Introducing our 2026 Plenary Speakers:
|
Jason Mandryk
Jason Mandryk grew up in Winnipeg, although he is old enough to have St. Boniface listed on his birth certificate. After deciding to follow Jesus and somehow surviving to adulthood, he earned his MA in Global Christian Studies from Providence University College and Theological Seminary. He then moved to England as a “short-term missionary,” but ended up living there for more than 20 years while serving with Operation World, a ministry of WEC International. His mission work has also taken him to the MV Doulos, Singapore, and South Korea, where he currently resides with his wife, Becky. From Seoul, Jason leads a diverse and fully virtual Operation World team spread across 16 time zones. He finds deep joy and satisfaction in being part of a ministry that sits at the intersection of global missions, Christian research, and intercessory prayer. Helping followers of Jesus connect the dots between their lives, the wider world, and the Great Commission is a delight to him—especially when it involves data, maps, and charts! |
|
Aaron Pierce
Aaron Pierce serves as the International Mission Director of Steiger International, a global mission organization dedicated to mobilizing followers of Jesus to reach young people who would not walk into a church. Aaron is deeply passionate about inspiring and equipping followers of Jesus to live lives of radical faith and to courageously share the message of Jesus in our increasingly secularized culture. His prayer is that God would raise up a radical missionary movement that will transform the Global Youth Culture for Jesus. Aaron’s most important role is his role as husband to Jennifer and dad to Asher, Selah, Hudson, and Wesley. Aaron and his family live in Minneapolis, MN (USA). |
|
Dr. Mary Ho
Dr. Mary Ho is the International Executive Leader of All Nations (http://allnations.international), a global Christian missions organization with workers making disciples and church planting in 45 countries. She also serves as an adjunct professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, co-leading a three-year doctoral program on “Mission, Development and Leadership in the Global Christian Context.” Dr. Ho is passionate about finishing the Great Commission in this generation by sharing the love of God among every people and in parts of the world where the name of Jesus Christ is little or not known. Dr. Ho received her Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University, VA, U.S.A. in 2016. She is married to John and have two young adult sons. |
|
Timothy Tennent
Timothy Tennent joined the faculty of Beeson Divinity School in January 2025 after serving for 15 years as the president of Asbury Theological Seminary. He previously directed the missions programs at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary from 1998 to 2009. He teaches courses in missiology, with degrees in Islam and Hinduism, focusing on the Christian response within those contexts. Dr. Tennent has also served for more than three decades as a regular adjunct professor of missions at the Luther W. New Jr. College in Dehra Dun, India. He has published many books, including Building Christianity on Indian Foundations, Christianity at the Religious Roundtable, Theology in the Context of World Christianity, Invitation to World Missions, For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality and the Human Body, and Foundations of the Christian Faith. He has a long-standing interest in the Psalms, having published both a metrical psalter and a theological journey through the Psalms with his wife, Julie. Dr. Tennent is ordained in the Global Methodist Church and served as a pastor early in his career. He is married to Julie, and they have two children: Jonathan, a CPA in Lexington, Kentucky, and Bethany, a Bible translator and missionary in Tanzania. |
