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Mike and Mary Wagner's Personal Support Page

Organized by Mike Wagner

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our aith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2

Is there such a thing as a senior missionary? We reckon it’s so as we’ve reached an age - when, how we’ve been able to strive, and where we’ve been able to thrive in the past has become increasingly problematic - though our passion and desire to trust and obey all Jesus commanded remains! 

As God’s adopted children, we love God, we love God’s family, and we love the whosoever’s He is calling to Himself. And as missionaries with e3 Partners Ministry since the late 1990's, we love serving Christ’s church, albeit, in deeply varied ways.

Initially, late 1990’s onwards, for almost ten (10) years our primary church planting ministry focus was both in South America (mainly Costa Rica) and in Russia. Later, as focus within the e3 Partners ministry began to change and evolve, e3 church planting missionaries (like ourselves) were encouraged to both facilitate “kingdom growth” beyond our taking short-term mission teams internationally and simple church planting (addition methodology). E3 Partners’ leadership began exhorting us to seek “in country” partnerships with our training and short-term teams modeling what Jesus modeled when on earth (MAWL) towards the hope that GOD-sized church planting movements begin indigenously (multiplicative methodology).

Look to Jesus! Follow Jesus! Rely upon the Holy Spirit! Go to where “God’s kingdom is not”, training and teaching those mission teams we lead to also train and teach by modeling, assisting, watching, lettering back (MAWL) what we’ve seen Jesus teach and model! In our souls we now deemed it most important to do the needful in reaching the hard to reach, the unengaged, the unreconciled, the troubled … peoples and tribes of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this, God now led us to primarily focus exclusively upon two (2) areas of the world: the "Horn of Africa" and the Asian sub-continent called “India".

The Horn of Africa, for us, meant focusing our church planting efforts in troubled Rwanda, a country torn apart by tribal genocide. Oh, how GOD worked in Rwanda! He invited us to join Him as He then favored our ministry there - 2005 to 2016 - as we saw 100’s, even 10’s of 100’s, of new churches planted … with Rwandans from every tribe making professions of faith before we sensed our church planting ministry there was completed; in that by 2016, God had raised up both incredibly gifted Rwandan Christian leaders and an impassioned e3 Community Transformation leadership team to carry on in Rwanda. 

India's mission went differently for us.  We heard and considered an e3 India Strategy Leader’s invitation to minister there beginning in 2004-2005. As we prayed, we learned India had over 5000 people groups or tribes, unreached and/or unengaged - almost one (1) billion people - a billion men, women, and children who’d never heard the name of Jesus!  Now traveling to India and experiencing this unimaginable lostness ... chaos seemingly everywhere ... we heard from the Lord to begin working there with the Banjara church (located in south central India) in hopes of reaching an unreached tribal group of 40 million people called the Banjara Gypsy. The next few years, while splitting our efforts between Rwanda, Africa and India, ministry to the Banjara tribal group led to a series of “run, stop, run, step back, walk, caution, …” all glory to God yet “traction” never quite realized.  

In 2011 God redirected (?!?) and ministry plans changed! A series of events led to our first assisting another e3 expedition team who’d canceled their plans to travel in another country now considered “too dangerous”. Needing a new location, they asked us if anyone could help them which led to our offering them a location we’d already prepared to receive our own e3 team … but later in the year. Now scrambling to find a site for our own team (expedition), we were offered a new ministry location which we subsequently accepted in the India state of Maharashtra with entirely different unreached people groups and an entirely different network of churches.

God, ever faithful, now orchestrated we now be introduced to a small church network of 14 churches comprised of about 1500 men and women who dreamed of reaching their surrounding villages and beyond with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fervent prayer warriors, blessed with biblical vision and faithfulness, these men and women were open to receiving, what was for them, new methodologies and trainings on how they might expand God’s kingdom. Together, we evangelized and discipled new believers according to what the Bible commanded and an e3 Partners' India strategy of multiplying churches through building coalitions. Over the next few years, it was evident that our LORD God had birthed a God-sized, church planting movement - to God be all the glory!

