This website is run by Patrick & Jamie Nachtigall.  We are Regional Coordinators to Europe and the Middle East for Global Missions of the Church of God (Anderson, IN) and leaders of the Three Worlds Team.  We serve this region with our friends seeking to prepare the Church for global ministry in the 21st Century.   Our Personal Bios are below:

PATRICK  NACHTIGALL

Patrick received his B.A. from Anderson University and his M.A. from Yale University in the field of religion. He has lived in Latin America, Asia, and North America and is now the Regional Coordinator for Europe and the Middle East for Global Missions and leads the Three Worlds Team. Patrick has traveled to 60 countries around the world and has written on issues relating to religion and globalization for a number of periodicals.

The author of three books, Patrick likes to explore the global shifts occurring in religion. His first book Passport of Faith: A Christian’s Encounter with World Religions is used in a few different colleges and seminaries around the world and his second book Faith in the Future: Christianity’s Interface with Globalization was named one of the Top 40 books of 2008 and 2009 by World Magazine. His latest book is entitled Mosaic: A Journey Across the Church of God and is a 6 continent journey around the world and reveals the complex landscape that churches and Christian organizations must struggle to navigate at the dawn of the 21^st Century.

JAMIE NACHTIGALL’S BIOGRAPHY

Jamie was born in Washington but grew up in Cairo, Egypt. Like Patrick, she is a TCK (third-culture kid) and has always felt more at home on an airplane than in any one country.

She attended Anderson University where she pursued a degree in English. During her college years Jamie spent several summers overseas working in Hong Kong and at Mother Teresa’s Home for the Destitute and Dying in Calcutta, India. Prior to that, she worked with disabled adults in Seattle and Portland.  Most recently she served as the Membership Coordinator for both the Yale University Art Museum and the Yale Center for British Art and along with Patrick lived and worked in Hong Kong for nearly 10 years.

Jamie loves travel, and cross-stitching. On average, she reads more than 35 books a year.  She also enjoys working with the disabled.  Patrick and Jamie were married in 1997 and their son Marco was born in Hong Kong in 2003.

Kelley and Rhonda are the highly respected veterans of the 3W team.  The Philips began their ministry in northeast Florida in 1981, working in the field of youth ministry. Kelley, a commercial pilot, made a career change in 1990 by accepting a full-time position as youth pastor at West Park Street Church of God in Jacksonville, Florida, and received his ordination in 1993.

Kelley made his first trip to Russia in 1991 with a group led by Josh McDowell. That same year, the Florida Youth Fellowship responded to an opportunity to begin an exchange program with students from Chelyabinsk, a city of 1.5 million people located in the Southern Ural region of Russia. The exchange program was a tremendous success and generated a need for a career missionary family to develop a church in Chelyabinsk. Kelley and Rhonda began working in Chelyabinsk in October 1993 with their two children, Lee and Lindsay. They served in Chelyabinsk for eight years. Today, there is a vibrant, growing church in that city.

Kelley and Rhonda—who now have four children: Lee, Lindsay, Natasha, and Christian—accepted the role as regional coordinators for Europe, the Middle East, and the FSU (former Soviet Union) in July 2002 and moved to Berlin, Germany.

In July of 2010, they handed over the position of Regional Coordinators to the Nachtigalls so that they could focus exclusively on the innovative XZ Community in Germany’s Capital city.  They also serve as an important part of the 3W team raising up a new generation of globally-engaged Christian youth, emerging leaders, and help to create CHOG inner-connectivity.

David & Kathy Simpson have been serving as missionaries to Bulgaria.  Their roles on the 3w team has them helping grow a new generation of leaders in the Bulgarian church as well as in the rest of our region.

As a young teenager, David Simpson spent three years in Egypt, where his parents were Church of God missionaries. Today, Dave and Kathy (Rankin) Simpson are from Warsaw, Indiana.

Kathy shares that “like Dave, my heart has been moved by the needs of people in far away places. We were able to travel to Eastern Europe in 1991 and 1992. Since then, I have been drawn to that part of the world. I’m excited about the opportunity to work alongside Bulgarian brothers and sisters in strengthening the church and sharing the love of Christ.”

