Staff
Chris Heuertz
- chris.heuertz@wordmadeflesh.org
- Country
- US
An activist, author, visionary and public speaker, Christopher L. Heuertz has traveled with his wife, Phileena, through nearly 70 countries working with the most vulnerable of the world's poor—Roma (gypsies), children with AIDS, prostituted women and girls, recovering drug addicts, children on the streets, unreached people and refugees.
Chris has led the Word Made Flesh community as the International Executive Director since 1996. He and Phileena reside in Omaha, Neb.
Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World is Chris Heuertz' first book. It shares touching stories from Chris' life and working among the most vulnerable.
Biography:
Chris Heuertz's office reveals his quirks. Toys neatly line the border of his desk, everything from Star Wars action figures to tiny, plastic breakfast foods smoking cigarettes. To his left, he has pinned up pictures of such historical figures as Gandhi, Romero, Che, Mother Teresa and Bob Marley. Behind him is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf filled with magazines like Harvard Business Review and Adbusters, International Bulletin of Missionary Research and Blender and books by authors like Henri Nouwen and Arundhati Roy. On the wall to his right is a portrait of a beautiful young Indian girl, Suryakala, whose life and death have deeply shaped who Chris is today.
Chris brings stories of friends like Suryakala into conversations that direct Christian culture. And while he is an important voice in today's progressive Christian scene—recently publishing his first book, Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World; speaking at conferences like Catalyst, Urban Youth Workers Institute, Passion, and Faith, Film and Justice, as well as at several colleges each year; offering counsel at Lausanne, Urbana and To Write Love on Her Arms; and writing for Christianity Today, The Other Journal and Lausanne World Pulse—Chris is real, and his life is shaped by the lives of his friends like Suryakala.
Having made friends throughout several years of travel to nearly 70 countries, Chris has seen God's heart for the vulnerable revealed. As he comes to know God's heart, Chris stands as a prophetic voice, calling the church to act. An activist, author, ordained minister through the Association of Evangelical Churches and Ministries, adjunct professor at Lakeview Seminary in Chennai, visionary and public speaker, Chris believes in provoking imaginations toward a revolution of peace, justice and simplicity in the face of a world marked by appalling disparity.
After spending several months in Kolkata, India, in 1993 volunteering with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity, Chris knew he wanted his life to count for those who are poor. He returned to India after living a semester in Israel and after graduating from Asbury College. From 1994 to 1996, Chris worked to help establish two Word Made Flesh children's homes in Chennai, India, that cared for children with AIDS, Hansen's disease (leprosy) and special needs. He also established a board of directors in Chennai, as well as a constitution for the running of the Word Made Flesh Chennai ministry.
Chris married Phileena Bacon in 1996, and the two began their life together in India. Shortly thereafter, Chris was named International Executive Director of Word Made Flesh. Chris and Phileena moved to the U.S. to serve in pastoral and administrative roles, frequently traveling to the WMF communities around the world (even living in Peru for a time). The two have given and found life in the WMF community, as they have befriended some of the most vulnerable of the world's poor—Roma (gypsies), children with AIDS, prostituted women and girls, recovering drug addicts, former child soldiers, children on the streets and refugees.
Chris and Phileena now live in Omaha, Neb., and continue to travel widely in the States and abroad for speaking engagements, for community building and encouragement, to share what God has done in and through their lives, to find God anew and for fun.
Associations and Awards:
Chris serves as a Community Consultant for To Write Love On Her Arms. Chris also participated in the Urbana 09 Program Consultation meetings. Phileena and Chris both serve as Advisory Council members for Project InterFaith and Advisory Board members for the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School.
Chris has also been a contributor at the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization's 2004 Conference in Thailand, the 2006 Younger Leaders Gathering in Malaysia and the 2007 International Leadership Meeting in Hungary.
Phileena and Chris were awarded Asbury College's "Distinguished Young Alumni Award" in 2005. In 2007 Phileena and Chris were the "Visiting Practitioner Fellows" with the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School.
