(Nov. 30, 2016 - by Harold Goerzen)  Described by his longtime protégé as a “58-year-old man who thinks like a 35-year-old,” Rev. Steve Harling is drawing on his extensive background in cross-cultural outreach and pastoral ministry to help guide him in his new role as the head of a missions agency.

“We need to reimagine the impossible,” said Harling, speaking at his inauguration as the eighth president of Reach Beyond in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday, Nov. 16. “Many churches and agencies still try to do missions right out of the 1970s. We need to do missions by imagination, not by memory.”

“We also need a recommitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he continued. “We need a recommitment to discipleship, we need to release control [to national believers] and we need to re-engage the church in fulfilling the Great Commission. The paradigm of ‘pay, pray and get out of the way’ doesn’t work anymore. The role of the missions agency is to [come alongside] the church to get the job done.”

Harling, a third-generation missionary who grew up in Nigeria, is the son of SIM missionaries who served among the Hausa people. After completing college in the U.S., Harling and his wife, Becky, then in their 20s, became missionaries in Sudan where Steve pastored Khartoum International Church.

Upon returning to the U.S., Harling continued pastoral ministry, including the last 10 years as lead pastor of Foothills Community Church in Arvada, Colo. He took the reins of Reach Beyond on Sept. 1 after Wayne Pederson stepped down following eight years in the position. Pederson then aided with the transition process for 2½ months before taking on his new role as a Reach Beyond global ambassador together with his wife, Willi.

Jack Harrison, board chairman and head of Reach Beyond’s presidential search and transition committee, said he was impressed with Harling’s forward-thinking attitude from the day he received his application and contacted his references.

“The team came to know Steve Harling as an individual with a true love for the Lord, a heart for the lost, a vision for missions, a desire to involve millennials in missions, and a person who lives and breathes speaking about it,” Harrison said at the inauguration. “He is an excellent communicator to young and old and has a record of identifying, recruiting and developing young leaders. Many missionaries are on the field today through his mentoring and facilitation.”

Rev. Kyle Morris, Harling’s mentee for eight years before becoming the lead pastor of the Arvada church in August, also spoke at the inauguration, agreeing that Harling’s emphasis on discipleship is a key cog in world evangelization.

“Going to seminary didn’t hold a candle to what Steve taught me as my mentor,” Morris explained. “The Great Commission says to ‘Make disciples of all nations.’ Reach Beyond’s vision cannot be separate from the discipleship aspect. I stand as living proof. Long-term results come from walking with people as they develop into disciples of Jesus Christ.”

Being a newer Christian when he first met Harling, Morris recalls that his mentor often used the term, “kingdom of God.” “Steve showed me what it means to be a kingdom worker right now,” Morris related. “Yet there is also a future aspect. He’s incredibly innovative and imaginative.”

Harling’s relationship with Reach Beyond dates back to the 1990s when the church he was then pastoring gave a major monetary gift to the “World By 2000” initiative. This was a cooperative effort that Reach Beyond took on with TWR, FEBC, SIM and others to make gospel broadcasts available in all the world’s major languages by the year 2000.

Wanting firsthand knowledge of how Christian broadcasts were making a difference, he visited Russia with Ron Cline—one of three past Reach Beyond presidents on hand at the inauguration along with David Johnson and Pederson.

“When we got back home from Russia I said, ‘Someday I want Ron’s job!’” Harling exclaimed. “I can’t believe I’m there.”

Harrison added that Harling has provided leadership on the governing boards of various mission agencies, including SIM, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Bethany Home and Global Refuge International.

“He has ministered at mission-related retreats and leadership conferences in more than 30 countries and is a frequent keynote speaker or workshop presenter at mission mobilizing events,” Harrison continued.

He also pointed out that Steve and Becky are a team. “She has a degree in biblical literature and has experience as a missionary and women’s ministries director, drawing from difficult life situations she has experienced to reach out to others. Through it all, she has become an engaging and nationally recognized author and speaker to women. She and Steve frequently travel and minister together, and they have four grown children and nine grandchildren.”

Harling reiterated that Christ is at the center of his new role at Reach Beyond. “The adventure of my life is learning what it means to be ‘in Christ,’” he said. “I’ve concluded that among those things is my identity in Christ. I keep that mentality within me. My worth is not dependent on what I accomplish. I’m a son of the Father.”

Source: Reach Beyond