James & Melody Wartian
Managing Director
Our Story:
We love to see new disciples being raised up from every people group around the world! So we love missionaries — global workers who are making that a reality!
Growing up, James enjoyed personally knowing many missionary families. On a mission trip his senior year of high school, he was moved by the challenges global workers faced on the field. While preparing to be a pastor, James attended Word of Life Bible Institute, Moody Bible Institute, and Dallas Seminary — all three schools that strongly believe in missions. God used that passion to open up the opportunity for James to serve for 25 years as a mission pastor at a church in Texas and in Iowa.
Melody equally shares God’s heart for the nations. Together James and Melody have enjoyed friendships with International students and have gone on short term mission trips and built relationships to care for missionaries.
Melody and James have been married since 2002 and have one son, Andrew.
Our Ministry:
It takes years of preparation and financial commitments to get a missionary to the field. But once they are there, who provides spiritual soul care for most missionaries? Who is helping prevent missionaries from coming home from their chosen field simply because they became so busy doing work for God that they neglected their life in God?
In October 2018, James & Melody officially joined Ministry Essentials to join in with offering essential support to the whole global worker ’til Christ is formed in them. James & Melody spent the next few months support raising, and James officially began serving as the MEI Managing Director in April 2019. In this role, James oversees the daily operations of MEI such as Finances & Budget, Human Resources, Child Protection Program, Website, IT & Data Protection
