We met at the residential Perspectives program (Wheaton College, 1975) and then married in the maelstrom of mission effort that led to the establishment of Frontier Ventures in 1976. As Ralph Winter's oldest daughter, Beth was accustomed to this entrepreneurial lifestyle! For Brad, it was like grabbing hold of a freight train going 80 miles an hour.
We served in mobilization on the Pasadena Campus for five years, which culminated in Brad being the coordinator of the International Student Consultation for Frontier Mission held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1980. In 1983, we transitioned and served for 13 years in North Africa among that Muslim population (with Frontiers). We then needed to return to the USA due to medical needs in our oldest son. For the past 20 years, we have lived in Detroit amidst one of the largest and most concentrated Muslim populations in America.
We have helped coordinate mission training programs in the context of Muslim Detroit, and helped reignite the Perspectives program in southeast Michigan. In 2010, Brad was invited to become editor of the International Journal for Frontier Missiology, a journal he helped establish back in 1984 as a continuation effort of the Edinburgh conference. Along with Beth as copy editor, we have had the privilege of garnering and refining insights from the frontiers of mission for this quarterly publication. Brad has also been the acting president of the journal's sister society, the International Society for Frontier Missiology, which meets annually. Brad also enjoys integrating these efforts with the larger Missiology Catalyst team.
We are the proud parents of four children. Jonathan, our oldest, is disabled and lives in a group home down the road from us. Alison is now serving in mission in South Asia, and Jenny and her husband, Josiah, have gifted us with three grandchildren. Daniel, our youngest, works in the tech-world of Ann Arbor as a senior software developer. We are so very, very grateful for their spirit and willingness to hang with us in our tumultuous journey in mission.