The stench of bodies still entombed in debris filled the air. In early 2010, Ben Homan, then CEO of Food for the Hungry, was in Haiti responding to a massive earthquake that struck the country in January of that year.
As he surveyed the damage, Homan was shocked by the destruction that had killed nearly 250,000 people. The tragedy showed him how much a worldview can magnify the death toll in a natural disaster.
“A Voodoo framework, such as what Haiti was in, led the civil society to question the value of construction, engineering, and scientific principles of how to build a structure,” he said. “The country was filled with poorly designed buildings and poorly constructed buildings. And when you put that on top of an earthquake fault, you get incredible tragedy and loss and death.”
In the midst of this tragedy and awareness, Homan’s phone rang. The voice on the other end of the line presented a potential job offer. Langham Partnership USA, a nonprofit started in the 1960s by John Stott, needed a new leader. The organization had seen income drop sharply in recent years and had been without a president for an extended period.
“They needed someone to strengthen the vision and the mission and bring some clarity to a path forward,” Homan said.
In Langham Partnership, Homan saw an opportunity to help strengthen a Christian worldview in underresourced countries like Haiti. He accepted Langham’s offer and began work in August 2010. He’s spent the last 14 and a half years doing just that.
Homan officially retired from the position at the end of December 2024, but he leaves the organization in a strong place. Langham’s board has appointed him president emeritus.
Using Resources for the Lord
Homan and his wife, Annette, attend Church of the Cross (PCA) in Whitefish, Montana. He is an ordained ruling elder in the PCA, having previously served on the session at Chesterfield Presbyterian Church in Missouri. As he reflects on his time at Langham Partnership, Homan is thankful for the work he’s been part of. The core of the ministry has always been about training pastors, born from Stott’s desire to use his resources for the Lord.
“He had reached this deep conviction that any money he earned with speaking honorariums or book royalties ought to go somewhere else and not to him,” Homan explained.
To start, Langham provided scholarships for church leaders in non-Western countries to further their education. Homan has kept that focus on education, and during his time, the organization has expanded its mission to include three specific programs: scholars, literature, and preaching.
Since its start, Langham Partnership has helped more than 350 people serving in more than 90 countries complete doctoral degrees, and there are currently more than 100 students working toward their doctorates with Langham’s assistance. These students use their education to further the gospel’s expansion in their home countries.
“They’re from all over the world, and they go back and they start Bible colleges and seminaries, or they teach on the faculties of the hundreds and hundreds of seminaries and Bible colleges that are flung all over the world and places where there are very few opportunities for that kind of education,” Homan said.
According to Excellence in Giving, an independent evaluation and measurement organization, 51% of scholars assisted by Langham launch new ministries, and 69% of Langham-supported publishers release the first theology, preaching, or Bible study book in a national language. That work served more than 1.7 million people last year, Homan said.
With literature, Langham elevates the voices of native scholars in their local contexts. Langham now has successfully distributed more than 2 million books which prioritize local scholarship. The local scholarship provides a Christian worldview and perspective on topics where a voice from the native culture would be especially valuable – issues like polygamy, ancestor worship, or female genital mutilation. Even common topics like the prosperity gospel can be best addressed by someone with ties to the culture.
“We want to leverage the wonderful insights and abilities that are gained by these educators and have them write the books that are needed in their contexts — questions that Westerners are generally unequipped to address,” Homan explained.
Langham is also involved in pastoral training throughout the world. This training, which Homan said includes a focus on expository preaching, is provided by local leaders who understand the context and challenges facing those individual countries. Participants can take part in annual one-week training seminars and are encouraged to form networks for ongoing training and support with neighboring pastors and lay people.
Relationships are key to every aspect of the work they do, Homan said. He believes lessons he learned in the humanitarian world helped him at Langham because it showed him the beautiful, deep faith of Christians living in hard places around the world.
“It’s vital and important to enter humanitarian work and also global work, such as what Langham Partnership does, with an understanding that we’re meeting with and working with equals,” he said. “This is not a parochial or colonial approach. This is respecting and honoring the local church that God has built and the local contexts we serve in.”
The Langham Partnership team refers to non-Western Christians as “majority-world Christians” to keep in perspective that the majority of Christians live in these countries outside of North America and Western Europe.
Homan’s time at Langham has only strengthened his belief in the importance of local leadership. “It’s local leadership that drives things forward,” he said. “Otherwise, it won’t last.”
Langham USA board chair Joel Carpenter said Homan made some significant impacts during his tenure.
“Langham Partnership USA ran largely as a circle of friends when Ben came on board, but he brought the experience of leading a large and globally dispersed Christian agency with a well-organized fundraising program,” Carpenter said. “During Ben’s tenure, he recruited and cared for a highly talented professional staff, our fundraising work became more adept by several degrees, and the annual support raised by LPUSA quadrupled.”
As he passes on the leadership reins, Homan said his proudest accomplishment is building a team of people he considers to be smarter and better than himself.
“My role has been to help them be productive and remove obstacles away from them,” he said. “I’m just delighted with who the team is and their skills and abilities.”
He’s also grateful to see the completion of a major fundraising campaign. Their goal was to raise $40.8 million, which he admits was an audacious goal. But through God’s grace, they not only reached it but surpassed it. By the end of December, the campaign had surpassed $50.3 million.
“It’s very hard to take any kind of credit for that,” Homan said. “This was the generosity of God’s people.”
Stewardship Via a Succession Plan
Homan said he has been planning to retire for a while, and it’s something he and his wife discussed at length. He wanted to ensure a smooth transition when he left, so he kept communication open with his board. He said many people feel afraid to talk about succession plans and retirement, but he tried to normalize the discussion and be forthright with the board about his intentions.
The advance notice allowed time for the board and staff to be involved in the succession planning. Carl Moeller was named as Homan’s replacement in May 2024 and has now assumed the position.
“Ben gave us hints of his plans to retire more than two years in advance, and then he gave us about 18 months with his formal notice,” Carpenter said. “That made it possible for us to mount a search, find his successor, and have a decent period of overlap to acquaint the new president with our board, staff, supporters and the international Langham Partnership.”
He’s grateful for Homan helping to make all of that work.
Moeller stated in a press release that he is excited about the ministry opportunity.
“I am honored to follow the outstanding leadership of Ben Homan and the legacy of John Stott. Together with the global team, we will embrace the future by God’s grace.”
Homan may be retiring, but he still plans to use his time for God through writing and mentoring leaders about the myriad of issues they face, helping those leaders feel less alone. “It’s always a challenge when you’re in that seat to know where you can go and who you can talk with and where is a safe place where difficult things can be talked about,” he said.
He’s tried to provide space for some leaders over the last few years and hopes to continue that role. Carpenter is grateful for the impact that Homan has had at Langham, which he believes will continue into the future.
“Ben cares for people,” Carpenter said. “I always felt cared for in my relationship with him. And Ben made sure that this culture of caring permeated Langham. Even our donors who make modest monthly gifts feel known and cared for. I am grateful for Ben’s infusing of this vital, Christlike virtue into our character as an organization.”
Adam MacInnis is a byFaith contributing writer.