Brian M

Ready to Hit the Road

After a frenetic pace in the final months of 2025, I was thankful to have a quiet start to the new year. I didn't travel in January, and Reaching & Teaching gave me a week of writing leave to wrap up my current book project. However, I do get a little antsy when I'm home for this long. So, I'm definitely ready to hit the road.

This coming week I'll be in Orlando for our annual staff meetings. Then I'll be preaching on missions the following two Sundays in churches in Dayton, OH, and Columbia, SC, as well as teaching an evangelism workshop. Then, in the middle of March, Kami and I will depart for two weeks in Central Asia, meeting with our workers in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. This will include multiple flights, as well as a 6-hour taxi ride through the mountains and across the Kyrgyz border. It should be an adventure! I'll also be meeting with some potential partners in the region, and would appreciate your prayers for wisdom in those conversations.

In April, the plan is to travel to Turkey and Cyprus, visiting seven families in five cities, with flights in between each. On that trip, I'm excited that my brother is planning to join me. This will be his first time visiting Central Asia and our former home. All in all, over the next three months, I'll be on the road every week but two. So I would appreciate your prayers for safety, stamina, and good health, and for the Lord to care for Kami while I'm away.

In the mountains of Kurdistan, a young and adventurous Peter Pikkert (photo from Historical Ecclesiastica by Michael Haykin)

In Memoriam

As I write this update, I am grieving the loss of a missionary colleague and friend. One week ago, Peter Pikkert made his greatest journey ever; he went home to be with his Lord at the age of 66.

I first met Peter in 2008 on a trip to Turkey. At that time, Peter was already a veteran missionary. Born in the Netherlands and raised in Canada, Peter went on to serve overseas in Jordan, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkey, as well as in Europe. On my first visit to Istanbul in 2008, I had the opportunity to glean from his wisdom and perspective on life and work in Turkey. At that time, I never would have imagined that, not too long after, our family would find ourselves in the same church as Peter and Anna.

Peter was an old-school missionary. He was fluent in Dutch, Arabic, Turkish, and English, and was also quite capable in Kurdish and Flemish. In fact, I first studied Turkish using an introductory grammar written by Peter. Later, when I tried my hand at Kurdish, I worked through a grammar of Kurmanji, also written by Peter. In addition to his gifts in language, Peter possessed the rare mixture of evangelistic zeal, pastoral sensitivity, and theological precision. He wrote numerous books in his career, including a theology of the Old Testament, an assessment of Missio Dei, and a comparative dictionary of theological terms in Christianity and Islam.

By 2013, our paths diverged, with our family moving east to Erzurum, and the Pikkerts moving west for Peter to teach at a seminary in the Netherlands. We would not reunite again until 2019, when Eric and I visited the Pikkerts in their small apartment in Hamilton, Ontario. By then, Peter's work was more focused on training future missionaries. However, when he learned of some initiatives TLI had among Arabic-speaking diaspora pastors, he immediately jumped on board. In the last years of his ministry, he was able to return to where his work began, among Arabs in the Middle East.

Over the years, Peter and I never worked especially close together, but we did remain in contact. Then, this last fall, he reached out to let me know that cancer was taking a toll on his body. He knew he didn't have much time left. He had written a memoir, mostly for his children and grandchildren. So he asked me to review the manuscript, offer feedback, and endorse the book if I was willing. I gladly agreed. As I read his autobiography, I couldn't put the book down. 

Learning more about the man I knew in part, I was moved to thanksgiving for a servant of such great stature in the kingdom of heaven. While Peter's funeral in Ontario this weekend will not be considered newsworthy by this world, I believe heaven is rejoicing for a race well run. And I am personally thankful to have known Peter Pikkert. May there be many more laborers like him in the harvest.

recommended Resources 

If you'd be interested in exploring some of the writings of Peter Pikkert, you can find some of them on Amazon, including: