Learn, Share, Network

A large conference room with multiple round tables where people are engaged in discussions, working on laptops, and taking notes, with a stage or presentation area at the front.

What We Do

The Global Outreach Network exists to help U.S. churches get better at how they engage in global mission.

We create trusted, peer-driven environments where church-based global mission leaders can step back, think clearly, and sharpen one another around the real challenges of leading global engagement today. This is not content delivery or best-practice broadcasting. It’s a table for leaders who carry responsibility and want to lead with greater clarity, humility, and effectiveness.

GON convenes global mission leaders from North American churches who are navigating strategy, partnerships, discipleship, and outcomes in a rapidly changing world. Together, we challenge outdated models, surface assumptions, and learn from one another’s experience, not theory.

Our work is rooted in a few convictions:

  • Global mission should be relational, humble, and partnership-driven.

  • Effectiveness is measured by long-term outcomes, not activity or volume.

  • Churches grow when leaders learn together in a trusted, honest community.

Participation in GON is limited to church-based global mission leaders. There is no required commitment beyond showing up prepared to engage, listen, and contribute. What you gain is shaped by what you bring.

Our engagement includes:

  • Monthly one-hour peer conversations, designed for focused, honest dialogue.

  • Curated cohorts that journey together over time.

  • Periodic in-person gatherings where relationships deepen and ideas sharpen.

GON is not a program to complete or a platform to consume. It’s a learning environment built for leaders who want to steward global mission wisely, faithfully, and with greater impact.

Mission, Vision, and Values

  • The Global Outreach Network exists to catalyze a movement of church-based mission leaders to steward God’s mission with clarity, pursuing outcomes that create global impact and deeper discipleship at home.

  • We envision a future where the North American Church engages the world with greater wisdom, clarity, and effectiveness, no longer driven by legacy patterns or personal preferences, but guided by discernment and defined outcomes that build up the body of Christ and produce lasting fruit both globally and locally.

  • These values define how the Global Outreach Network operates as an organization. They guide how we convene leaders, facilitate conversations, steward trust, and make decisions.

    1. Biblical Faithfulness

    We believe Scripture shapes both the purpose and the practice of global mission. Biblical truth informs how we define success, partnership, dignity, and transformation.

    2. Clarity and Straight Talk

    We value clear thinking and honest language. Vague goals, fuzzy wins, and activity without purpose undermine faithfulness and effectiveness. We name what matters and say what we mean.


    3. Integrity and Stewardship

    We steward relationships, influence, and trust with care. Leaders bring real challenges into this space, and we handle those conversations with responsibility and discretion.

    4. Peer-Driven Learning

    We believe leaders grow best in trusted, peer environments. GON is designed to surface wisdom from the room rather than deliver answers from a platform.

    5. Courageous Conversations

    We are willing to name tension, challenge assumptions, and engage difficult topics. Growth often requires discomfort, and clarity often requires courage.

    6. Long-View Leadership

    We resist short-term thinking and quick fixes. Sustainable change in churches and global mission practice takes time, patience, and formation.

  • In addition to our organizational values, GON exists to influence how churches think about and practice global mission. These convictions reflect the direction we believe leads to healthier, more faithful engagement over time.

    Outcomes Over Activity

    Movement is not the same as progress. We believe missional impact should be evaluated by measurable fruit and transformation, not volume or busyness.

    Partnership Marked by Mutuality

    Healthy mission is relational and reciprocal. We champion partnerships grounded in respect, shared ownership, and long-term commitment.

    Resisting Dependency and Paternalism

    We believe well-intended efforts can cause harm when they create dependency or reinforce superiority. Dignity, responsibility, and local agency matter.

    Mission as Discipleship

    Global mission is not a side program. And it doesn’t just occur ‘over there.’ It is a powerful tool for shaping worldview, spiritual maturity, and faithfulness within the local church, here and there.

    Local Ownership and Contextual Wisdom

    Lasting impact depends on local leadership and locally defined priorities. Outside involvement should strengthen, not replace, local capacity.

    Humility in a Changing Global Church

    As the global Church grows and leads in new ways, we believe humility, listening, and shared learning are essential for faithful engagement.Item description

Portrait of a middle-aged man with short, light-colored hair, wearing a checkered button-up shirt, standing outdoors with greenery in the background.

About Kurt

Kurt is the founder of the Global Outreach Network, a peer-driven community of church-based global mission leaders who are rethinking how the North American church engages globally. Through GON, Kurt helps leaders step back from activity and wrestle honestly with strategy, partnerships, and outcomes in a rapidly changing mission landscape. His work is focused on creating trusted learning environments where leaders sharpen one another and confront unhealthy or outdated models.

Kurt is also the founder of The 410 Bridge, a Christ-centered, community-led development organization working alongside local leaders to address poverty and build long-term capacity in communities around the world. Decades of experience in community development and global church engagement have shaped his conviction that healthy mission is rooted in relationship, mutuality, and a clear understanding of what help should and should not look like.

He is the author of If You Really Want to Help - Redefining the war on poverty. a practical and challenging call to rethink how the Western church engages the poor and participates in God’s work globally.

Kurt and his wife, Erika, live in the Atlanta area. They are grateful parents of three grown children and delighted grandparents of three, with more likely on the way.

  • Participating in Global Outreach Network events has been a refreshing and challenging experience for me. I have learned from Kurt and and other like-minded mission leaders how to think and plan more strategically as I serve in the local church.

    Pat Ragan, First Baptist

  • The Global Outreach Network has been very beneficial to both me and the church. The networking has provided peers to learn from, benchmarking and assurance the issues I face in ministry are not isolated to my situation. My church has benefited from sharing ideas that enhance the way we do missions, engage our members, and provide opportunities. It is easy to become comfortable in the way we carry out missions but being a part of the network helps to challenge the status quo and keep us thinking ahead and not become complacent in the way we engage in missions.

    Tracy Tuttle, Lakepointe Church

  • The Global Outreach Network is leading the way in providing a forum for all world missions ministries to engage in safe, meaningful, and real peer-to-peer conversation. Our team was able to see we all share the same challenges both in the world and internally in our churches. The workshop approach helped us work with other church leaders to develop new solutions and steer strategic direction. The past two years have been like climbing a mountain and this forum has helped us determine our path and carry the load.

    Dan Stonaker, North Point Ministries