On Mission To Reach The World

River Valley 500

We are passionate about fulfilling our vision to raise up and send out 500 full-time missionaries from our church. These people are from all walks of life—young and old, married and single, college students and retired—and everything in between. They have committed to serve God overseas for at least one year and pray about giving Him a lifetime.

These 500 missionaries are known as the River Valley 500.

Watch the story of the 500 below.

Today, over 200 individuals have already been sent to the mission field all over the world.

Missionaries
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Julia Lowenberg (Peterson)

United States

Julia Lowenberg (Peterson)

United States

I’m serving all over the continent of Africa. At the moment, leadership has asked me to temporarily base out of Springfield with the Africa’s Hope team here until a decision is made about where on the continent a new Africa’s Hope team will be based. Until then, I’m traveling regularly to different countries around Africa to teach, meet with church leaders and translation teams, and be involved with a variety of other ministry.

Gloria Biffert

Central African Republic

Gloria Biffert

Central African Republic

Gloria plans to return to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where she will continue teaching in the extension Bible schools, seminaries, and at WAAST in Lomé, Togo. Training of professors in our various Bible schools through APTEA (Association of Pentecostal and Theological Education in Africa) will also be a part of her ministry to help advance their accreditation and train leaders for the future. She will continue to train teachers in the over 800+ AG primary and secondary schools throughout the DRC.

Luke Mckinley

Lithuania

Luke Mckinley

Lithuania

Luke and Tanya McKinley’s mission field is the country of Estonia. Their primary focus is church planting in Tallinn, Estonia. They work with a team of missionaries in a multiplication network.

Greg Owens

South Africa

Greg Owens

South Africa

Cape Town, with a population is 4.5 million people, is known across the continent as the Mother City and is one of the most influential cities on the continent of Africa. With the average age being 29 years old, there is great potential to reaching many university students, young professionals, and families. Nestled behind Table Mountain is the University of Cape Town which is the premier university in all of Africa. Our goal is to launch a thriving Chi Alpha ministry in this influential university of almost 30,000 students. Cape Town is also the Parliamentary capital of South Africa and boasts other major industries like manufacturing, tourism, oil and gas, agriculture, marketing and media in addition to Information Technology an

Kent Linneweh

Netherlands

Kent Linneweh

Netherlands

Planted 5 international churches in The NL. Coaching European church planters as well as assisting new missionaries to complete their callings.

Kyle Trewern

Italy

Kyle Trewern

Italy

Genoa is approximately 1/2 million people with less than 2% recognizing Jesus as Savior of their lives. Italy is home to an estimated 105 documented people groups, 23 of which are considered unreached people groups. Genoa is a port city and an International hub. AGWM has never had a missionary in this city and we are excited to be the first.

John Carrano

Spain

John Carrano

Spain

The Carranos’ ministry is to young adults/students in Spain, as well as church planting & leadership development.

Todd Anderson

India

Todd Anderson

India

Their passion and heart is to reach the unreached peoples of their region, planting multiplying churches among them, and to show God’s love to the poor and needy in their city. Its their dream that as people in these communities encounter Jesus, their lives, their families and ultimately their community would be radically transformed. That dream is starting to become reality and they are excited to see it continue to unfold!

Chad Phillips

United States

Chad Phillips

United States

Chad and Dargain work in North America and minister all over the globe. Their focus is on the missionary families. Chad directs every aspect of the Missionary Kid ministry, from pre-field to re-entry. As a former missionary to Europe, he also still does a few youth camps in Europe.

Douglas Lowenberg

Ethiopia

Douglas Lowenberg

Ethiopia

We stay up to date with information from the Joshua Project and from Evangelical/Pentecostal groups based in Ethiopia by which we can see the numbers of languages, ethnic peoples, churches that have been planted by the major Pentecostal groups in country (including the EAG and the Full Gospel Believers Church of Ethiopia), UPGs in Ethiopia and our surrounding neighbors.

Larry Gruetzmacher

Mexico

Larry Gruetzmacher

Mexico

The Gruetzmachers work directly with Hispanics here in the United States and within several countries in Latin America. Their main focus is to develop leaders, and their schedule is filled with ministry to Hispanic churches; coaching pastors and leaders; leading mission trips with Hispanic students; holding retreats for men, women, and youth; leadership training; and working with 2 Institutes for Church Planters.

Harry Osland

Portugal

Harry Osland

Portugal

The Oslands work in Portugal and Angola in training leadership, Bible education both on campus in Portugal and via extension and focused learning in Angola.
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If God asks you to serve Him overseas for at least a year, your journey will be a series of small steps of obedience toward that goal. Each journey will be filled with different adventures and challenges, but the goal is the same: to bring glory to Jesus Christ. For some, the journey to the mission field will happen relatively quickly, but it will be more difficult and take longer than imagined for others.

The journey will take twists and turns you cannot anticipate, but regardless of how long it takes or where you end up, God is faithful and His timing is perfect. The Global Project team is ready to assist you along the road of obedience.

If you know God is asking you to serve him overseas some day, registering for the Missionary Action Plan (MAP) is a great first step for you! We have created the MAP as a starting point to explore missions at a deeper level.

This process is designed to help you discern the role God is calling you to play in the Great Commission. Whether that be going, sending or supporting, we all have different roles to play.

If you’re ready to register for The Missionary Action Plan, click here.

If you have questions about the River Valley 500, The MAP or general questions about the journey to the field, please feel free to email us at The500@rivervalley.org. 

River Valley 500 Resources

Pray for the 500

Pray for the 500

Adopt one of the River Valley 500 and commit to praying for them daily.

The MAP

The MAP

Support one or more of the River Valley 500 every month.

Give

Give

Support one or more of the River Valley 500 every month.

Missionary Story: Molly’s Call

Missionary Story: Molly’s Call

Molly shares her story of her call to the mission field.

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Quoted from the journal of Jim Elliot, Martyred Missionary to Ecuador