And the fruitful work in this part of India (now called the MSR) continues today but in 9 states rather than one. The strategy remains very much the same although e3 USA strategy leadership has changed so let’s update what’s gone on since late 2020 … what mission’s ministry looks like for Mary and I in 2023 … 

Since late 2020, I’ve (Mike) stepped away from fulltime MSR strategy and trip leadership; albeit, continuing to serve the MSR church planting movement in a number of small ways. Additionally, I have served as an occasional participant/trainer on 2021-23 virtual mission trips and am currently signed up to travel and participate on two (2) trips to India this November. Moreover, in 2020 I became actively involved with another e3 Partners Ministry (briefly mentioned earlier) mission called I Am Second (IAS).

Working a reduced work schedule, I minister as a voluntary coach for IAS as a responder, a discipleship facilitator, and as an IAS New Testament distributor. As a responder, this consists of my being asked to respond to those who request (through the I Am Second website) someone to talk to regarding their relationship (or lack of relationship) with Jesus Christ, their lack of discipleship, their lack of someone to talk to about Jesus, and/or their desire for fellowship with other Christians. This role often leads one to form and facilitate new I Am Second bible fellowships (or add inquirers to existing zoom and live fellowships) using discipleship methods used while on the field in discipleship themes such as Stories of Hope, Commands of Christ, studying through a gospel together, etc. Finally, as a distributor, I’ve been tasked to emphasize the “IAS discipleship opportunity” via the distribution of free IAS NTs (QR tagged) by installing and replenishing IAS New Testaments displays at varying distribution points in North Alabama.

During this period, Mary has actually increased her e3 mission activities! With the MSR strategy remaining very much the same, the e3 USA strategy leadership has changed. Today Mary Wagner oversees the North American e3 work in the MSR as one of two MSR e3 Strategy Coordinators working alongside our Indian partners to reach their population of over 500 million men, women, and children of 1000+ unreached and unengaged people groups. This she does while doing all she has always done!!! And in addition to her e3 MSR activities, Mary also serves as an IAS Second coach fielding I Am Second (IAS) gender specific requests for discipleship.

Thank you for the countless ways you have come alongside us for so many years! We move forward in faith, trusting the Lord to sustain us until we are called home!

 Mike and Mary

  • An Updated Past and Present Review of M&M's e3 Ministry!

    Posted a week ago

    Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 12:1-2

    Is there such a thing as a senior missionary? We reckon it’s so as we’ve reached an age - when, how we’ve been able to strive, and where we’ve been able to thrive in the past has become increasingly problematic - though our passion and desire to trust and obey all Jesus commanded remains! 

    As God’s adopted children, we love God, we love God’s family, and we love the whosoever’s He is calling to Himself. And as missionaries with e3 Partners Ministry since the late 1990's, we love serving Christ’s church, albeit, in deeply varied ways.

    Initially, late 1990’s onwards, for almost ten (10) years our primary church planting ministry focus was both in South America (mainly Costa Rica) and in Russia. Later, as focus within the e3 Partners ministry began to change and evolve, e3 church planting missionaries (like ourselves) were encouraged to both facilitate “kingdom growth” beyond our taking short-term mission teams internationally and simple church planting (addition methodology). E3 Partners’ leadership began exhorting us to seek “in country” partnerships with our training and short-term teams modeling what Jesus modeled when on earth (MAWL) towards the hope that GOD-sized church planting movements begin indigenously (multiplicative methodology).

    Look to Jesus! Follow Jesus! Rely upon the Holy Spirit! Go to where “God’s kingdom is not”, training and teaching those mission teams we lead to also train and teach by modeling, assisting, watching, lettering back (MAWL) what we’ve seen Jesus teach and model! In our souls we now deemed it most important to do the needful in reaching the hard to reach, the unengaged, the unreconciled, the troubled … peoples and tribes of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this, God now led us to primarily focus exclusively upon two (2) areas of the world: the "Horn of Africa" and the Asian sub-continent called “India".

    The Horn of Africa, for us, meant focusing our church planting efforts in troubled Rwanda, a country torn apart by tribal genocide. Oh, how GOD worked in Rwanda! He invited us to join Him as He then favored our ministry there - 2005 to 2016 - as we saw 100’s, even 10’s of 100’s, of new churches planted … with Rwandans from every tribe making professions of faith before we sensed our church planting ministry there was completed; in that by 2016, God had raised up both incredibly gifted Rwandan Christian leaders and an impassioned e3 Community Transformation leadership team to carry on in Rwanda.

