Global Missions Conference 2025

Dan Iverson

The Iversons served 35 years in Japan as MTW missionaries focused on evangelism, church planting, presbytery planting, starting a Christian school, and raising up missionary and Japanese leaders. They were the first members on the MTW Chiba/Tokyo team, where Dan served as team leader for 33 years. Dan also served for 28 years as a church planter and lead pastor for Oyumino Presbyterian Church in a Tokyo suburb, and as MTW Japan Country Director for 15 years. Carol focused on family and ministry that was largely based in their home during their first years. The beginnings of Covenant Community School International started around their dining room table. Carol served as CCSI principal for her last 12 years in Japan. CCSI has now grown into a bilingual school with over 20 grade levels, offering both an English track and a Japanese language track. Dan and Carol raised their 9 children in Japan, and have 38 grandchildren at last count. Dan and Carol continue serving with MTW as mentors, mobilizers, and teachers. They are now based in Virginia to also care for Carol’s 95-year-old mom.

Imad Aubrey

Imad grew up in Lebanon. He and his wife, Ruba, relocated to the U.S. during the war in 2006. Imad is a Lebanese-American minister, ordained Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). After serving for almost six years as a pastor of outreach at Town North Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richardson, Texas, God called Imad to go back to his home country of Lebanon and to serve among locals and refugees. The North Texas Presbytery (PCA) has commissioned Imad to be a PCA missionary pastor to Lebanon & the Middle East.

Imad currently serves as the Director of Arabic Initiatives at Westminster Theological Seminary, whose aim is to train and teach pastors and candidates; he is also serving as Vice President of MEHR with the aim of ordaining trained pastors for church planting in the Middle East.

Hamid Hatami

Rev. Hamid Hatami is the first Iranian, first refugee, and first Muslim Background Believer who was ordained in the PCA. He is the founder and CEO of Middle East Heritage Reformed (MEHR) Ministries, training Christians to plant biblically faithful churches throughout the Middle East and Iran, and to perform outreach to Muslims in Dallas, TX, and abroad.

Born in Iran to a Muslim Shiite family, Hamid professed faith in Christ in 2003, enduring rejection by his family and persecution during his mandatory military service. In 2013, after two years as refugees in Turkey, Hamid and his wife arrived in the US as Christian refugees. He planted the first Farsi-speaking Presbyterian Fellowship (PCA) in Richardson, TX (2015-2018). Having earned an M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary Dallas, and a D.Min. student at Covenant Theological Seminary, where he will begin in January 2026. After seminary, Hamid served as a pastoral apprentice at Town North Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Richardson, Texas. Hamid is married to Eli, and they have three children, Esther, Elisha, and Elin.

Jota Escobar

Jota and his wife Margarita (and their three kids) are church planters supported by PCPC. He is the pastor of Iglesia Gracia Abundante as well as works to train and equip other church planters across the country of Colombia. He helps recruit national and local leaders to lead cities with a Kingdom vision. They also promote initiatives that integrate the Gospel with vocation, social impact, and biblical justice.

Ruth and Andres Garza

Andres is an ordained pastor in the National Presbyterian Church in Mexico and is an Architect with a master’s degree in Urban Planning. He grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, being a Roman Catholic by tradition. During the last year of college, Ruth, who is now his wife, led him to Christ through an evangelistic campaign.

He worked for the government of several cities as a city planner for about 15 years until God called him to work full-time as the coordinator of the Church Planting Movement in Northern Mexico. For 14 years, he served the Lord in Northern Mexico in partnership with MTW, helping and encouraging movements of new churches in the cities of this region. During these 14 years, he led the efforts to establish the Church Planting Center (CPI) in Monterrey, Mexico, with a team of other pastors and leaders.

Andres finished his MDiv at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. After that, he led the efforts of CPI for 10 years, helping to start 18 new churches in Northern Mexico. Church Planting in cities has been his passion since the beginning of his work with MTW. In 2014, he received the invitation to expand the same vision through Redeemer City to City (initiative founded by Tim Keller) for all of Latin America. City to City Latam is an initiative that identifies, trains, mentors, coaches, and resources leaders in Latin America’s global cities through church planting. The vision that Andres is developing in City to City Latam is for a “World Changing, City Renewal, Gospel centered church.” Besides the CTC work, Andres and his wife, Ruth, are planting a new church in the business area of Monterrey, Mexico.

Ruth is also a city planner. She is developing the “church planter’s wives” ministry (Parakaleo) in coordination with City to City Latam. Parakaleo is the ministry under MNA that identifies, trains, mentors, and coaches church planters’ wives to walk side by side with their husbands with a grace-centered mentality. The Garzas have two daughters, Lissete and Priscila, and two granddaughters.

Neil MacMillan

Neil MacMillan has been married to Louise since 1990, and they have 4 children and live in Edinburgh, Scotland. This year, he took on the leadership of City to City Europe, which works with local leaders to plant gospel centered churches in the cities of Europe. (Think London, Paris, Rome, Athens, and many other beautiful but spiritually needy cities.) City to City was founded by the late Tim Keller in New York. Currently, CTCE operates in approximately 45 cities, with a vision to expand to 120 cities within the next 5 years. Over the last 32 years, Neil has planted 3 churches with the Free Church of Scotland, the most recent of which is Cornerstone Edinburgh. In Scotland, he started and grew a network that has seen over 30 new churches planted. He loves to spend time with family, enjoy good food, get some exercise, and then relax by reading a book or watching TV.

David Trimble

David grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but moved to Scotland to study English Literature at the University of St Andrews. Whilst there, he met his wife, Ashton, who is a doctor, and God began the process of calling him into full-time Christian ministry. He became involved with the Free Church of Scotland (FCoS) and trained first in St Andrews and then in a church plant in Glasgow (Christ Church Glasgow). Upon finishing seminary and the minister-in-training program with the FCoS, he discerned a call to plant a church in the city center of Glasgow, an area called the Merchant City. Alongside Neil Longwe, David has been leading and developing Merchant City Church, which is now into its second year. David and Ashton have a daughter, Eden, and they enjoy reading books, watching good movies, and wild water swimming.