Leadership
WGC Board of Regents
The Lord is assembling a group of leaders who will lend sound, spiritual oversight to this endeavor! Please pray with us that God will finish creating precisely the board that will guide this institution in through these pivotal initial years. Each Regent is deeply committed to the centrality of the local church, has been given a shepherd’s heart and is committed to the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God.
Our founder is Mark Lind, who served as one of the pastors at Spring Creek Bible Church in Bellingham, WA for seventeen years and is now dedicated to this project. Mark is a 2007 M.Div. graduate of The Master’s Seminary in Sun Valley, CA. He and his wife Christine have six children, three of whom are in their college years, while the youngest three are still finishing homeschooling. Mark hales from Fargo, N.D. while Christine grew up in Bellevue, WA.
Directing and Advising Churches
Whitefield Global College will also receive direction and accountability from a number of churches in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Directing churches are those with an elder(s) who also serves in WGC’s leadership or are those that God has led to be intimately involved in the planning and operations of the school. Advising Churches are churches who support the efforts of WGC with wisdom, counsel, and finances, but to a lesser extent than Directing Churches. The church is God’s design and stands over ministries such as WGC (and all missions work), thus WGC exists to serve and submit to local churches.
Please pray with us in this developmental stage for the Lord to formulate the ecclesiological foundation of WGC to be rich with gospel fervor and hearts that are concerned with God’s glory above all.
Whitefield Board of Regents
Dr. David Steele, Senior Pastor, Christ Fellowship Church, Everson, WA
Dr. Steele earned his Doctor of Ministry from Bakke Graduate University and His M.A. and B.S. degrees from Multnomah University and Multnomah Biblical Seminary.
“I spend most of my time with my family and preparing to preach and teach God’s Word. In my spare time, I’m cranking out miles on my road bike, working out on the treadmill, or playing tennis, pickleball, or golf”.
Dr. Steele has published the following books:
A Christian Reading Manifesto: A New Resurgence of Learning.
The Jonah Complex: Meditations on the Sovereignty of God.
Be Killing Sin: The Art of War on the Battlefield of Faith.
Spineless: Restoring Courage and Conviction to the People of God.
The White Flag: When Compromise Cripples the Church.
A Godward Gaze: The Holy Pursuit of John Calvin.
Bold Reformer: Celebrating the Gospel-Centered Convictions of Martin Luther.
Michael Martin, Senior Pastor Immanuel Bible Church, Bellingham, WA
Pastor Martin earned his M.Div. from Master’s Seminary in 2015 after graduating from Arizona Christian University in 2011.
Martin and his wife Heather have four children. He enjoys taking trips with my family, studying the Battle of Gettysburg, and following all-things Philadelphia sports
“The Lord saved me out of a dark life of sin and rebellion. I resonate with Paul” … Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life (1 Tim 1:16). “After coming to faith, I loved being involved in the local church. I was encouraged to pursue studies of a more formal nature; they could help me be more effective in my involvement. An undergrad focused on the Bible led me to consider full-time ministry as a vocation. It also served as an important foundation for a seminary education. Education not only personally enriched my walk with Christ but also brought clarity to where that journey would eventually lead … pastoral ministry in a local church.”
My Heart for Missions – “The nations need to hear the good news about Jesus Christ. My heart is for the lost to hear this message, coming from those who know Christ, using means that honor Him. I believe all we do in missions should be driven by Scripture and that the mission field might be populated by people who understand what it means to both share the gospel and then make disciples of those who believe.”
Patrick Slyman, Senior Pastor Emmanuel Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon
Patrick is a graduate of The Master’s University and Seminary (DMin, MDiv, BA).
He and his wife Sarah grew up together in New England and are now thankful to call the Pacific Northwest their home. They have two daughters, Alexandra and Maddox.
Outside of church ministry, spending time with his family is at the very top of Patrick’s “favorites” list. He and his family love to play games, travel, ride bikes and explore nature.
Patrick’s goal is to build up the body of Christ by faithfully expositing God’s inspired, inerrant, and sufficient Word (2 Timothy 3:16-4:2)
Jeremy Pickens, Senior Pastor Good Shepherd Bible Church, Bellingham WA
Jeremy received his M.A. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and B.A. from Moody Bible Institute.
