Shank, Mike & Marina

Mike and Marina desire to glorify God by cultivating Christ-centered, healthy, Gospel-saturated churches in Santa Cruz and across Bolivia. Their hope is for these churches to make disciples and seek the flourishing of their communities.

The Shanks’ longing is to empower others to walk with Jesus intimately, teach Scripture faithfully through a Gospel lens, and faithfully live out the implications of the Gospel. The Shanks also hope to see the church in Bolivia live out the unity believers have in Christ (John 17:20-23; Ephesians 4:1-3) by working together to make disciples, plant and renew churches, and love their neighbors.

Mike and Marina are from Elmhurst, IL, and Conesville, IA, respectively. Both began to follow Jesus at a young age. They grew up in churches passionate about God’s redeeming work around the world.  They met at Grace College and married in 2017. The Shanks have two children, Moses and Marilyn.

Mike and Marina explored a call to ministry throughout their dating years and early years of marriage. Marina previously served in ministry in Bogota, Colombia. Both grew in love for the nations through missions trips and study abroad opportunities in high school and college. Now as a trained TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) teacher Marina seeks the good of those around her in all aspects of life, including through an intimate relationship with Jesus.

The Shanks joined SAM in 2021. After a seven-month period of training and preparation in Guatemala City, they moved to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in 2022. They are sent by Grace Bible Church and Cityview Community Church in Elmhurst, IL, and Grandview Community Bible Church in Grandview, IA.