What’s New at Missions Place? [Photo Journal]

TEAM - The Evangelical Alliance Mission • Mar 10, 2016

Missions Place by TEAM was started in 2013 as a “storefront” concept for international missions. Since then, thousands of people have walked through the doors of Missions Place to to attend an event, talk to staff about missions or simply enjoy a coffee.

This year, Missions Place takes its next step with the addition of a collaborative workspace. This relaxed, shared working environment brings together a local, kingdom-minded community in cities for the sake of the gospel around the world.

Scroll through the photo journal to catch a snapshot of this collaborative community.

The Faces of Missions Place

melissa barber missions place

Melissa Barber has been a site manger for Missions Place in Wheaton, Illinois, since 2013. She enduringly loves Adele, the Chicago Bears and her twin nephews.


Meet Melissa. Originally from Arizona, she fell in love with the Chicagoland area as an undergraduate student at Moody Bible Institute and after graduation, never left. When Melissa joined TEAM as a site manager, Missions Place was just a bold, new idea and an empty, old bank in downtown Wheaton. Today, Melissa welcomes new faces to the space daily and has hosted over 200 events.


hannah lewis missions place

Hannah’s favorite part of being a site manger at Missions Place is connecting with new people and creatively serving them. She lives in the heart of her favorite city, Fort Worth, Texas, with her beloved husband and goldendoodle.


Meet Hannah. Hannah is a small-town Texas native known for her love of people and a good glass of sweet tea. Hannah joined the TEAM team in 2014 and is passionate about fostering unity among nonprofits and churches in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The Collaborative Workspace at Missions Place

The saying goes, “No man is an island.” The unique benefit of the collaborative workspace at Missions Place is the community it fosters. Each co-working space is intentionally designed with collaboration in mind : long tables for group meetings, comfy couches for quiet conversations and plenty of coffee to fuel it all.

missions place collaborative workspace grapevine

The collaborative workspace is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. as an alternative space for anyone who works from home or has the flexibility to venture out of the office.


“Regulars,” like Dustin in Grapevine or Michelle in Wheaton, make the workspace truly collaborative. Individuals from different organizations and backgrounds can gather here regularly to create a kingdom-minded network.

Dustin working at missions place

“The Missions Place has benefited me in many different ways. From a personal standpoint, this place has fostered friendships with like-minded people in the area of missions and ministry. The MP has also allowed me to have a place to office out of while I am home and need a place to call my own. The community and relationships in this space have been so beneficial.” – Dustin, founder of Feet That Move


michelle missions place wheaton

“As a recent college graduate who doesn’t have a great space for a home office, the collaborative workspace has been a huge blessing. It works well for individual work days and as a meeting space.” – Michelle, Event Coordinator for Illinois School Project


Each workspace is complete with office essentials like white boards, WiFi and caffeine.

coffee bar missions place grapevine

Coffee connoisseurs in Grapevine enjoy a Clever Coffee Dripper (mix of a pour over and French press) for the perfect cup.


Events at Missions Place

Ultimately, Missions Place is a platform to serve the body of Christ . The space serves the church regularly by providing a gathering place.

missions place grapevine leave your beauty mark event

Missions Place in Grapevine had the privilege of hosting Leave Your Beauty Mark’s first ever LYBM Summit. Women gathered to cast vision and dream big, God-sized dreams for their lives.


missions place wheaton team

Westline Church is a movement planting churches along the train line in Chicago. The staff camps out at Missions Place to pray, plan and work in order to make this vision a reality.


Through a rich network of ministries, nonprofits and churches, Missions Place hosts discussions and training around missions topics.

Missions place wheaton even my half of the sky

Renee and her husband had a long-time dream of one day using business as a form of mission work. The tipping point came while attending a panel discussion on social enterprise at Missions Place. They got their questions answered and got to work! Renee and her husband launched My Half of the Sky in 2015, a social enterprise envisioning a world where everyday men and women responsibly consume goods to affect the global economy.


stories to tell missions place grapevine

“How was your mission trip?” can be a dreaded question for anyone who has spent time overseas. So, Missions Place in Grapevine invited former missionaries to process their stories through painting exercises led by local artist Anne Dashton.


nuggets and nations TEAM missions place grapevine

About three times a year, Missions Place in Grapevine collaborates with the Forefront Experience and Texas Perspectives for a night of prayer for the nations and Chick-fil-A. Naturally, they call it Nuggets & Nations.


Collaborate with Missions Place

If you’re ever in Grapevine or Wheaton , make sure to stop by Missions Place. A third location in Charlotte is set to open in collaboration with South America Mission in 2016. In whatever city you find us, there’s an open seat for you.



connect with missions place



By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. Q: What do you love most about being a part of TEAM? Why TEAM rather than other organizations or job opportunities? A: The TEAM community is full of people who have faithfully served God’s mission and have given up a lot to do so. It is a privilege to know many of our global workers and be counted among them. I am also fascinated by the fact that TEAM has existed now for more than 130 years! There is something to be said about the resilience and faithfulness of an organization that has continued to impact the world for so long. The rest of our conversation with Justin will be coming soon on blog! We’ll hear more about how God called Justin to the role of International Director, and what Justin sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church.
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