First Person with Wayne Shepherd

Jonathan Hallsted of Health Bridge Global talks with Wayne Shepherd about the ministry of healthcare as a bridge to the Gospel in closed countries and cultures. (click for more...)
Website:  www.healthbridgeglobal.org
Jonathan Hallsted is the founder and executive director of Health Bridge Global, a ministry that uses healthcare as a vehicle for sharing the gospel in closed nations, cultures, and communities. His path to this calling was anything but linear — he spent time in pastoral ministry, served seven years as a missionary in Eastern Europe, and built a 15-year career managing medical practices in California. During COVID, while walking a trail near his home, he felt a strong, undeniable sense that God was calling him to sell his house, leave his job, and commit full-time to a ministry he had been running part-time for a decade. After months of wrestling with fears about failure and finances, he finally said yes. Health Bridge Global now partners with indigenous Christian doctors in countries around the world to build financially self-sustaining, gospel-intentional healthcare clinics and projects — tailoring each one to the specific needs and context of the local community. Five years into his full-time commitment, the organization has completed or launched 13 projects in pursuit of a vision of 20 gospel-centered healthcare projects in 10 countries within 10 years. Jonathan describes the work as the hardest and best thing he has ever done.
           NEXT WEEK:  Luke Cheng, Ex. Dir, of Chinese Ministries at FEBC
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The new President of Joni and Friends, Shawn Thornton, joins Wayne Shepherd to discuss bringing Gospel hope to people with disabilities around the world. (click for more)
Website:  joniandfriends.org
Shawn Thornton shares the deeply personal story behind his memoir All But Normal: Life on Victory Road. His mother suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a car accident at age 14, and without adequate therapy available in 1962, she spent the rest of her life struggling with physical limitations, emotional instability, and periodic institutionalization. Growing up in this environment of "private pain" gave Thornton a lifelong heart for disability ministry — though he kept his story private for many years, believing it didn't matter.
The conversation reveals a remarkable full-circle moment: Joni Eareckson Tada had been a source of hope and strength for Thornton's mother throughout her struggles. When Thornton arrived at his new pastoral position in California, he discovered a welcome note on his desk signed by Joni and Ken Tada — completely unaware of his family connection. That encounter moved him to tears, and eventually led him to share his story publicly, first at a Joni and Friends donor event, and later in his book — encouraged by both Joni and author Max Lucado.
Now one year into his role leading Joni and Friends, Thornton is energized by the organization's mission to equip and mobilize local churches worldwide to welcome people with disabilities. He notes that only about 10% of U.S. churches are fully accessible, and that embracing disability ministry tends to open a congregation's heart to other marginalized groups as well. He describes the "Wheels for the World" program, which restores used wheelchairs in U.S. prisons and ships them to remote communities in countries like Thailand and Ghana, where recipients also receive Bibles, the gospel message, and a connection to a local church — often breaking longstanding cultural superstitions about disability. The interview closes with Thornton expressing deep enthusiasm for his new calling.

                      NEXT WEEK:  Jonathan Hallsted, Healthbridge Global 
Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center 
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020 
Albert Lea, MN 56007

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He was born and raise in Mongolia, became a Christian, and witnessed the birth of the church in his country. Batjargal Tuvshintsengel joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation. (click for more...)
Website:  www.febc.org/where-we-work/mongolia/
Born and raised in Mongolia under Soviet-era communist rule, Batjargal Tuvshintsengel first heard the gospel at age 20 through a British missionary who taught English using the Bible — a transformative moment that set him on a lifelong path of Christian ministry. He witnessed the remarkable birth of the church in Mongolia following the fall of communism, when the country suddenly opened to missionaries and the gospel for the first time in generations. Drawn to media from childhood, Batjargal channeled that background into ministry, helping launch Mongolia's first Christian FM radio station in Ulaanbaatar in 2001, which grew into a network of 17 stations reaching nomadic populations across the country via satellite. He credits this media ministry with supporting the growth of an estimated 650–700 churches and roughly 90,000 Christians in Mongolia. Now living back in Mongolia, Batjargal's vision for the future centers on equipping younger generations — particularly Gen Z — to become digital media evangelists, and on partnering media ministry with local churches to strengthen discipleship in an age increasingly shaped by AI and social media.
              NEXT WEEK:  Shawn Thornton, President of Joni and Friends
Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
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Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020 
Albert Lea, MN 56007

