Pioneers

Pioneers has one target and says so plainly: ethnic groups that have no self-sustaining church of their own. More than one person in three on earth still belongs to one. Its teams move into those places, learn the language, and work at starting churches that can carry on without them.

It was founded in 1979 by Ted Fletcher, a businessman who left his career for it, and his wife Peggy. Today there are over 3,000 members in more than 400 teams across over 100 countries, drawn from around eighty nationalities, engaging somewhere between 400 and 500 distinct people groups.

Every missionary is commissioned by a sending church, and support comes from churches, friends and family. Pioneers is a member of the ECFA and is audited every year. One thing it does differently: it publishes the audit but not the full tax return online, because naming every partner ministry would expose people working in dangerous places. A copy is sent on request.

• Founded
  1979
• Founders
  Ted Fletcher, a former businessman, and his wife Peggy
• Led by
  Steve Richardson, U.S. Director and President. Howard Costley chairs the U.S. board
• Behind it
  A global movement of national sending bases, called gateways. Pioneers-USA is a 501(c)(3), a member of the ECFA and of Missio Nexus
• Based in
  10123 William Carey Drive, Orlando, Florida 32832, USA
• Reach
  More than 3,000 members in over 400 teams, in more than 100 countries, from about 80 nationalities
• Focus
  Unreached peoples — ethnic groups without a self-sustaining witness in their own culture. Teams engage between 400 and 500 people groups on six continents
• Cost
  Missionaries raise their own support through their sending church, friends and family
• You get
  Long-term field teams, member care, and specialised training including security and child safety
• How to join
  A sending church commissions you; Pioneers matches you to a team. Start at pioneers.org/go
• Money
  Audited each year by independent accountants, and the financial statement is published. The pro forma IRS Form 990 is sent on request rather than posted online, to protect partner ministries in sensitive countries
• Polish
  Pioneers does not list a gateway in Poland. Not every gateway is published, for security reasons; the European ones named are Pioneers Europe, Pioneers Nederland and Pioneers UK & Ireland
• What we checked
  We found the ECFA membership, the published audit, the named board and the stated reason the tax return is sent on request
• Contact
  +1 800-755-7284 · go@pioneers.org · P.O. Box 621329, Orlando, FL 32862-1329

Pioneers does not sponsor or endorse Embassy of the Kingdom, and we are not affiliated with them. We list them because we checked them and would put them in a friend’s hands. If you lead a ministry and would like to be considered, or believe something here should be corrected, write to us — we read every message ourselves.