Board of Directors
David Empson
is a native of Columbus, Indiana, where he was raised attending the New Hope Christian Church…where he was both baptized and ordained into the Christian ministry. He attended Kentucky Christian College (1977-1981) where he met Sherree Hunt and they married after graduation. David served as a youth minister Illinois, Kentucky and in Indiana from 1981 thru 2001. He received a Master of Arts from Cincinnati Bible Seminary in Practical Ministries in 1991. During his youth ministry years, David led many student mission trips. This experience led him to be recommended to lead to the student program, creating the Windows of the World Teen Convention for the NMC in 1998. As Windows grew, David became the first full time student director, operating from central Indiana. In 2008, David took on the executive director role and moved operations from Copeland, KS to Indiana. That change took place in 2008. David and Sherree have two daughters, Emily Drayne (who also works at ICOM) and Jenny Empson.
DEAN TRUNE
grew up in a Christian Church near Lapeer, Michigan. His father was an elder in the congregation for 25 years. In 2015, Dean and his wife, Bonnie, moved from Michigan to Phoenix, Arizona. Dean and Bonnie attend First Christian Church in Phoenix. Dean claims that outside of salvation, God’s greatest blessing to him has been Bonnie. They have two adult children. The oldest, Kim, and her son, DeShawn, live in Phoenix. The youngest, Ryan, and his wife, Reka, and their two sons, Zane and Hazen, also live in Phoenix.
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In 1995, God uniquely opened a door for Dean to also begin leading prayer seminars around the country. To date, God has allowed Dean the opportunity to lead seminars in about forty of the states, and in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, and Thailand. He has also had the opportunity to teach on prayer in Hungary and China. God has also given him the opportunity to have a “front row seat” at several revivals on Christian campuses and university campuses. He firmly believes that prayer must be the basis of all we do individually and all we do in ministry. He also believes strongly in this statement, “God has blessed my ministry in spite of me, not because of me.” He adamantly believes that his love for God must be more passionate than his love for his family and for his ministry (especially ministry).
Dean has had the privilege of having five books published. Dean’s ministry currently includes being a spiritual life coach, an author, and a seminar speaker. He thoroughly enjoys all three aspects of his God-assigned responsibilities.
DEAN TRUNE
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serves as a professor at Johnson University, where he is passionate about advancing the university’s kingdom-minded vision and strategic mission. He loves working with students who challenge him to grow both in teaching and in practice. With degrees in Bible and Youth Ministry (Johnson University), Secondary Science Education (B.S. and M.A., East Carolina University), and Missiology (M.A., Columbia International University), he is also currently completing a doctorate at Oxford University. In his classes, students can expect thought-provoking discussions centered on critical thinking and faithfully following Jesus in both being and doing. Outside the classroom, he enjoys spending time with his wife and family and loves running, cycling, hiking, and anything outdoors. He encourages students not only to deeply study the Word but to immediately begin living it out. His greatest hope is to influence students to become followers of Jesus who share His love with every nation, tribe, and tongue. He is driven by the belief that "Life is all about practicing for heaven," a quote by Richard Rohr that shapes his approach to life and teaching.
Andrew Jit
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Andrew Jit was born and raised in New Zealand and has served in various ministry roles in youth ministry and missions in New Zealand and the United States. He is the founder of MiT Global that has a focus of making passionate purposeful disciples who are living on mission for Jesus. His passion is teaching and training disciples to live on mission daily to have a global impact. He loves to challenge disciples and inspire the next generation to live passionately and radically for God. He has trained numerous churches in their missions strategy. He has traveled extensively around the world teaching, leading and training disciples. He holds an undergraduate degree in Human Geography from the University of Auckland and a Masters in Christian Education and a Certificate in Leadership and Teaching from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of Missions Abandoned: Re-Establishing Missions as a Priority in Our Lives and Churches and Missions in Focus: 10 Essential Conversations for Effective Sending. He is married to his beautiful bride, Jamie, and blessed with two daughters, Hannah and Ella.