Speaking Venues and Events:
Chris has spoken a number of universities including: Anderson University, Asbury College, Asbury Theological Seminary, Belhaven College, Bethany School of Missions, Creighton University, Duke Divinity School, Fresno Pacific University, George Fox University, Grace University, Houston Baptist University, Indiana Wesleyan University, John Brown University, Lakeview Bible College and Seminary (formerly the Madras College of Evangelism), Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Seattle Pacific University, Seoul Theological Seminary, Southern California College, Taylor University, Tulane University, the University of Georgia, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Vanderbilt University's Own Graduate School of Management, and Yale University.
Chris is also a frequent speaker at conferences, including: Catalyst, Film Faith & Justice, The Gathering, MissionFest Toronto, Passion Conferences, Urban Youth Workers Institute and Urbana.
Books by Chris:
Simple Spirituality: Learning To See God In A Broken World (InterVarsity Press, 2008)
Friendship at the Margin: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission, co-authored with Christine D. Pohl (InterVarsity Press, 2010)
Chris has contributed chapters to the following books:
"The Magic Bread: Blessing by Breaking" in Catalyst Groupzine: A Study for Next Generation Leaders (Catalyst, 2008)
"A Community of the Broken" in Catalyst Groupzine: A Study for Next Generation leaders (Thomas Nelson. 2007)
Contributed to the Lausanne Occasional Paper 33: Holistic Mission in A New Vision, A New Heart, A Renewed: Lausanne Occasional Papers from the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization in Pattaya, Thailand Call (Volume One), edited by David Claydon.
"Outside the Majestic Colonly" in Lifeline: Sharing Christ in a Broken World, Steve Beard and Maggie Schroeder (Living Streams Publication, 2003)
"Discovering Holiness in Ministry Among the Poor" in Power, Holiness, and Evangelism: Rediscovering God's Purity, Power, and Passion for the Lost, edited by Randy Clark (Destiny Image, 1999)
"Living and Responding to Heal and Transform" in Sexually Exploited Children: Working to Protect and Heal, Phyllis Kilbourn and Marjorie McDermid (MARC Publications, 1998)
Chris is featured in:
A Call To Die, David Nasser (Redemptive Art Publishing, 2008)
Servant First: Leadership for the New Millennium, John J. Sullivan (Xulon Press, 2003)
Chris has published the following articles:
Subverting Evangelicalism for TheOtherJournal.com
A Community of the Broken for the Christian Vision Project, first published in Christianity Today
Reducing Poverty Not the Poor: Reclaiming Community with the Victims of Oppression for Lausanne World Pulse
A Community of the Broken Among the Broken for Mustard Seed Associates
Discovering the Poor Outside the Majestic Colony for Good News Magazine
The Echo of a Saint: Signs of Hope in a Slum Community for Lausanne World Pulse
The End of Suffering a Q Short
Intimate Justice for Good News Magazine
Language and Lables for Evangelical Missions Quartley
Recovering Identity: A Sign of Restoration for the Q Blog
Simple Spirituality for Revant Magazine
Simple Spirituality, The Spirit of St. Francis: A Prophetic Sign of Hope in a Slum Community for Lausanne World Pulse
Sinners Corner for Geez Magazine
A Tangle of Contraditions: Spending Ethics and Justice in a Globalized World for The Journal of Student Ministries
A Pedagogy of Submission: Re-Educating Ourselves to Embody Our Belief in a Good God for TheOtherJournal.com
A Confession of a Functional Christian Gnostic for The Cry: An Advocacy of Word Made Flesh
The Cost of Exposure for the One Campaign's One Sabbath series on NeueMinistry.com
Why Evangelicals and the Interfaith Movement Need Each Other (with Beth Katz) for Neue Quarterly
A Vocation of Service: Finding Life in the 'Wrong' Places at the Faith, Film and Justice Conference
Video of Chris:
YouTube Video Clips
Chris' Press Kit:
For speaker request forms, photos and zip folders of Chris in the press, click here!