Dave and Kathy met and married while at Anderson College (now University). After graduation, Dave worked as a program administrator for the developmentally disabled. After completing graduate courses in psychology, public affairs, and administration, he managed human resources and marketing as a bank vice president. Kathy’s interests led to a career in hospice and a master’s degree in social work from Indiana University. Dave and Kathy have two adult sons, Nathan and Ryan, who live in Indiana, and a foster daughter, Cate McGurn Caland, who lives in France.

Kathy has used her gifts in the music and teaching ministries of her local congregation. Dave has served in youth ministry and teaching. After almost thirty years in management, Dave felt called to step beyond lay ministry. Resigning from his job, he accepted a position as youth pastor and began the ordination process. In 2004, he completed a master’s degree in theological studies from Anderson University School of Theology.

We are proud to have them on the 3W team.

Born in Anderson, Ken grew up in central Indiana, the son of Rev. William & Lucille Oldham. Ken’s parents met and married while his father was on a Tri-S trip from Anderson College to Lucille’s home country, Guyana, South America, where his grandparents Rev. Ed & Meriam Oldham served as missionaries in the 1960’s  Ken first gave his life to Christ as a child, but found sincere renewal and commitment to the Lord while attending summer camp at Camp Pollock in Louisiana.  During the next year, Ken experienced the Lord’s calling into full-time Christian service.

Keli also grew up as a PK to parents Rev. Frank & Patricia Camper, who served several denominations.  Growing up in Detroit, Keli gave her life to Christ as a young child and grew up with a tender heart for urban ministry service.  Keli intended to live her life in service to God and her community, and initially prepared to study social work.  Keli changed her major to Family Science with the intent of serving in ministry settings.

Ken & Keli attended Anderson University where they met.  After graduation (both, BA ‘95) and marriage, they served as associates at the Scott Memorial Church of God (Chattanooga, TN 1995-1999) and the Riverchase Community Church (Hoover, AL 1999-2003), before taking their current role as lead pastors of the Sixth Avenue Church of God in Decatur, AL (2003-present).  As pastors, Ken & Keli have a passion for the global church and leadership development, leading many cross-cultural trips, speaking at retreats and conventions, and serving in a variety of summer camps and state ministry leadership roles.  Ken & Keli are blessed with three children: Gracelyn, Titus, & Ezekiel. We’re thrilled to have them join the 3W team where they will be serving as pastors of an international church in the Middle East as well helping the Three-Worlds team achieve its goals throughout the Europe and the Middle East.

Aaron and Nicole Varner are current team members of the new XZBerlin (www.xzberlin.com) community and  regional Three Worlds (www.three-worlds.com) team. XZ means “Christ-Centered” and comes from Χριστός (Greek for “Christ”) and Zentrisch (German for “Centric” or “centered”).
Aaron was born into a family who has deep roots in the Church of God. Both of his parents (Collet and Nancy Varner) are ordained ministers and still worship in a Church of God congregation.  After the Varner family moved from his birth-state, Indiana, in 1994, Aaron attended high school and then completed his undergraduate work in Business Administration (Warner University) in Central Florida.  Nicole (Beckler)  grew up in Wichita, KS and, after graduating high school, majored in Family Studies at Kansas State University.  After Nicole left home, her parents (Pastor Bob and Lori Beckler) moved from Kansas to Lake Wales, FL to become the Senior Pastors of Aaron’s home church (South Lake Wales Church of God)…and that’s how the Varners officially met in 2006.

Although the Varners are still relatively young at 28, they feel that their life experiences give them an unbelievable opportunity to relate to people from all age groups and walks of life. They have already had previous experiences serving as elementary school teachers, youth leaders, mentors to college students, developers and leaders of young adult small groups, and facilitators of senior adult Bible studies.  Not to mention that between the two of them, they have visited over 30 countries enabling them to connect and relate to the global-minded individuals that make up Berlin, and on a greater scale, Europe as a whole.

Both Aaron and Nicole have been commissioned through the Church of God and began serving with the XZBerlin team in Berlin, Germany on September 1, 2010. Although focusing primarily on the innovative XZCommunity in the heart of the German capital city, the Varners also serve as an important part of the Three Worlds team raising up a new generation of globally engaged Christian youth and emerging leaders and helping to promote connectivity within the Church of God.