Connecting the Global Church: How Dave Guiles Uses His Masters of Divinity

By Kalli Kauffman (BA 27)

Living life together and relying on others through the trials of church planting is important when serving Christ in the field. For Sue and Dave Guiles, missions are driven by a simple premise to introduce less-reached peoples to the Gospel. 

According to Dave, who earned his masters of divinity at Grace, this means “mobilizing churches to take the Gospel where it isn’t and plant churches where they aren’t.” 

Finding His Family 

At 18, Guiles followed in his father’s footsteps and enrolled at Grace College, where he met his wife, Sue. While he originally desired to study music, Guiles soon realized God was calling him towards a ministry major instead. Inspired by chapel speakers such as Tom Julien and Roger Peugh, Guiles and Sue decided to pursue global outreach. The duo got married in their final year of college.

After completing his bachelor’s, Guiles began a masters of divinity, which equipped him for a lifetime of ministry. During this time, Dave temporarily worked as a youth pastor and associate pastor at Warsaw Community Grace Brethren Church to gain more experience. 

On the same weekend Dave graduated with his masters of divinity, the couple was commissioned to the mission field by Encompass World Partners. Relocating to Buenos Aires, Argentina, the couple worked to serve Christ over the next 12 years. 

“We focused on church planting,” said Guiles. “So we did a lot of frontline evangelism, discipling believers, and leadership training.”

The ministry skills Guiles developed through his masters of divinity helped him succeed in the mission field. Through the collaboration of their mission team, the couple continued to build up their church family and share the Gospel with unreached believers. While in Buenos Aires, they created an effective church planting strategy Guiles worked to simplify and reproduce in other countries such as Brazil and Mexico.

Not long after arriving in Argentina, 28-year-old Guiles, one of the youngest on the mission team, took on the director role of their field. A few years later, he became the coordinator for the entire Latin America region at Encompass World Partners. 

Over time, God continued to use Guiles. After a long stint in the mission field, Guiles was eventually encouraged by the Encompass board of directors to take on the role of executive director. At 39, Guiles went through the difficult transition of relocating with his family back to Winona Lake. He spent the next twenty-three years developing and training missionaries.

The Charis Alliance

After decades of ministry, Guiles passed the mantle of leadership to Mike Yoder, who serves as the current executive director for Encompass. Now, Guiles serves as the international coordinator for the Charis Alliance, a global movement and organization for Charis Fellowship’s worldwide network of churches. In this position, Guiles collaborates with churches to achieve three goals: bless local communities, develop leaders, and plant new churches.

“You have to invite people to the table,” said Guiles. “It amazes me that these thousands of churches that we helped to start in some way want to still be a family, and they want to collaborate.”

The mission never stops. After years of experience, Guiles has concluded that while missions are important, they come to an end. Despite the mission ending, the ministry of the churches continues to reach unsaved people. 

Today, working in locations like the Philippines or the Caribbean Islands, Guiles coordinates with local churches and helps them integrate into the worldwide church family. The collaboration of the global church carries on, expanding the Gospel and calling others to Christ. 

You can also join the global movement. Whether you desire to pursue a career as a pastor or missionary, you can use your gifts and abilities to build the church. Learn more about Grace Theological Seminary’s masters of divinity degree, or check out our other ministry programs.