Roger P. Peterson

Roger P. Peterson is a family man, tree house builder, and survivor of the harrowing TWA Flight #841 barrel roll and 35,000-ft accelerated nosedive over Flint, Michigan (April 1979).

Roger is in the ministry 'business' of helping churches and organizations reduce their risk when doing short-term mission trips by providing field-tested, research-driven options for improving overall Kingdom impact in both short- and long-term mission programs.

He's also done the school thing (B.A., Organizational Leadership, M.A., Intercultural Leadership), is a Licensed Minister of the Gospel, and oft-cited expert in Christian short-term missions. He founded STEM Int'l in 1984 (STEM Ministries, STEM Share, STEM Training, STEM Press) and has organized/led several other U.S.-based short-term mission networks, including the U.S. Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission.

But can he write? Roger is the lead co-author of "Maximum Impact Short-Term Mission" and author/co-author of other books, popular press magazine articles, and an article in the scholarly journal "Missiology: An International Review" (Vol. XXII, No. 3, July 1994). He is a contributing author to the 4th edition of the "Perspectives Reader" and other books, the editor of "These Words Changed Everything," and founding publisher of "Mission Maker Magazine."

But is he entertaining? Roger is also an accomplished keyboard musician (both pop rock and Christian worship) and engaging speaker who detests cold weather and snow -- but lives in Minneapolis anyway. At least for now.