Todd & Rebekah Culbertson

Todd and Rebekah grew up in Maryland but met in Milwaukee at a dinner for international students. From before they were married, God was drawing their focus away from their careers and toward THE big thing He is doing in this church age – making disciples from among each and every people group (ethnos). They learned that there are still thousands of people groups that have no Christian witness, no church, and no Bible in their language.
 
In 2019, after studying the Bible at Ethnos360 Bible Institute and attending missionary training, the Lord opened doors for Todd and Rebekah to serve in Ontario at the Emanate training center. Emanate equips future church planters to put down roots in another culture, learn the language and worldview of a people group, model the Christian life through relationships, and teach the Bible foundationally and chronologically – so as to avoid syncretism and make the gospel of grace clear. In some non-literate people groups, church planting teams also teach literacy and translate the Bible so that the people can read God’s Word for themselves. The goal is to build up indigenous, self-run, self-sustaining churches. Just as members of the military undergo rigorous training before deployment, Emanate students are equipped for the grueling but rewarding task ahead of them.  
 
Todd teaches classes including phonetics, phonemics and grammar – all interactive linguistics classes that prepare future missionaries to learn tribal languages directly from the people. Together, Todd and Rebekah have a variety of roles as part of the training center community, and are involved in one-on-one discipleship of missionary trainees and their families.

"...and how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about him?" ~ Romans 10:14