full-time missionary with Campus Crusade for Christ on October 1, 1978, after completing his training in Cuernavaca, Mexico. He studied linguistics and journalism at the José Simeón Cañas University in San Salvador, El Salvador. In 2006 he did postgraduate studies on transformational leadership at the Universidad Iberoamericana de Liderazgo in Orlando, Florida, USA. He is also a certified life coach.

Recently, he served as the area team leader for Latin America and the Caribbean from 2010 to 2021. Since 2022 he has served as the regional facilitator for the Leader Strategies Network, coordinating twelve Campus Crusade for Christ ministries that seek to reach and mobilize leaders and influencers in the major Latin American and Caribbean cities.

For almost five decades, Ladislao and his wife have disci-pled, taught, mentored, and coached multiple generations of missionaries, students, professionals, executives, politicians, and entrepreneurs, helping them become principled leaders impacting their cities and nations with the gospel of the king-dom. Happily married to Luchy since 1981, they have three adult sons, three granddaughters, and one grandson. They reside in San José, Costa Rica, where they have lived since 2013.

SPECIAL OFFER | As a listener of the show, you can get 25% off Josh Irby's new book, The Barnabas Factor, by using the code IVPOD25 at checkout at ivpress.com. We hope you enjoy this season!

In Season 3 of Mission Shift, we engage in round-table conversations with contributors to the new InterVarsity Press book, The Barnabas Factor. Join us as contributors from around the world examine different parts of Barnabas’ life, ministry, and character–and then consider how they apply in this exciting era of global missions.

If you’re engaged in global missions, the topics are pertinent and conversations are challenging–but the occasional discomfort is worthwhile as we all seek to help everyone, everywhere make their best contribution to God’s global mission.

In this episode we talk to Jay Mātenga and Ron & Star Nelson about encouragement and “along-siding” as seen in the life and ministry of Barnabas.

Find guest bios below and past episodes of Mission Shift here.

Ron & Star Nelson

Ron and Star Nelson are a devoted husband-and-wife team who founded Sowing Seeds of Joy Ministries in 2007 to mobilize and equip people of color for crosscultural mission work. Ron, a former world-class sprinter, police officer, military veteran, US Postal Inspector, and ordained minister, serves as a mission mobilizer and Perspectives course coordinator and instructor. Star, a retired postmaster with decades of government and IRS service, brings strong logistical expertise and training skills to coleading mission mobilization efforts and coordinating numerous teams. Together, their passion has taken them to dozens of countries, and they've inspired churches, particularly those among underrepresented communities, to actively engage in global missions.

Jay Mātenga

Dr Jamie (Jay) Mātenga is a contextual theologian of Māori heritage with over 30 years of experience serving cross-cultural missions. In addition to his ministry among Māori, Jamie is the Co-Leader of the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission and the Opinion Editor at Christian Daily International. These roles combine his passion to encourage participation in the purposes of God by amplifying least heard Christian voices, while also promoting discussions in contextual theology and the Church’s unity within tensions created by diversity and a maturing world Christianity. Jamie keeps an archive of presentation material and blog essays on his website: https://jamiematenga.com.

SPECIAL OFFER | As a listener of the show, you can get 25% off Josh Irby's new book, The Barnabas Factor, by using the code IVPOD25 at checkout at ivpress.com. We hope you enjoy this season!

In Season 3 of Mission Shift, we engage in round-table conversations with contributors to the new InterVarsity Press book, The Barnabas Factor. Join us as contributors from around the world examine different parts of Barnabas’ life, ministry, and character–and then consider how they apply in this exciting era of global missions.

If you’re engaged in global missions, the topics are pertinent and conversations are challenging–but the occasional discomfort is worthwhile as we all seek to help everyone, everywhere make their best contribution to God’s global mission.

In this episode we talk to Slavko Hadžić, Lazarus Phiri, and Rev. Jun Than about sent-ness, Koinonia, and suffering as seen in the life and ministry of Barnabas.

Find guest bios below and past episodes of Mission Shift here.

Slavko Hadžić

Slavko Hadžić is the husband of Sanja and father of Jovana and David. He lives in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he pastored a local evangelical church for sixteen years. His passion in ministry is evangelism and preaching. Today he serves as chairman and evangelist with FEUER (Fellowship of Evangelists at Universities of Europe, the associate director for Langham Preaching in Europe and the Caribbean, and president of the association Good News. He is coauthor of the evangelistic book Cross on a Hill (2018).

Lazarus Phiri

Lazarus Phiri is married to Rachel, and they have two grown sons, Immanuel and Jeremiah, who is married to Taryn. Lazarus is a globally recognized Zambian scholar and leader deeply invested in Christian mission, theological education, and anticorruption advocacy. His comprehensive international academic training and leadership roles-including at Lausanne congresses and in higher education-equip him to contribute to the missiological reflection of the global church. Lazarus serves with Pioneers and actively leads integrity-focused initiatives that call the global church to ethical, justice-oriented engagement.

Rev. Jun Tan

Rev. Jun Tan is a multicultural pastor, Bible teacher, and former rocket scientist-in-training whose journey from the tea fields of Hunan to the pulpits of Melbourne reflects a life transformed by Christ. Born and raised in China as a staunch atheist, he encountered Jesus in 1998 after immigrating to Australia. He now serves as senior pastor at Balwyn Baptist Church, where he champions intercultural discipleship, sacrificial community, gospel-shaped transformation, and incarnational mission. Jun holds three master’s degrees—two in theology and one in materials science—and lectures part-time in theological education. His short-term mission work in China and Hong Kong continues to challenge the church to embrace costly communion over comfort and presence over performance.