Unsung Heroes
During this 30th anniversary year of Frontline Missions, I want to introduce you to some of my unsung heroes in this 30-year-long journey. There is a real risk in doing this because in a small four-part series this year I can’t tell you about all the people who have deeply impacted my life and shaped who we are as a mission.
But this is an old problem. For example, we know of Paul and Barnabas from Acts, as well as Silas, Timothy, and Luke. But in Romans 16, Paul pulls back the curtain on just one church and mentions nearly 40 people who had shared in and shaped his ministry. So, I’ll introduce you to a handful this year, but if I had time and space, I would pull back the curtain and let you meet so many more unsung heroes of Frontline: like Katie Bate (our first bookkeeper) and Marian Lombardo and her team (in her words) of “old, blue-haired prayer warriors in California.” Marian recently went Home to be with the Lord, but the impact of her faith and prayers live on.
And to take up a line from Hebrews 11, “and what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of” Al Carper, Jan Tolwinski, Stewart Custer, Steve Leatherwood, Alexei Beloborodov, Czeslaw Bassara, Natasha Vins, Misko Horvatek, Paul Choo, Allan Sherer, Danny Brooks, Chun Yan, Kay Hong and May Lim, Beth K., Michael Alemu, Pete Hansen, Andy Johnson, Pavlo Parfenyuk, Tahir Talipov. . . OK, you get the idea! But for now, let me introduce you to my friend and long-time colleague, John Hutcheson.
This is John’s 20th year with Frontline. Prior to his joining the team, he served for 25 years as a pastor in Georgia, where he and his wife Lois raised nine children. Many of you reading this have met John and Lois in John’s role as director of church relations for Frontline. He has preached in all 50 states, and beyond his pulpit ministry and introducing FMI to churches, he has counseled many individuals as they considered the implications of the Great Commission in their own lives.
If all that weren’t enough, John also spearheads Frontline’s advocacy work in Washington, DC, on behalf of persecuted Christians. John’s deep knowledge of the workings of Capitol Hill and his network of agency leaders, staffers, senators, and congressmen have made a difference for many jailed pastors and persecuted house churches in distant lands. John also oversees Frontline’s work in the former Soviet republics. In that capacity, John has made over 40 trips to Ukraine, including many long treks across Russia, and numerous visits to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan. These are not photo-ops and hotels-hops but rather boots-on-the-ground ministry. His work has been borne in the grit, sweat, and wearying journeys of the long campaign of Kingdom advance. John’s labors as a teacher, preacher, and mentor have been fruitful and have earned the trust and won the hearts of our Gospel partners in that part of the world. In short, John is a Swiss Army knife of talents and tenacity in the cause of Christ!
John will be retiring from Frontline at the end of 2022. In his “retirement,” John and Lois plan to move to Georgia to help out at the church where their son pastors, and John will also be available for special assignments for Frontline.
John Hutcheson has been one of the pillars of this ministry, and I’m so grateful for each of the years we’ve had together in this work. If you haven’t yet met John, he has a full slate of church meetings this year, so I hope you’ll get an opportunity to meet my dear friend and Gospel partner.