Jeremy has spent most of his life in the great Northwest states of Oregon and Washington. He is married to Jennie Pickens and is the father of Ethan and Grace Pickens.
“The God of all glory has chosen some from every nation, tribe, and tongue to have as His own throughout all eternity–to the praise of His glorious grace! It is this reality that drives my passion for faithful Gospel proclamation to the ends of the earth. What confidence this gives us as we go in His name and declare the Good News of Jesus Christ. We have a great commission because we have a great Savior!”
Dr. Joseph White, Senior Pastor Grace and Truth Bible Church, Forest Grove, OR
Joseph completed his Doctor of Ministry and MDiv degrees at The Master’s Seminary. He received his B.A. in History from Whitworth University. After his undergraduate work, he served three years as an intern in the College Ministry at Faith Bible Church, in Spokane, Joseph then worked bi-vocationally, serving as a pastor while also teaching history and Bible classes in classical Christian schools in Portland and Seattle. He also served briefly as a Chaplain in the Navy Reserve. Since 2013, Joseph has been the pastor of Grace and Truth Bible Church in Hillsboro, OR. In 2021,
Dr. White published the book “A Zeal for Your House Will Consume Me” (2024)
Dr. White was born in Apple Valley, CA but spent the majority of his early years in Riverton, Wyoming. Since that time, he lived in various communities throughout Central and Southern California. He graduated from Apple Valley High School in 1996. He is married to Julie White and is the father of Isaiah, Daniel Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
When he was in college, Joseph served on multiple short-term missions’ teams to France, Mexico, and Kazakhstan. These experiences fueled his desire to serve overseas as a missionary. Joseph and his wife Julie began dating after both professed the desire to become missionaries to Mexico. After attending Seminary, the Lord closed the doors on missions and redirected their family to the Pacific Northwest. Although they were not able to go to Mexico, Mexico has come to them. A substantial portion of their congregation is from Latin America, which has allowed them to be domestic missionaries in a manner they never planned.
Dr. E.D. Burns, Missionary in Southeast Asia
Dr. Burns earned his PhD from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary his MDiv from Western Seminary an MA from Biola University an MA from Wheaton College and a BA from Moody Bible Institute.
Dr. Burns is a long-term missionary in Southeast Asia who had previously served in Alaksa and the Middle East. He is the International Director of Frontier Dispatch as well as serving on the faculty of Asia Biblical Theological Seminary. From his remote location, he serves as Executive Director of Training & Development at ABWE, and as Director of the MA program in Cultural Apologetics & Missions at Founders Seminary. As a linguist and ordained minister, Dr. Burns develops theological resources and trains indigenous pastors and missionaries to the least reached.
Dr. Burns has published the following books:
The Missionary-Theologian: Sent into the World, Sanctified by the Word
Karmic Christianity: Finding Peace by Faith Alone
Great Commission Spirituality: Abiding in Christ, Serving in Obscurity
The Good Fight: Holding Fast to Faith Alone and the Word of Christ
Mark Lind, President, Whitefield Global College, Everson, WA
Mark served as the Assistant Pastor at Spring Creek Bible Church in Bellingham for 17 years until channeling his energies to Whitefield Global College in 2024. Missions has long been a passion and area of oversight for Mark. Prior to pastoral ministry Mark worked with the team at Grace to You (Valencia, CA) while also attending The Master’s Seminary where he earned his M. Div. In 2007. He did his undergraduate studies at Trinity Western University, Langley, B.C.
The son of a newspaper man in a home swimming in journalism, his earlier career was primarily in radio in his native state of North Dakota and then in western Washington. The Lord has blessed Mark and his wife Christine with six kids: Clara, Hudson, Henry. Isaac, Ethan and Minnie. They are rapidly moving on in various directions including college education, the marketplace and missions. Just two of the six are still ‘in the nest’ completing their homeschool education.
Mark said this, “If the Lord wants to raise up a small ministry like WGC that will serve alongside and under local church leadership to help build and strengthen local churches overseas, count me in! If He can use me to assemble a godly team who excel me to train and disciple missionaries with passion for evangelism, commitment to God’s sovereignty and full submission to the Word of God—that is worth expending my life for.”
Whitefield Global College
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