Thanks for visiting our ministry website!
Here’s a bit about where we’ve been and what we are doing now. It’s just a snapshot, but we’d love to share more in person if we had the opportunity!
Brief Bio & Ministry History
Both of us have served on the full-time staff of CRU for over 25 years. We’ve ministered on campus at places like Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Stanford University, and UNAM in Mexico City. We then spent several years mobilizing, training, and equipping students from all over the country for international missions and cross-cultural ministry in places like Mexico City, Central Asia, Melbourne, the Middle East, East Asia and Western Europe. We then spent many years doing leadership development and ministry training for multi-ethnic ministry efforts in the United States, especially with Cru’s Asian-American ministry Epic Movement. At this time, Brian was also working with Cru’s U.S. Theological Development team. These experiences led to a major step of faith to move our family to the other side of the world – to Manila and the Philippines!
We moved our family to Manila to join the faculty of the International Graduate School of Leadership, a nondenominational evangelical seminary under the umbrella of Cru that equips and trains pastors, missionaries, church planters, scholars, and marketplace leaders from over 25 countries throughout Asia. It was a unique opportunity to learn about what God is doing in Asia and use some of our gifts in new ways. What a journey! We loved living in Manila (mostly!) for the almost decade we were there.
Christine, for most of her time at IGSL, was serving as the Director of IGSL’s Partners in Ministry Program. This was a 2-3 year certificate program for pastor and missionary wives of degree students to help equip wives for ministry alongside their husbands (Asia is still very much patriarchal so where husbands go, their wives and children tend to go along). She taught courses on evangelism, Bible, and peacemaking while also providing executive leadership over the ministry, including through the turbulent pandemic years. Recently, she transitioned into a coach and leadership development role helping our women faculty succeed and helping those in transition (onboarding, adjusting to motherhood, adjusting to new leadership roles or teaching). She’s enjoying helping our Asian faculty succeed!
Brian, for most of his time at IGSL was teaching leadership courses (Servant Leadership, Team Leadership, Strategic Leadership, Lifelong Leader Formation, and Coaching) and peacemaking courses (Personal Peacemaking, Conflict and Leadership Negotiation, and Conflict Coaching). He still teaches several of those courses virtually. While living in Manila, he served on the school’s Executive Leadership Team as the Director of Human Resources and Leadership Development. Brian has since changed roles given his virtual role and PhD degree. He is now serving as the Director of IGSL’s Advanced Degree Programs, overseeing three doctoral programs (DMin Leadership, PhD Peace Studies, and ThM and PhD in Theology and Church History). His focus is on helping equip Great Commission scholars for the Asian and Majority World church and is doing a lot of dissertation advising and coaching on top of teaching.
Our family relocated in a somewhat traumatic fashion at some point during the pandemic to help our kids go through their cultural adjustments and prepare for college. But we are grateful that God continues to give us high impact and meaningful contributions to the Great Commission in Asia through a variety of roles and opportunities. We love what we get to do and those we get to serve and you help make that possible!
Family
Our oldest Morgan is in her sophomore year of college at Grand Canyon University in Arizona, studying elementary education and professional writing for new media. She is our family bookworm who also keeps our freezer stocked with ice cream.
Colin is a junior in High School who recently launched into the driving world. He plays volleyball for his school and is one of the big sources of energy and adventure in our family.
Kaelyn is in her final year of middle school. She is thoughtful and kind, regularly serving without asking, and is our kid most likely to ask theological questions that she’s been thinking about. She has a peaceful and joyful presence about her that makes her easy to be with.
Each of our kids has gone through major cultural adjustment the last few years and are third-culture kids through and through. They have walked through a lot of change and disruption with maturity and grace. They are amazing kids who continue to challenge and bless us!
Education and Background
Christine graduated from Chico State in 1997 with a degree in Social Work. In 2024, she will have completed her Graduate Certificate of Theological Studies through Cru’s Institute of Biblical Studies and become certified as a personal development and leadership coach through Leader Breakthru. Christine grew up in Northern California and Texas in her early years.
Brian graduated from UCLA in 1997 with degrees in History and Political Science and from Bethel Seminary with a Master’s in Transformational Leadership (2007) and a Master’s in Divinity with an emphasis in Ministry Leadership (2011). He graduated from his PhD Program in Peace Studies from the International Graduate School of Leadership in 2022, with his dissertation work related to how leaders can create flourishing negotiation across power asymmetry for personal, relational, and organizational transformation. Brian has coaching certifications through Leader Breakthru and Capable Life, and is a certification candidate in mediation and reconciliation through Ambassadors of Reconciliation. He grew up in Long Beach, California.