Dr. Gary Teja is the Director of Global Strategic Initiatives for Multiplication Network. He has dedicated his career to the growth of God’s Church around the world. He has over 40 years of experience at Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM), now known as Resonate Global, CRC Publications, Christian Reformed Home Missions, Kuyper College, and Bible League International. Gary has written over 30 publications.
Not long after Gary and his wife Jackie were married, they moved to Nicaragua where God had called them to plant a church. From 1974-1990 they worked in a variety of roles through the CRWM in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Gary’s experience as a church planter provides him with a compassion for the men and women around the world who are working to expand God’s Church.
As the ministry grew, one of Gary’s primary responsibilities as Multiplication Network’s first International Ministry Director was to assist the global staff in staying “on vision” as they maintained and grew relationships with ministry partners. Gary also played a major role in the continual strengthening of existing ministry tools and the formation of new materials. In January 2015, Gary was promoted to Multiplication Network’s first Vice President of Global Ministry. He supervised work in strategic countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eurasia. In September of 2021, Gary transitioned to the role of Director of Global Strategic Initiatives with Ben Meyer taking on the role of VP of Global Ministry. In this new role, Gary will oversee global staff training through Multiplication Network University and the expansion of Multiplication Network’s training with our denominational partners in the field through the Center of Innovation and Technology (CIT).
Gary wrote Formación Espiritual, published in Spain in 2009. The English adaptation A Journey of Faith was released in late 2017 by Multiplication Network. Gary co-authored Masterful Mentoring, which has been translated into Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Swahili, Amharic, Nepali, Romanian, Khmer, and Portuguese. He is an editor and contributor to Planting Healthy Churches with eight other authors. The Spanish translation, La siembra de Iglesias Saludables, became available in 2017. Gary has also written ¡Socorro! ¿Cómo dirijo grupos pequeños de plantación de iglesias?, and was an editor of Plantación de Iglesias Urbanas. In 2021 he co-edited Multiplication Network’s newest book, A World of gods: Church Planting in a Pluralistic World.
Gary and his wife Jackie currently live in West Michigan.