    India's mission went differently for us.  We heard and considered an e3 India Strategy Leader’s invitation to minister there beginning in 2004-2005. As we prayed, we learned India had over 5000 people groups or tribes, unreached and/or unengaged - almost one (1) billion people - a billion men, women, and children who’d never heard the name of Jesus!  Now traveling to India and experiencing this unimaginable lostness ... chaos seemingly everywhere ... we heard from the Lord to begin working there with the Banjara church (located in south central India) in hopes of reaching an unreached tribal group of 40 million people called the Banjara Gypsy. The next few years, while splitting our efforts between Rwanda, Africa and India, ministry to the Banjara tribal group led to a series of “run, stop, run, step back, walk, caution, …” all glory to God yet “traction” never quite realized.  

    In 2011 God redirected (?!?) and ministry plans changed! A series of events led to our first assisting another e3 expedition team who’d canceled their plans to travel in another country now considered “too dangerous”. Needing a new location, they asked us if anyone could help them which led to our offering them a location we’d already prepared to receive our own e3 team … but later in the year. Now scrambling to find a site for our own team (expedition), we were offered a new ministry location which we subsequently accepted in the India state of Maharashtra with entirely different unreached people groups and an entirely different network of churches.

    God, ever faithful, now orchestrated we now be introduced to a small church network of 14 churches comprised of about 1500 men and women who dreamed of reaching their surrounding villages and beyond with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Fervent prayer warriors, blessed with biblical vision and faithfulness, these men and women were open to receiving, what was for them, new methodologies and trainings on how they might expand God’s kingdom. Together, we evangelized and discipled new believers according to what the Bible commanded and an e3 Partners' India strategy of multiplying churches through building coalitions. Over the next few years, it was evident that our LORD God had birthed a God-sized, church planting movement - to God be all the glory!

    And the fruitful work in this part of India (now called the MSR) continues today but in 9 states rather than one. The strategy remains very much the same although e3 USA strategy leadership has changed so let’s update what’s gone on since late 2020 … what mission’s ministry looks like for Mary and I in 2023 …

    Since late 2020, I’ve (Mike) stepped away from fulltime MSR strategy and trip leadership; albeit, continuing to serve the MSR church planting movement in a number of small ways. Additionally, I have served as an occasional participant/trainer on 2021-23 virtual mission trips and am currently signed up to travel and participate on two (2) trips to India this November. Moreover, in 2020 I became actively involved with another e3 Partners Ministry (briefly mentioned earlier) mission called I Am Second (IAS).

    Working a reduced work schedule, I minister as a voluntary coach for IAS as a responder, a discipleship facilitator, and as an IAS New Testament distributor. As a responder, this consists of my being asked to respond to those who request (through the I Am Second website) someone to talk to regarding their relationship (or lack of relationship) with Jesus Christ, their lack of discipleship, their lack of someone to talk to about Jesus, and/or their desire for fellowship with other Christians. This role often leads one to form and facilitate new I Am Second bible fellowships (or add inquirers to existing zoom and live fellowships) using discipleship methods used while on the field in discipleship themes such as Stories of Hope, Commands of Christ, studying through a gospel together, etc. Finally, as a distributor, I’ve been tasked to emphasize the “IAS discipleship opportunity” via the distribution of free IAS NTs (QR tagged) by installing and replenishing IAS New Testaments displays at varying distribution points in North Alabama.

    During this period, Mary has actually increased her e3 mission activities! With the MSR strategy remaining very much the same, the e3 USA strategy leadership has changed. Today Mary Wagner oversees the North American e3 work in the MSR as one of two MSR e3 Strategy Coordinators working alongside our Indian partners to reach their population of over 500 million men, women, and children of 1000+ unreached and unengaged people groups. This she does while doing all she has always done!!! And in addition to her e3 MSR activities, Mary also serves as an IAS Second coach fielding I Am Second (IAS) gender specific requests for discipleship.

    Thank you for the countless ways you have come alongside us for so many years! We move forward in faith, trusting the Lord to sustain us until we are called home!

    Mike and Mary


    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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  • Happy New Year!

