#6 - Ps Dave Smith - Inside indigenous missions: Building faith in the world’s forgotten places.

SUMMARY (with general timestamps):

• Growing up in Papua New Guinea:talks about his childhood as a missionary kid, epic dirt bike rides, and life in Goroka (00:01:07–00:11:06).
• Formative Faith & Trials: Coming to faith, family tragedy, and a government official causing chaos—plus a courtroom drama that tested his trust in God (00:04:38–00:08:10).
• Missionary Life in “the Bush”: What it’s really like living off the grid—traveling by four-wheeler, treating illnesses with bush medicine, and teaching in grass huts (00:13:13–00:17:28).
• Supernatural Encounters & Stories: From spirit attacks and witchcraft tales to dodging tribal warriors on mountain trails (00:27:28–00:33:17).
• Career Path & Missions Calling: Journey from business/computer major to missions director and how clarity in calling comes at the right time (00:33:36–00:46:15).
• Partnering with Nationals & Evolving Missions Models: The shift from “bring everyone to the US” to empowering local believers to start their own mission movements and businesses (00:51:01–00:58:24).
• Agency Collaboration & Team Dynamics: Navigating partnerships, exit strategies, and the realities of working together on the field (01:00:18–01:08:11).
• BAM (Business As Mission) and CAM (Careers As Mission): What BAM is, why the retreat started, and how business/career can be a tool for the Great Commission (01:09:43–01:24:03).
• Pitfalls & Best Practices for BAM: Avoiding dependency, keeping churches indigenous, and letting the locals lead—even when starting ministries and businesses (01:35:41–01:43:24).
• Missionary Goals & Accountability: How missionaries set spiritual, personal, and ministry goals—and how leaders evaluate fruitfulness (01:43:53–01:50:11).
• Favorite Books and Verses: Missionary bios, leadership classics, and Proverbs 3:5-6 wisdom (01:50:33–01:52:29).

GUEST BIO

Pastor Dave Smith is the director of Open Door Baptist Missions (ODBM), with roots as a missionary kid growing up in Papua New Guinea. Born in Philadelphia, his earliest memories are of building cribs in the jungle, learning to drive in tribal mountains, and navigating the joys and heartbreaks of life on the field. After enduring profound family loss and explosive trials, Dave’s journey took him through college as a business and computer major, a career in software, and ultimately back to missions—where he’s helped pioneer new models for empowering local believers, launched retreats to encourage “business as mission,” and has served as missions pastor at Morningside Baptist Church. He’s known for his real-world wisdom, vivid stories from the field, and his heart for raising up the next generation of Christian professionals to live out their calling globally.

SOCIAL LINKS AND RESOURCES

Resources Mentioned:

• Open Door Baptist Missions: opendoorbaptistmissions.org
• Books:
  • Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman
  • To the Golden Shore (Adoniram Judson biography)
  • Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper
  • John Payton: Ministry to the Cannibals by Paul Schlalin
  • Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Diebler Rose

YouTube: https://youtu.be/LQLsZw4E7_I