• About Us
  • A Message from Our President
  • Meet Our Executive Board
  • Our Statement of Faith
  • Our Commission, Vision, and Mission
  • Our Financial Model
  • Our Policies Governing Donations
  • EPPIC in the Media
  • Follow Us on Facebook
• Equipping Pastors
  • Training Center for Church Planters (TCCP)
  • Bible Seminar
• Planting Churches
  • Ministry Model
  • Mission Point Ministry
• Getting Involved
  • Pray
  • Give
  • Go
  • Sew
• Contact Us

Meet Our Executive Board

Jeff Sloan

Mike Nelson came to my church (Lake Church) in Montgomery, Texas, back in 2016 to give an EPPIC Ministries presentation. During the presentation, I was moved by the Holy Spirit to get involved with the mission field, so in June of 2016, I went with EPPIC on a mission trip to Tanzania, Africa. What a life changing experience for me. This coming June 2020 will be my fifth trip to Africa with this amazing ministry. During my first four trips, God allowed me to take part in helping to plant 68 new churches and lead 5,795 people to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why I can't wait to go back again and again. Never have I seen so many people hungry for the Word of God and so eager to listen to the gospel plan of salvation.

I believe God takes us into new territory to purposely realign our perspective. If we never see poverty, or touch the untouchable, or walk in places that might unsettle us, then we may never step into His dream for us. Going on these short-term mission trips has given God the opportunity to change my perspective and enable me to truly see the world the way the Bible says God sees the world. Now, God has opened the door for me to service on the Executive Board of this remarkable ministry. I am so blessed that He has not only revealed His dream for me but has also made that dream become a reality.

Jeff and his wife Becki live in Magnolia, Texas. They have four children, thirteen grandchildren, and one great grandchild. In addition to serving in his local church, Jeff is a longtime member of the Gideon’s ministry.

Gary Derer

God brought me to EPPIC Ministries International by a very circuitous route. It started with five years in the Society of Jesus, a religious order of the Catholic Church, wound through a combat tour in Viet Nam, and included a law degree and a MBA in finance and a thirty year career as an attorney. Then in 2011 the Lord led me to Northrich Baptist Church in Richardson, Texas, where I began an amazing spiritual journey under the discipleship of Pastor Mike Nelson. The Lord used him to help me to see salvation entirely in the light of God's grace, unclouded by any human effort. Like Paul, I had to be entirely retrained in the meaning of the Old Testament and the place of evangelism in God's plan, which is why I am so excited to be involved in this ministry. I can't wait to get to the mission field to share with others what God has taught me about the gift of eternal life made possible by His Son Jesus Christ.

Gary is a single father who lives in Dallas, Texas, with his 19 year old daughter whom he adopted at birth.

David Woods

While visiting a member of my church in the hospital, I met Brother Mike Nelson. After spending several hours with him that night listening to him talk about international missions, my heart was sold. God's Word says to go to the uttermost parts of the world proclaiming His name. Being a minister, I knew it was our job to spread the gospel, but I just never thought about Africa. I went on my first mission trip with EPPIC in June of 2014, and it was truly a life changing experience. The people are starving to hear the Word of God, and praise be to God, so many are willing to accept the gift of salvation that He alone can offer them. It has been my privilege to serve with EPPIC Ministries in Africa and on home soil. I am so excited to be serving God with the amazing people who comprise this ministry. If what God used us to accomplish for His glory in Mererani and Monduli, Tanzania, in June 2014 is any indication of what lies ahead for this ministry, there is no other international missions organization in which I would want to serve.

David has been married to wife Regina for 24 years. They have one daughter, Tiffaney 23, one son, Nathan 14, and one grandson, Brayden 4. They reside in Claxton, Tennessee, where he serves as the pastor of Blessed Hope Missionary Baptist Church.

Mike Arp

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! I am glad that you are reading this and have an interest in what God is doing through EPPIC Ministries. As I write this, I am praying that God will speak to each of you who read these words and that He will draw you into some form of partnership in this kingdom work.

I was first exposed to this amazing ministry in January, 2014, when I had the privilege of preaching at a pastor's conference at which Brother Mike Nelson was in attendance. After the conference, Mike began to share with me, with great passion, his vision of the ministry. This vision is a biblical model of making disciples instead of just converts. I began praying about joining on an EPPIC Journey, and was overjoyed that God not only chose to send me on this life-changing journey, but also to send my precious wife Cheryl and three other ladies from our congregation! We memorized Scripture, learned to share the gospel using the EvangeCube, and then went, in June of 2015, to Makongolosi, Tanzania.

How can I begin to tell you what God did in my life on this trip? After 31 years in the faith and almost 11 years in the pastorate, I saw something I had never seen before - people who truly hungered for the Word of God. People who stopped what they were doing and gave full attention to the hearing of the gospel! It was a place where men were willing to go and start new works, as first-time pastors, and in villages previously unknown to many of them. There we saw people saved, discipleship begun, and soul winning by those new believers started on the same day! I believe in looking around, finding where God is at work, and joining Him for the kingdom's sake by going, praying, or giving. Do you? It was Jesus who said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38).

I am deeply honored to be serving in a ministry that is so dedicated to fulfilling the Great Commission, and I hope to meet you on the mission field in the near future. However, if you never meet me, you've missed nothing, but if you never meet Jesus, you've missed everything.

Mike has been married to his wife Cheryl for 24 years. They have three sons, Cameron, Caleb, and Daniel. They reside in Blount County, Tennessee, where he serves as the pastor of Outreach Church.