    Posted a week ago

    Happy New Year!

    2021 is coming to a close and we want to say thank you for partnering with us! God is at work, despite the difficult times we live in. 

    2022 is full of plans to go virtually and in person to India. Thank you for praying with us as we move forward in faith. trusting God in everything!

    May we commit our plans to the LORD; trust in Him, and trust that He will do it. (Psalm 37:5)

    Please let us know how we can pray specifically for you in 2022.

    Blessings and love from Mike and Mary!

    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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  • Quick Update!

    Posted a week ago

    Greetings!

    We have finally updated this page and wanted to share it with you!

    As you know, it's the aim of the Indian government to eliminate Christians and make it a Hindu nation. With the re-election of Prime Minister Modi, the intensity to achieve that goal has escalated.

    Because our goal is to advance GOD'S kingdom, we know the teams that "go" are a threat to the enemy and he will send out his demonic assassins to destroy us, sometimes silently without even realizing what is happening until it’s too late, if God does not intervene. We are thankful that God was with our team and He answered our prayers. Even if the outcome had been different, we know that He was with us and we are forever grateful!

    Due to the quick exit in July, we had to postpone the Women's Conference and cancel the third summer expedition team. It was disappointing for everyone, but we know God's ways are MUCH higher than our ways!

    God has worked it out for a team of three women to travel back to India on September 21st for the Women's Conference.  Please pray for the women that had to reschedule. It's not an easy task in India to arrange childcare, meals and transportation to a conference. Our prayer is that every woman scheduled to attend in July will be there in September! We will be sending a prayer calendar through the MSR prayer team soon. If you are not receiving the updates, please CLICK HERE to sign up.

    We are grateful for you ... our supporters and prayer warriors. Thank you for all you do to help advance God's Kingdom!

    Mike and Mary

    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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  • God's Grace and Marcy!

    Posted a week ago

    Beloved!

    With everything that is happening here and around the world, our mission is now more critical than ever! There is only one solution ... Jesus Christ!

    God always gives us reason to celebrate! We want to share some recent events in our lives that we are CELEBRATING God’s grace and mercy!

    God’s grace and mercy ... we bought a house! We have been renting a two-story townhouse from Mike’s brother for 13 years. We had a moving deadline of December, 2017 and God quickly provided us a one story home that wasn’t even for sale! Jesus tells us in Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” That about sums it up!

    How were we able to buy a house? We tried for years to purchase term (new) life insurance in order to be able to cancel old policies that had built up cash value. But life insurance companies rated us “poor risks” because of our life’s ministry and because of the dangerous places we travel to … Yet in God’s perfect timing, when Mike and I decided to both apply again for term life insurance, we found open doors! We were both not only approved but at extremely reasonable rates! With the freed up insurance cash and with a gift from Mike’s mother and the insurance cash, we were able to make a solid down payment on the house that enabled our purchasing the house with payments being even lower than our years of rent payments! Many of you have faithfully supported us financially and we thank you for your part in our being able to purchase a single story home! Thank you!

    We look forward to the new ministry God has in store for us in our new neighborhood. Our new address is 103 Crystal Pond Ct. / Madison, AL 35757

    God’s grace and mercy ... I (Mary) was traveling 65 miles per hour during rush hour on I-565 when a car entering the highway decided to move directly into the lane I occupied. The impact caused my car to “totter” and pushed me into the next lane. I remember looking in my rear view mirror and seeing a multitude of cars behind me as I tried to gain control and not flip over! I ended up about a quarter of a mile down the highway from the initial impact. I ran to the car that hit me and found a woman with THREE BABIES IN THE BACK SEAT. I immediately praised the Lord and gave the woman a hug. I have never been an amusement park kind of girl ... my experience was not exhilarating, but an opportunity to thank Him for everyone’s safety and a reminder to thank God for His grace and mercy! My car is totaled, but God has already promised us a “new” car!

    We are in the process of training 4 teams for India. Our trips are in November, December, January and February. We are thankful for each team member as we focus on spiritual preparation and spiritual warfare!

    Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. This has been a difficult year with many changes, but we know that God is in control!!!

    Blessings!

    Mike and Mary


    Posted by:
    Mary Wagner

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