Director of WorldView Ministries
I grew up in a pastor’s home. I was saved in the spring of 1970 at the age of 6 after hearing a fiery sermon on the subject of hell. Weeping uncontrollably, but too fearful to go forward during the invitation, I left the service and made an altar in the back seat of my dad’s Volkswagen Bug and there I trusted Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
I was called to preach at the age of 15 during a youth conference and preached my first sermon one month later in the church where my dad was pastor. It was at Bible College where I met and married my wonderful wife, Linda in 1986. After graduation, I served as an assistant pastor for three years and then founded Westside Baptist Church in Mansfield, Ohio and served as pastor there for 13 years. During my pastorate, I earned an M.A. in Bible Exposition from Pensacola Theological Seminary.
Throughout my years as a pastor, I always believed that someday God would lead me to work in missions. In 2003, God spoke to me in a very clear way and began putting a deep burden in my heart for the world. I began learning about those who have never heard the gospel and do not have the Word of God in their language.
By the spring of 2006, a burden for the unreached people of the world became the dominant burden of my heart. God called me to change my ministry direction and give my life to the cause of world evangelism. As I was studying and preaching through the book of Acts, The Holy Spirit spoke directly to me from Acts 20:22 where Paul said “And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit…”. I accepted this from the Lord as confirmation of my call to enter this new area of ministry.
While the decision to leave the wonderful people and ministry which God had given me was not easy, the decision to follow God’s call was a simple one. I am now giving my life to the cause of putting newly translated Scriptures in the hands of church-planting missionaries going to the “unreached people groups of our world primarily in the 10/40 Window.