Building Bridges. Breaking Barriers. Reflecting the Kingdom.

"The way I see, communicate, and appreciate other cultures has fundamentally shifted because of my proximity to Will Plonk and his teaching. I use to think that I did not have a culture and socially trained myself to only seek out commonalities in relationships. Now, I ask better questions and lean into differences with curiosity and care. As a business leader & local pastor, growing in cross-cultural awareness & competency has unlocked personal & professional flourishing by eliminating blind spots I carried for decades. I build more effective teams, seek feedback more thoroughly, and retain my top leaders because of the investment Will Plonk has made in my cross-cultural development."

"I have always considered myself open and loving towards other cultures but it wasn’t until I took a cultural competency evaluation (in a class Pastor Plonk was teaching) that I realized I didn’t really interact with other cultures on a regular basis. In the class we talked about biases and blind spots that we all have. I also realized that when I did rarely interact, I leaned heavily on the ways that we are alike instead of leaning into the differences and being curious and interested. Pastor Plonk’s heart for our church being multi cultural has broadened my experiences and opened my eyes to a better view of what worship in heaven will look like."

"I had the pleasure of participating in Grace City Church's Ministry Cohort program. One of the courses taught by Pastor Plonk… was, Culture, Contextualization and Communication. This class helped me develop a more compassionate and discerning posture toward people whose backgrounds differ from my own. I learned to approach cultural differences not as barriers but as opportunities for mutual growth and understanding. Pastor Plonk is a very gifted teacher and is great at making complex topics intelligible."