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Biographer Kevin Belmonte joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation about Kevin's new book, GK Chesterton on Life, a book of memorable Chesterton quotes.  (click for more...)
Website:  www.amazon.com/G-K-Chesterton-Life-Encountering/dp/1400355567/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=VRH4WFPSD4IK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.g5DPZLtJUcpYrg3zd3J8LERdJbqkex_E0Fe0aknuDQIdFAn7XP7_6cXfKelSEpUWsR6MZKGBza4L-6OGN53cWNb3OFdua9h3Qm0TOD0urgAyw4SP69G5-Lnkw36XkGFwJXJfNPMIeGcUDlBIPni5zZgXxfWCap6v-Aa6bacO17Zyk1xlTzCqznABCzJeU2z3iuhrdzPLSi72WZwfYs-5wTM5cSDCeBHEoLVqW_Fwuk8.Mo4jYJUDRDEVFqFm5u7YxpTXUuZArUz2LisSnTyzgGU&dib_tag=se&keywords=GK+Chesterton+wit+and+wisdom&qid=1776276794&sprefix=gk+chesterton+wit+and+wisdom%2Caps%2C124&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1
This episode features a conversation with biographer Kevin Belmonte about his latest book, GK Chesterton on Life: Encountering His Classic Wit and Wisdom for Today — a hardcover gift book collecting Chesterton's most memorable quotes, organized thematically around faith, humor, home life, nature, and Christmas.
Belmonte introduces GK Chesterton (1874–1936) as a towering British intellectual — a prolific journalist, poet, apologist, and author of the Father Brown mysteries — whose winsome writing style and Christian wit helped influence CS Lewis's return to faith. Despite holding vastly different worldviews, Chesterton maintained warm, civil friendships with contemporaries like George Bernard Shaw and HG Wells, and was admired by figures such as Teddy Roosevelt, who called him "a supreme genius" after a single dinner conversation.
The interview also covers Chesterton's upbringing in a literary London household, his natural gift for language recognized early by teachers, and his rise from writing promotional copy at a publishing firm to becoming one of the most widely read and syndicated columnists of his era. 
                  NEXT WEEK:  Batjargal Tuvshintsengel of FEBC Mongolia
Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center 
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020 
Albert Lea, MN 56007

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Sean Kerr, the motorcycle enthusiast of YouTube's Bike and Beards, invited Wayne Shepherd to his shop for a conversation about his life and testimony.  (click for more...) 
YouTube:  www.youtube.com/@BikesandBeards
Another channel Sean has started about developing his TN property:
YouTube:  www.youtube.com/@SeansFarmchannel

Sean Kerr — a Christian entrepreneur and motorcycle enthusiast best known for his YouTube channel, Bikes and Beards, has around 2.75 million subscribers. Sean grew up in the church, attended Toccoa Falls College intending to go into pastoral ministry, but eventually realized his calling was in business. He started the channel 10 years ago, and as his audience grew, he began including a Bible verse in every video as a way to share Scripture with hundreds of thousands of viewers. The interview touches on Sean's personal life — his wife Rachel, whom he met in college, and their four children — as well as his philosophy that family and faith bring greater motivation and joy than career success alone. A notable segment covers his friendship with neighbor Sergei Rakhuba, President of Mission Eurasia, which led to a cross-cultural connection with Jan, a man from Moldova who runs a ministry teaching orphaned youth to restore old Soviet-era Ural motorcycles. Through his YouTube channel, Sean helped raise $80,000 to build Jan a proper workshop and is now working to send professional tools to equip it. The interview closes with Sean reflecting that while he feels he's in the right place, he's still seeking a clear, God-given "big goal" for the next chapter of his life.
NEXT WEEK:  Biographer Kevin Belmonte discusses GK Chesterton
Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
FEBC National Processing Center 
Far East Broadcasting Company
P.O. Box 6020 
Albert Lea, MN 56007

Please mention FIRST PERSON when you give. Thank you!