Culture Link

2023 Program Service Accomplishments The year started strong with three Help! Were Going On A Short-Term Trip! seminars in January and February - one open class in Atlanta, GA, one in Tampa, FL, and one closed class with a church partner in Atlanta.Also in January, we conducted an Intentional Living seminar with a church partner in metro Atlanta.In response to the devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey, CULTURELink partnered with SERV International the relief organization with whom the Ragans son, Luke, works to raise over $50,000 for urgent needs.In February, Ryan Hurlburt conducted a workshop on Equipping & Empowering Team Leaders for Mission Excellences annual conference on short-term missions, STM Connexion, in Seattle, WA. CULTURELink was a conference sponsor. Ryan has served on the leadership committee for the conference since 2022.Larry and Karen Ragan spent a month in Turkey, Egypt, and Northern Cyprus during the spring.In Turkey, they met individually with B4T (Business for Transformation) workers and with Persian church leaders.In Egypt, the Ragans met with Christian workers to provide care, counseling, and encouragement. Larry also preached at Heliopolis Community Church.In Northern Cypress, the Ragans again served at the Groundwork Conference, where 800 workers met for four days of prayer, teaching, and worship where they focused on reaching the Muslim world for Christ. Karen serves year-round on Groundworks leadership team and on the conferences administrative team. Larry provided pastoral care and counseling to these servants who work in the toughest and most persecuted regions of the world.After graduating from Georgia Tech in May, the Ragans daughter, Cameron, joined The Navigators staff at the University of Alabama. Her two-year commitment is already showing fruit in the relationships she is building with the young women there.In September, Lancaster County Christian School hosted Ryan in Pennsylvania to train their high school seniors in preparation to serve alongside our ministry partner in Costa Rica Andy Gordley and his business, Atlas Travel & Study Abroad.Ryan conducted two more training seminars in September the first outside Philadelphia in partnership with Catalyst Services, and the second for a large church in the Denver area that is revamping their process of mobilizing short-term teams.In September and October, the Ragans spent a month in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan.In Egypt, they joined Groundworks leadership team for a prayer conference at the desert monastery Anafora.In Lebanon, they served 45 workers and their 35 children from multiple organizations for a four-day retreat. Each morning, Larry provided three-hours of spiritual enrichment including small group discussions. The afternoons were spent in one-on-one care sessions and in assisting with strategic planning meetings.In Jordan, after participating in a Groundwork prayer event, they joined a mission team for their annual retreat. Larry provided the spiritual direction for the four-day retreat while Karen oversaw the homeschooling and care of the workers children. The mornings consisted of teaching, listening to God, leading discussions, and guiding the group in application. After lunch, the focus shifted to team building and leading the group through the Enneagram personality profiles. They ended their time in Jordan with their son, Luke with SERV International, and joined his team on a food box pack-out that will provide thousands of meals to refugees. In November, Larry traveled to Austin, TX, to help facilitate the church leaders track for the OPEN Connect Business for Transformation (B4T) conference. OPEN is a network of Christian workers that run businesses in closed to Christianity countries. His particular role for B4T is to teach churches how to mobilize, train, and send people specifically for these types of ministries. Much of what Karen and Larry do in the Middle East is training and caring for those who serve in these B4T expressions.Ryan returned to Costa Rica in November to disciple a group of college students serving on a Gap Year with Atlas Travel & Study Abroad. Our friends at Atlas also invited CULTURELink to recruit and lead specialized teams that will travel to Costa Rica in the future for a week-long intensive to study, discuss, and observe B4T concepts. While in Costa Rica, Ryan also met with a ministry using trauma counseling and small business training to transform communities and deepen their partnership with an Atlanta-area church.From relationships formed at the conferences mentioned above, Larry has been in regular communication with several workers in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans via Zoom for follow-up care sessions. These servants join the dozens of other workers CULTURELink already mentors around the globe.CULTURELink continues its in-depth consulting role with an Atlanta-area church. For nearly two years, we have helped the church strengthen its global partnerships, develop policies and procedures, and create a mobilization process.Since 2010, the total number of leaders CULTURELink has trained is over 2,800. These servants have gone on to mobilize teams and conduct ministry in 129 nations.CULTURELink continues to partner with other Atlanta-area nonprofits to host a monthly gathering of ministry leaders and mobilizers - the Atlanta Mobilizer Huddle. These events are helping ministries better network and more effectively collaborate.CULTURELink continues to invest in and serve our partners at Royal Kids School in Mombasa, Kenya.Through a connection at one of our training seminars, CULTURELink has initiated the process to translate our curriculum into Spanish. The development of this resource has been one of the most-requested by seminar participants and church partners alike.