leaderINCREASE

leaderINCREASE We develop leaders and organizations to achieve increasing kingdom results.

07/29/2026

Josh Shortridge lives his personal mission. He’s been with us for well over ten years…doing every job imaginable at Stowe Mission. He started as a volunteer during the day…while working a third shift as a logistics supervisor.

He then came on staff at Stowe, raising his own support while supporting a growing family.
His heart for people, especially people on our city’s south side emanates from him.

Every time he speaks, you can feel it.

He recently stepped into a new role as our Advancement Director.
Your life will improve by watching these few minutes with him.

If you want your life or the lives of people in your church to make a gospel impact in an area where people are facing hardships, let Josh know through stowemission.org

07/22/2026

Dr. Edward Frimpong Kwakye is a spiritual entrepreneur. He started and ran his own healthcare business and grew it to 35 employees. He use that to fund the launch of his church, Faithway Baptist Church. He earned a doctorate in ministry, along with an MBA from Franklin University. When I spoke at his ordination service years ago, a man was attending just to learn from him.

Listen to gain insights to your own leadership to expand the mission. God has trusted to you.

07/15/2026

Crossroads Community Church and London recently called Pastor Phil Chapman as the senior pastor. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him and I’m sure you will, too!
Hear how God is using him in leading that great church.

07/08/2026

Pastor Doug Hanna invested many years of ministry into Sharon Woods Church before sensing God’s call to ministry. After earning his M.Div. degree, the church called him as senior pastor, as the church continued to experience a significant decline in her outreach and ministries.
Pastor Doug and the leadership team did the 2-day Leadership Strategy of Jesus process to realign to the reality of their situation along with a contextual outreach strategy.
Now a multicultural church (with over ten nations worshiping together regularly), Sharon Woods Church set some records in baptism and attendance.
Listen as Pastor Doug shares what God is doing through him and the wonderful people at SWC.

07/01/2026

With roots in Lawrence County, the southernmost county in our state, Mike O’Bryant and I lived parallel lives but did not meet until we both landed in the Columbus area.

Mike’s dad, Lamar, was a leader in our local association where I grew up. The legend Cliff Coleman led Scioto Valley Baptist Association in those days. But Mike’s dad was a missionary in his own right. While Lamar pastored Sharon BC in Ironton, he helped us at Burlington BC in Burlington (close to the sprawling metropolis of South Point, Ohio).

Seeing Lamar made me realize I would also like to help churches.

I heard about Lamar’s son, Mike, from my friends at Burlington BC. Mike and I both worked for Stanley Steemer, owned by Rich Davis, but at different times. We share a common culture and passion for the Lord and for pastors.

Mike leads a Bloom Baptist Church, a dynamic church in Lithopolis. As you may know, Mike is our Strategic Church Network’s Pastoral Encourager. He’s here to encourage you!
If you want to connect, just call our office at 614.445.7500. He’s good for a lunch and a listening ear.
Visit with us in this video.

06/24/2026

French-creole may not be the first language to come to mind when you discover 139 languages are spoken in Columbus, Ohio. Also little known is roughly 19.1% of residents over the age of 5 speak a language other than English at home, here in Ohio’s capital.

Jean Gilbert knows that. As a teacher and a spiritual entrepreneur among the Haitian people, Pastor “Junior” and his wife Ellen bring a mix of high-level professionalism and cultural moxie to the House of Safety Church.

Following God through numerous adversities (all pastors can relate here), Pastor Jean continues to lead and see increasing results. He and Ellen participated in our first Strategic Leader Academy and are applying those principles to this Haitian church plant on our city’s northside.

He, his wife, and his church are treasures in Christ’s kingdom.

06/17/2026

Originally from Bhutan, Yusuf Kadariya found Jesus and was sent onto the streets by his Hindu family. He and many other believers were then exiled to refugee camps in Nepal. Around 2011 or so, the United States expatriated him and around 64,000 other Nepali-speaking people to the U.S.
From a refugee camp in Nepal to Columbus, OH, our nation’s 15th largest city, Yusuf (his name was Beda at the time) found himself wanting a fellowship of believers.
Finding none, he sensed God leading him to pastor the church.
Meanwhile I (Rich Halcombe) get a call from Jimmy Sloop, a 75 year old retired layman from Georgia who wanted to come to Columbus to “start a Bhutanese church.” I said, “Come on, brother!”
(Then I googled Bhutanese).
Jimmy brought Tek Darnal with him.

As God would have it, Beda (Yusuf) and Tek were already friends.

We ordained Beda at Stowe Mission and baptized seven souls that Saturday morning.
Beda (Yusuf) now pastors the largest Nepali church in the country, one of 13 Bhutanese/Nepali churches in our network.

Let this video inspire and encourage your soul.

06/10/2026

When most people (other than people who actually do it) think about planting a church, they think of dropping in from some other place far away. Then they grind it out until the church gets going…knowing no one who lived there…in a place they had never been.

That is how Ben York launched Guide Church (the Bible is our guide).

He’s an evangelist and a planter/pastor who makes it happen. I call him and others like him “spiritual entrepreneurs.”

This video will encourage your heart and help you stretch to see what God can do.

Pastor Thang Pau leads the largest Zomi speaking church in central Ohio. He’s a national leader, godly man, and great fr...
06/03/2026

Pastor Thang Pau leads the largest Zomi speaking church in central Ohio.
He’s a national leader, godly man, and great friend.
Be sure to listen today for her personal connection to the history of missiology.

God reaches the nations through our network.

God bless,

Rich

05/27/2026

Hey Leader!

Meet another leader in our Strategic Church Network!

Dr. John Foster possesses a deep well of skills he brings to FBC Grove City.

He also shares a way to understand where God is leading in your life. The Post-It Note Timeline was created by my good friend and mentor, Dr. Terry Walling.

Here’s an overview:

The "Sticky-Note Timeline" is a foundational leadership exercise popularized by Leader Breakthru that focuses on discovering your life’s calling by charting your history. It involves mapping personal and leadership experiences, both positive and negative, to help you recognize God's hand on your development.

How to Build Your Timeline
Here is the step-by-step framework adapted from timeline exercises often utilized in Christian and marketplace leadership development:

1. Brainstorm Milestones
• Use sticky notes to capture significant people, events, turning points, and defining moments.
• Try to brainstorm a comprehensive list to ensure a big-picture view.
2. Color-Code Your Emotions
• Use one color (e.g., yellow) to write down positive, neutral, or defining experiences.
• Transfer any experiences that were painful or negative onto a different color (e.g., pink) to visually separate seasons of struggle.
3. Organize Chronologically
• Lay out a large piece of posterboard or utilize a large wall space.
• Arrange the sticky notes sequentially from left to right, starting with your early life and leading up to the present day.
4. Reflect and Diagnose
• Step back to see the overarching themes.
• Identify recurring patterns, how you handled transitions, and the ways specific hardships shaped your core values.

If you are interested in how to see where God is leading you, reply to this message with: Personal Cohort. It will open your eyes to see how God has already been at work in your life. Perhaps more importantly, it helps you see the future.

God Bless,
Rich

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