Who are Darrell & Linda Dorr?
Darrell & Linda Dorr
Darrell and Linda Dorr are mission partners with the NWChurch. Their hearts are with the global mission effort, but they live and serve here in Seattle. We asked Darrell to explain and expound upon why and how they do what they do. You will often find them greeting at one of the sanctuary entrances on Sunday mornings or sharing a smile and a word of encouragement around the coffee service.
Following Jesus to (and in) every people group
by Darrell Dorr
Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). And Jesus’ emphasis on all nations is part of the narrative thread in the Bible – from Genesis to Revelation – that emphasizes that God is calling out a people for Himself from every people group (ethnos), and that He blesses us so that we, in turn, may be a blessing to all nations (cf. Psalm 67). (Notice that the Bible defines “nations” as “people groups”, not as “nation-states”.)
And that is why we in Frontier Ventures (the mission agency with which Linda and I serve) do what we do. The counter-intuitive fact is that in the year 2020 some 7,000 people groups still do not yet have churches or Jesus communities in their midst, and that intentional, strategic, cross-cultural frontier mission (pioneering work) is still needed to represent Jesus faithfully in these peoples. Many (but not all) of these people groups have homelands in South Asia, and India is home to the largest number of unreached peoples (defined as people groups still without Jesus movements).
Frontier Ventures is a mission agency that provides a wide range of support services to other mission agencies and to churches worldwide to enable them to work together in representing Jesus faithfully to these 7,000 unreached peoples. These programs include the Perspectives Study Program, Mission Frontiers magazine, Joshua Project, William Carey Publishers, William Carey International University, and much more. Most mission agencies (doing what we call “regular mission”) focus on peoples and places where the Church already exists, but Frontier Ventures focuses on “frontier mission” in peoples and places where the Church is “not yet.” Both regular mission and frontier mission are needed, and the distinctions between them should not be obscured!
Linda’s father (Dr. Ralph Winter) founded Frontier Ventures (first known as the U.S. Center for World Mission) in 1976, and Linda and I have served with Frontier Ventures since 1980 (the year we married). I’m an editor, writer, teacher and public communicator, and Linda is a behind-the-scenes analyst and accountant who helps our colleagues in Frontier Ventures in many dimensions of financial management. Most Frontier Ventures missionaries are distributed throughout the U.S., but some serve in other countries. We often seek collaborative partnerships with other, frontier-focused mission agencies in both the Global North and the Global South.
Linda and I relocated from southern California to Lynnwood in the fall of 2015, and we’re grateful to be part of the Northwest Church family.
Following Jesus to (and in) every people group
by Darrell Dorr
Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). And Jesus’ emphasis on all nations is part of the narrative thread in the Bible – from Genesis to Revelation – that emphasizes that God is calling out a people for Himself from every people group (ethnos), and that He blesses us so that we, in turn, may be a blessing to all nations (cf. Psalm 67). (Notice that the Bible defines “nations” as “people groups”, not as “nation-states”.)
And that is why we in Frontier Ventures (the mission agency with which Linda and I serve) do what we do. The counter-intuitive fact is that in the year 2020 some 7,000 people groups still do not yet have churches or Jesus communities in their midst, and that intentional, strategic, cross-cultural frontier mission (pioneering work) is still needed to represent Jesus faithfully in these peoples. Many (but not all) of these people groups have homelands in South Asia, and India is home to the largest number of unreached peoples (defined as people groups still without Jesus movements).
Frontier Ventures is a mission agency that provides a wide range of support services to other mission agencies and to churches worldwide to enable them to work together in representing Jesus faithfully to these 7,000 unreached peoples. These programs include the Perspectives Study Program, Mission Frontiers magazine, Joshua Project, William Carey Publishers, William Carey International University, and much more. Most mission agencies (doing what we call “regular mission”) focus on peoples and places where the Church already exists, but Frontier Ventures focuses on “frontier mission” in peoples and places where the Church is “not yet.” Both regular mission and frontier mission are needed, and the distinctions between them should not be obscured!
Linda’s father (Dr. Ralph Winter) founded Frontier Ventures (first known as the U.S. Center for World Mission) in 1976, and Linda and I have served with Frontier Ventures since 1980 (the year we married). I’m an editor, writer, teacher and public communicator, and Linda is a behind-the-scenes analyst and accountant who helps our colleagues in Frontier Ventures in many dimensions of financial management. Most Frontier Ventures missionaries are distributed throughout the U.S., but some serve in other countries. We often seek collaborative partnerships with other, frontier-focused mission agencies in both the Global North and the Global South.
Linda and I relocated from southern California to Lynnwood in the fall of 2015, and we’re grateful to be part of the Northwest Church family.