GHMA LEADERSHIP BIOS
Meet our Leadership Council...
Bishop, Co-founder and Leadership Council
Nick S. Panico was raised in Roman Catholic traditions in suburban Chicago. In 1976 he came to Christ at a Full Gospel Business Men’s Convention and soon thereafter sensed the call of God on his life. In 1983 Nick relocated to Clearwater, Florida where he began serving on staff at Countryside Christian Center, a growing church which would make a significant impact in the Tampa Bay area. Nick became a key leader in the church pioneering several ministries including the Singles Ministry, local evangelistic outreaches, and the Foreign Missions department. Under Nick’s leadership over sixty missionary families were sent out into full time missions from CCC. Nick personally lead dozens of short term mission teams in evangelistic outreaches throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America and Europe.
In 1997 Nick and his wife, Elly, along with their four children, launched out to pioneer their first church in Dunedin, Florida. On January 11th, 1998 Global Family Fellowship (GFF) was born in their home. Global Family served the community for nearly 17 years. Thousands came to Christ through the local outreach ministries and foreign missionaries sent out from GFF.
In 2014 the leadership of GFF sold its property in Clearwater and purchased a new location in Palm Harbor, Florida. On December 14, 2014 Nick pioneered his second church, New Hope Church, a multi-generational, missional church committed to bringing the life changing gospel to Palm Harbor and surrounding communities and to the nations. Our vision is to start a church planting movement of disciples making disciples, churches planting churches.
Nick has served on several church boards lending counsel and assistance to pastors pioneering new works. Nick served as the Florida District Presbyter of Calvary Ministries International, giving pastoral care and assistance to the fifteen CMI churches in the state of Florida. Currently Nick serves on the Council of Overseers of CMIGlobal.
In 2003, Nick, along with Rev. Tenney Olsen, and Rev. Dick Christensen and a group of other ministers and missionaries founded Global Harvest Ministerial Association. GHMA was birthed out of a desire to bring together people called to the fivefold ministry for mutual fellowship, encouragement, and accountability. As Bishop and General Overseer Nick provides leadership, pastoral care and assistance to ministers and missionaries of GHMA as well as many others.
Co-founder and Leadership Council
Responding to the call of God in 1974, Rev. Dick Christensen "RevC" left a teaching position with the Fort Wayne Community Schools, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and entered Bible school at Christian Training Center (CTC) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Upon graduation he was asked to serve as Academic Dean of CTC and has spent the past nearly forty years in full-time Christian service administrating adult Bible Training Centers, Christian schools, leading short-term mission teams, planting churches in foreign lands, building elementary schools in China, taking the gospel where it has never been heard, and today his main focus is the training of indigenous Christian leadership in areas where training is not available either due to financial reasons, lack of Bible school programs or denominational hindrances.
In March of 1998, he joined Missionary Ventures International (MVI) serving as part of their educational outreach. While continuing to work with MVI in countries with free access to the gospel he has established a separate 501(c)3 non-profit organization called Indigenous Training Ministries, Inc. through which he operates his ministry in restricted access countries such as Vietnam, and China. He currently oversees 60+ Training Centers in 20+ different countries. The CTC Christian Training Center program has graduated over 3100 students and presently has about 1200 students enrolled. Many churches have been pioneered by our graduates, and in India alone our graduates were responsible for over 26,000 new decisions for Jesus Christ in 2016. By the end of 2018 they hope to have an ONLINE version of CTC available in English and soon thereafter add: Chinese, Spanish, French, Macedonian, and Arabic. The CTC curriculum over 4000 pages in MS Word format is also being translated into Portuguese, and has been granted accreditation from the Association of Independent Christian Colleges & Seminaries since 2014.
RevC is responsible for raising all his personal, travel, and project support. There is no mission organization, church, business or individual underwriting this ministry. It has been a faith walk from the point when he went full-time into missions (Feb. 1988) trusting God to speak to the hearts of those who share his view that training indigenous Christian leadership is the best way to advance the Kingdom of God on earth. He sends out a monthly newsletter “RevC’s News & Views” to keep supporters and prayer warriors up to date on recent events. He believes that the two best investments in missions are the training of indigenous Christian leaders, and taking the gospel where it has never been heard. You are invited to partner with him in this endeavor.
Indigenous Training Ministries, Inc., Founder & CEO
Christian Training Center, President
Bachelor of Science from Indiana State University in 1970
Associate of Biblical Studies from Christian Training Center in 1976
Master of Science in Education from Indiana University in 1982
More than 40 years of involvement in the ministry of training pastors, missionaries, and Christian leadership worldwide.
Co-founder and Leadership Council
Tenney is from Copenhagen, Denmark and moved to Texas when he was 13. In 1970, at age 15, he received Christ during the "Jesus Movement" where he had a supernatural encounter with God while sitting in an empty church in Houston, Texas. The Lord then lead him to a church where he was discipled by leaders who were a part of that move of God including Buddy Hicks, Winkie Pratney, Loren Cunningham, Derek Prince, Joy Dawson and others.
Tenney served in a ministry that did street evangelism for several years. He married his wife Pam in 1979 and they now have 4 grown children, Erik, Jared, Evan & Katrina, plus grandchildren. Together they have been in full-time ministry for the to 40 years.
Tenney served on staff for 15 years at Countryside Christian Center in Clearwater, FL as Executive Pastor. The Lord then called Tenney and his family to Tallahassee, Florida's capital city, in 1999 where they planted a local church and then in 2005 they founded Hilltop House of Prayer (formerly International House of Prayer TLH).
Tenney & Pam are co-directors of Hilltop House of Prayer that impacts the region, state and nation in coordination with other leaders and ministries across the globe. They also lead prayer at the state capitol and pray with government leaders. They are training a young generation in governmental intercession and how God can use you to shape history through intercession. Their desire is to create a culture of worship and prayer in the capital city to see the name of Jesus famous and souls saved!
Leadership Council
Rod Buzzard was ordained in 1976 and has spent his life serving God and people in church planting, Founder and Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Auburn, IN for 30 years, Director of Oakhill Conference and Retreat Center, youth ministry, foreign missions, drug and alcohol counseling, family,counseling, writing and Christian music.
His life was changed at the age of 16 when he encountered Jesus Christ and received God's grace. He has an earned Doctor of Ministry degree from Vision International University as well as a Master of Arts in Theological Studies. Rod, a 32 year survivor of cancer, has shared with thousands of people on the radio, television, the internet, in churches, prisons, camp meetings, coffeehouses, and evangelistic meetings in foreign lands.
At age 64, Rod believes that the best is yet to come and looks forward to God's grace touching, and transforming those who are broken in their heart. His book, Restoring Broken People, is helping those broken by alcohol, drugs, loneliness, failure, sin, and addictions of all kinds. Based on the 12 Steps of AA, Rod gives people hope by showing how the 12 Steps came from Bible Study and Prayer. They work because they contain the principles of God.
Believing that God loves everyone and that Jesus died for the sins of all people, Dr. Buzzard looks forward to helping many more come into a true and living walk with the Savior, Jesus Christ.