Podcast episode
Episode 381 – Collaborative Missiology: The Future of Global Missions | Rob Hoskins
Rob Hoskins grew up watching his missionary father get arrested, survive a kidnapping, and have their house blown up—all before receiving a vision to put God’s Word in the hands of every child on earth. Forty years later, OneHope operates in every country of the world. But now Rob says the pioneer era of missions is over, and what comes next will require something harder than sacrifice: collaboration.
EPISODE NOTES
Rob Hoskins grew up watching his missionary father get arrested, survive a kidnapping, and have their house blown up—all before receiving a vision to put God’s Word in the hands of every child on earth. Forty years later, OneHope operates in every country of the world. But now Rob says the pioneer era of missions is over, and what comes next will require something harder than sacrifice: collaboration.
In this conversation with Justin Forman, Rob makes the case for a collaborative missiology—a framework where ministries, donors, entrepreneurs, and global church leaders unite around shared goals, shared measuring systems, and shared humility. From the Bible App for Kids (built in partnership with YouVersion after two costly failed attempts) to the Close the Bible Gap initiative joining six global agencies, Rob shows what it looks like when Kingdom ambition meets collaborative wisdom.
Whether you’re a donor frustrated by fragmented giving, an entrepreneur wondering how your resources fit into global mission, or a leader navigating an intergenerational handoff—this episode will challenge you to think bigger about what’s possible when the body of Christ actually works together.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction — What a time it is to be alive
02:19 Rob’s background: Missionaries, the Middle East, evacuations & kidnapping
04:30 The vision: God’s Word to every child — how OneHope began
06:03 Family business dynamics & the intergenerational handoff
08:00 Dad’s entrepreneurial mind: Newspaper ads in Beirut & reaching Muslims
10:45 Generational cycles are accelerating — what that means for ministry
12:27 The innovation permission problem: Why ‘sacred’ can block risk
13:14 Two out of ten: The real failure rate behind every ministry success
14:57 From pioneer to collaborative missiology — a framework for the 21st century
17:00 Bible translation: From lifetime sacrifice to AI-assisted collaboration
19:32 The 1.6M nonprofits problem — and why the market has something to teach missions
23:48 Sacred cows and accountability: When ‘God told me’ stops the hard questions
25:00 Bobby Grunwald, YouVersion & the humility behind the Bible App for Kids
27:21 Unity for mission, not unity for unity’s sake
28:00 Close the Bible Gap: Six agencies, shared logistics, one-stop resourcing
30:56 How collaborative generosity is transforming how donors give
33:08 The 5D design cycle: Discover, design, do, document, dream
34:49 From West to the rest → from all to all: Democratizing global missions
36:49 Why U.S. entrepreneurs are watching stories from the majority world
38:40 The majority world church — moving from charity recipients to co-builders
40:12 What a time it is to be alive: New playbooks, new humility, new romance
41:58 Call to action: Visit solving.org for coordinated giving
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Explore
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Sign up for the very best of the podcast, videos, resources, and upcoming events once a month.
As a non-profit ministry we are generously supported by the donations of a few leaders to advance the movement.
Faith Driven Entrepreneur is an educational platform hosted by Faith Driven Movements, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire, educate, and mobilize people to use their time, talents and other resources in the marketplace. Faith Driven Movements brings together leaders from around the world that seek to make a financial, social, environmental and spiritual impact through their business ventures. The website is intended to be an opportunity to exchange ideas for educational purposes. Faith Driven Movements is not responsible for the opinions, advice, statements, materials, presentations, data, images, videos, documentation and other information (collectively, the “Materials”) expressed or otherwise shared by guest contributors (including without limitation podcast guests, conference speakers, guest writers, participating companies and investment professionals). The Materials are for informational purposes only, and the statements, views and opinions expressed at any presentation or in any Materials are those solely of the presenter and not of Faith Driven Movements. Hosts and Guests may maintain positions in the companies and securities discussed. Further, Faith Driven Movements does not endorse or recommend any presenter, promoter, investment advisor, strategy, company or any views mentioned at any conference or in the Materials. Under no circumstances will Faith Driven Movements (or their respective trustees, directors, officers, employees, or agents) be liable for the accuracy, quality or reliability of any of the presentations or Materials, any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of presenters, or any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising from any presentations or Materials. By visiting the site you agree to comply with the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct.