As Director of Donor Engagement, Rika Beckly connects with donors who share PLI’s mission of training and investing in multiplying missional leaders. With a masters in nonprofit management from the Lilly School of Philanthropy, Rika has spent most of her 30-year career in university advancement in Pennsylvania and Ohio. She is grateful that her development background now intersects with her passion for sharing Christ’s love in a rapidly changing world. Rika lives just outside of her hometown of St. Louis in rural Illinois. She enjoys international travel, bicycling, skiing, hiking, walking her Wheaten Terrier Maggie, and hosting her grown children and friends in her guest cabin.

Since joining the PLI team in 2022 as the Executive Assistant, Jenn has put her organizational skills to use in administration, meeting logistics, connections, and so much more.  Jenn and her husband live near the Quad Cities with their 2 children.  She enjoys homeschooling her kids, spending time with her family, and getting lost in a good book!

Rev. Dr. Jock Ficken has served as the Executive Leader of PLI since 2013. As Executive Leader, he is keen to share stories of the miraculous ways that God is using PLI-trained leaders to advance the Gospel in pockets and places all over the world. He previously served as a vice president of the Lutheran Church Extension Fund, resourcing and connecting consultants to large congregations, and as the senior pastor of 25 years to a once dying Chicago-area congregation. Under his leadership, the church experienced new life and growth, birthing a second campus in addition to planting two new churches. Jock is an ultimate Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and enjoys spending time with family and neighbors, reading, and cycling.

Rev. Dave Ficken has been a coach and presenter for PLI since 2014 and joined the team as North American Director in 2018. Dave loves to inspire momentum and train and equip multiplying missional leaders through discipleship in community. He brings his strengths in writing, teaching, coaching, and strategic thinking to the PLI team and the leaders they train. He’s an extroverted church planter, coach, and strategist. Dave, and his wife Mia, have two young boys, and they are having a blast loving their neighborhood in Nashville, TN.

Jennifer is passionate about creating spaces that empower others to live courageously in Jesus. She has been a coach for PLI since 2015 and joined the PLI team in 2016. Whether checking in with alumni to hear their stories and pray together; inviting the PLI family to partner with a financial gift; or coaching and teaching in Leadership Essentials, she loves helping people take intentional next steps as they follow Jesus. Jennifer lives with her husband Matt and their 4 children near Flint, MI. When not asking people thought-provoking questions, she can be found homeschooling and shuttling her little crew, knitting, reading, or looking for ways to engage in meaningful dialogue.

Dr. Rev. Emmanuel Makala joined PLI full time in 2023 as one of the Africa Development Leaders. Celebrating 40 years in ministry, before joining PLI Emmanuel held several ministry leadership positions as Head of the Bible Knowledge Department at the Mwadui Secondary School, pastor of the Mwadui Parish, District Pastor in Southern District Shinyanga, and Bishop ELCT-ELVD Mwanza. Emmanuel speaks three languages: Nyiramba of Tanzania, Swahili, and English. Emmanuel resides in the village of Kizaga, Iramba District, Singida Region Tanzania, with his wife Lilian and their three children.

Sarah puts her marketing experience and organizational skills to amazing use for her various roles at PLI. Since joining the team in 2014, she has helped with administration, connections, marketing and so much more. She and her husband, Jon, both grew up four miles from their current home and enjoy being surrounded by friends and family. They’re blessed with three children, and as her “Mom’s Taxi Service” keychain implies, much of her time is spent carpooling kids from one activity to the next. She is also quite the tennis player.

Mike joined PLI in 2002 as the marketing director/strategist. Prior to PLI, Mike spent 30 years in corporate America, leading marketing, data analytics & research, and marketing operations; both D2C and B2B, for Fortune 500 companies, as well as several start-ups, and his own consulting business. Originally from the Midwest, Mike and his wife Natalie moved to Tennessee in 2001 and enjoy the rural life as mostly empty nesters.

Raechel connects people and teams from around the U.S., and sometimes the globe, into the right PLI leadership learning community. In this role, she is delighted by how God has woven together her education and experiences in community and church leadership with her love of people, cultures, the body of Christ and the sweet grace of Jesus. Raechel considers it an honor to invite people into a PLI space and marvels at the hope and courage and movement she has witnessed emerging as a result of the PLI experience. Having spent her childhood in Latin America, Raechel and her husband now call the western suburbs of Chicago home. She loves gathering lots of chairs around a big table so their three young adult children and family and friends and neighbors can enjoy the goodness of sharing a meal and long dinner conversation.

Lori has been the Women’s Director of PLI International since 2011, and enjoys encouraging and blessing the women of PLI as they partner with their spouses and faithfully lead. Lori passes on her passion and love of learning to those she works with. Seeing families, and especially children, grow in knowledge is the real joy of the job! She has served in the education field for over 30 years in various roles including preschool and primary school teacher, director of children’s ministries, and teacher and Vice Principal at Buena Vista Concordia International School in Shenzhen, China. In her free time, Lori loves most to be with her children and grandchildren, enjoys outdoor activities, and relaxes with craft projects at home.

Beth and her husband Paul have served on our international team as trainers since 2015 and Assistant Regional Leaders since 2019. Her current role leads Beth to areas of Africa including Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Burundi, and South Africa. Beth has had the joy of launching many missional communities of 8-12 people, as well as smaller connect groups of 3-4 people. In 2016, they moved with their six children from the Midwest to the California Bay Area. Beth’s richest blessing from God comes in the form of being a wife and mother, and grandma! She has a passion for worship, music, and teaching. She loves to explore the beautiful coast of California, taking as many pictures as her iPhone can possibly hold!

Rev. Paul Schult and his wife Beth joined PLI as trainers in 2015 and as Assistant Regional Leaders in 2019. He is honored to share the life-giving ministry of PLI in Africa. His personal values of humility, leadership, faith, and discipleship have been profoundly affected and strengthened by PLI. Paul grew up in Indiana which influenced his initial career path of being a high school basketball coach and English teacher. After attending seminary, he served as a pastor in Council Bluffs, Iowa, St. Charles, Missouri and now in Redwood City, California. He loves being outdoors with Beth, traveling, reading, and most of all, spending time with their children and their families — especially their grandchildren!

After several years of coaching and teaching for PLI’s Discipleship to Missional Community track, Erin joined the PLI team to bring out the best of D2MC coaching and content. She wants all people to know Christ, to love those God has placed in her path, and to be continually molded and shaped by the Spirit. She is honored to walk alongside others as they recognize God’s movement in their lives and respond in big and small ways that result in wins for the kingdom. Walking into the West family home is like walking into a musical, as her husband Brian and their two daughters are never without a song. Whether it’s backyard barbecues or evenings around a firepit, the West family enjoys inviting friends and neighbors into their own personal crazy. It’s about families coming together, growing together and sharing both the joys and sorrows of life.