Initiatives
Thank God for Bitcoin Frontier Finance Portland Grants Bitcoin for Missions Bright Ideas Think Tank Ignite AI Consulting
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Who We Are

The Lab

Brilliance Labs is a nonprofit innovation lab building at the intersection of faith, technology, and entrepreneurship. We incubate initiatives, fund organizations, consult on emerging technology, publish research, and train leaders. Some of our work is global. Some of it is rooted in our local city. All of it starts with a problem worth solving.

Brilliance — Ignited.

Our Story

A Seed
Planted
in the
Ground

In the gospel of John, Jesus compares himself and his people to seeds planted in the ground. Like Christ, when we lay our lives down in service to others, new life grows. For us at Brilliance Labs, this isn't just a nice saying. It's what drives everything we do.

In early 2020, Central Bible Church made the decision to close its doors after 90 years of serving the Portland area with strong teaching and a commitment to people from all corners of the world. A congregation that once filled a 1,200-seat auditorium had become a church of 100. The remaining members believed the best way to honor the church's legacy was to pass the baton to the next generation.

To keep with the long history of multi-ethnic and global ministry, the members had a vision for their closure: planting their resources into new ground. The sale of the Central Bible Church property funded an endowment that now gives grants directly to local ministries in Portland and funds the ongoing work of Brilliance Labs. That endowment became the seed capital for what the lab is today.

The Lab Today

One Lab.
Many
Initiatives.

What started as a local investment in Portland has grown into a full innovation lab. We are an incubator for Kingdom entrepreneurs who see a problem the church needs to solve and are willing to build the solution. The lab provides the ecosystem: funding, research, technology, mentorship, and organizational infrastructure. The entrepreneurs bring the vision and the work.

Every initiative in the lab follows the same path. Someone identifies a real problem. The lab helps them research it, develop a plan, and build toward an answer. Some initiatives are mature. Others are early experiments. The portfolio grows as new problems surface and new leaders step up to solve them.

The conviction underneath all of it is the same: the church should be a leader on how these tools and strategies can serve people better. That conviction holds whether the problem is financial infrastructure for missionaries overseas, community investment in Portland, or helping a ministry integrate AI into its operations. Different problems, different audiences, same posture. We find the problem and build toward the answer you need. That’s the lab.

That's what it means to ignite brilliance. Find the God-given talent already out there. Give it fuel. Put it to work.

What Drives Us

The Three
Brilliances

The name carries three meanings and each one shapes how we think, act, and develop solutions.

01

Light

The brilliance of God's presence entering dark places. We are a Christ-centered organization grounded in the authority of Scripture and rooted in the evangelical tradition. We believe the church has a responsibility to show up where others won't. The Great Commission is the reason the lab exists: making disciples of all nations, using every tool available.

02

Genius

The brilliance of people made in the image of God. Every person reflects the creativity, intelligence, and dignity of their Creator. We don't manufacture talent. We find leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors, and practitioners who already carry it and come alongside them with what they need to succeed. We believe in the local church as God's plan for the world. We come alongside churches to resource their mission, develop their leaders, and help them bring gospel-centered renewal to their communities.

03

Spectrum

The brilliance of a prism. One light, many colors. We work across cultures, continents, and communities. Our initiatives serve missionaries in restricted-access countries, pastors in Portland, finance directors at global organizations, and scholars researching the ethics of emerging technology. The people are different. The problems are different. But they all pass through a single point: the lab and the innovation framework it provides. One mission, many expressions, that’s the prism.

Brilliance — Ignited. Bright ideas put to work across the full spectrum of God's mission.

Leadership

The Team

Ahshuwah Hawthorne

Ahshuwah Hawthorne

Executive Director, Founder

Church planter, ministry entrepreneur, and missions innovator. Husband and father of 8. M.A. in Global Leadership.

Nate Scholz

Nate Scholz

Director of Global Initiatives

Writer. Crosscultural coach. Community builder. Bitcoin educator. Systems design thinker. I used to speak Arabic. Husband, and father of 5. M.A. in Global Ministry Design.

Andrey Gorban

Andrey Gorban

Director of Pacific Northwest Initiatives

Associate Pastor, Trinity Church of Portland. MDiv.

Jordan Bush

Jordan Bush

Director of TGFB Initiatives

Co-author of the book, "Thank God for Bitcoin." He was a missionary in Uruguay, and is now Executive Director at Thank God for Bitcoin, and host of the Thank God for Bitcoin Podcast.

Jacob Evans

Jacob Evans

Research Intern

Research student at the University of Oxford reading for a DPhil in Anthropology. Interested in Bitcoin adoption and its impacts on the Great Commission.

Governance

Board of
Directors

Thomas Terry

Thomas Terry

Pastor, Trinity Church of Portland & Founder/ED, Humble Beast Records

Tim Cowley

Tim Cowley

Founder, Cowley Media

Derek Chinn

Derek Chinn

Executive Director, SW Washington American Red Cross Chapter

CJ Coffee

CJ Coffee

Pastor, The Well Community

Matthew McGee

Matthew McGee

Head of Finance, Beyond UPG

Jim McAndrew

Jim McAndrew

Co-Founder, Magnalia Foundation & Founder/CEO, Dronelink

See the
Work

Every initiative starts with a problem worth solving and a team willing to chase it.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Brilliance Labs?
We launch and run initiatives, fund organizations, publish research, and train leaders. Most of what we do starts with a real problem and a bright idea for a creative solution. From there we pray and dream and then build and deploy.
Who founded Brilliance Labs?
Brilliance Labs was founded by Ahshuwah Hawthorne, who brings together expertise in faith, finance, and technology innovation.
What initiatives does Brilliance Labs run?
We operate six core initiatives: Thank God for Bitcoin, Frontier Finance Consulting, Portland Grants & Community, Bitcoin for Missions, Bright Ideas Think Tank, and Ignite AI Consulting. Each addresses critical challenges at the intersection of faith and innovation.
Where is Brilliance Labs based?
Brilliance Labs is based in Portland, Oregon, where we serve both local and global communities.
How is Brilliance Labs funded?
We are funded through donations from individuals who believe in our mission, supplemented by consulting revenue from our various initiatives.
How can I support Brilliance Labs?
Visit our Give page to donate via card, bank transfer, or Bitcoin. Your contribution directly supports our work in faith, technology, and innovation.

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Brilliance — Ignited