You are here :
Home / About the Director
 John M. Lindner is a native of Michigan. He obtained his B.A. in History from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois, with honor in 1959, and a B.D. with highest honor from Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1962. Pastoral ministry John pastored churches in Michigan and Ohio from 1962 to 1979. These included churches of major Protestant tradition, the more evangelical and missionary-oriented Christian & Missionary Alliance, and independent non-denominational churches. During his church ministry years John and his wife, Jo Ann, saw scores come to Christ, filled with the Spirit, and set free to serve Christ. While in one of these churches, John became aware of the ministry of Christian Aid in Charlottesville, Virginia. He and his wife began sponsoring a missionary in 1972 and later hosted indigenous missionary leaders from Nepal, India and the Philippines in their area. The Lindners were amazed at these missionaries’ struggles, innovation, and successes. Because John was so successful in arranging meetings for these visiting missionaries, Dr. Bob Finley invited him to come and do the same at Christian Aid. John accepted the call and moved his family to Charlottesville in 1979. Missionary and editing ministry Shortly after arriving at Christian Aid, John became director of publications and then editor of the mission’s four-page newsletter, Christian Mission. Under John’s diligence, work and vision, it quickly became an 8-page two-color magazinette in 1984, and developed into a 16-page bi-monthly and finally a full-color magazine in 1988. Starting in 1994 the magazine published 24 full-color pages quarterly with a circulation of 25,000. Dr. David Barrett, compiler of the World Christian Encyclopedia, called it the “most substantive” missions magazine he knew. In his tenure at Christian Aid, John made several trips overseas to visit some of these brethren and their ministries on their home turf. This included indigenous ministries in India, Nepal, Nigeria, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Philippines, Ukraine and Bulgaria. He and his wife also attended the Billy Graham Amsterdam meeting in 1986. Over the years, John met many indigenous mission leaders who had amazing stories of perseverance and progress to tell. John wrote up 12 such stories that Christian Aid published in a book, God's Special Agents, in 2003. A second and revised printing is planned. That same year John also wrote the story of P.M. Thomas and the Himalaya Evangelical Mission that was published in India as The Mountains Shall Sing. Both of these books are available from World Christian Ministries. (See Books.) After seeing Christian Aid through its 50th year of ministry in 2003, John left Christian Aid January 30, 2004 for the purpose of starting a new World Christian magazine that would go beyond the limitations of a magazine representing a single organization. However, a business study showed that $500,000 would be required to see the magazine through the first two years of operation, with more needed to continue into the third, and a "break-even" date was uncertain. So John abandoned the print project and concentrated on sending out a weekly e-mail newsletter free to subscribers. Additional news articles and stories will be published in other periodicals and released through news media, as the Lord opens doors. In 2004 John also was asked to edit a 16-page quarterly, Hopegivers Journal, for Hopegivers International, a ministry known in India as Emmanuel Ministries International. In February 2005 Emmanuel Theological Seminary in Kota, Rajasthan (India) awarded John a "Doctor of Mission" degree in recognition of "a lifetime of service to Christ and His mission." That assignment ended in 2007 due to persecution factors in India and ensuing funding issues.
Personal life  In 1960 John married the former Jo Ann Vaclavik of Jackson, Michigan. They have three daughters, a son, and seven grandchildren, who live in Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington, DC areas. John also serves as active elder in Church of the Blue Ridge, Afton, Va. He and Jo Ann are both innovators and "do-it-yourselfers" and in their "spare" time they engage in gardening, fishing, carpentry and other home-related activities. For over 25 years, Jo Ann has directed—and continues to direct—the sponsorship division at Christian Aid. Click here to read a personal word from John Lindner. |
