Peter was challenged by God every year to get personally involved in missions, especially when it was Missions Sunday in church, and he would teach the children in Sunday School about missions. God's still small voice kept asking him, "What about you?" Soon, it was a question he could no longer ignore.

With our friend's death in the mission field, I was reminded that when I was a teenager, I had read "Peace Child" by Don Richardson and told God that I was willing to go wherever He wanted me to go so that I could share the Good News with people who did not yet know. The Lord reminded me of that promise in due time. 

We read the book by John Piper, "Let the Nations be Glad", and his quote: "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man," which resonated deeply with us. Our passion for worship drew us naturally to missions because we are driven by the desire to see everyone everywhere know God and worship Him. And so, in 2000, we began our faith adventure with the Lord in missions. It eventually led us to Papua in 2004 - coming to a full circle with "Peace Child".

What gets you excited when you work with others in Bible translation? I especially enjoy the times with teams and/or the community, when the light comes on and a scriptural truth suddenly makes sense or becomes reality, that magical moment when they savor the Word. One time I was privileged to witness an unbeliever UNS (Uninitiated Native Speaker) come to Christ during comprehension checking. What an honor to be present and be a part of such a life-changing moment. In short, I get excited when I see others excited about the Bible!

What is your consulting philosophy? Like my consultant colleague AJ, I believe that the contribution I bring to the consulting table is "a fresh set of eyes to look through their work". My goal is to support and encourage the teams, the MLQAs (Mid-Level Quality Assurance), the people doing the everyday work. If they are stuck, I want to help them find solutions; if they are discouraged, I want to encourage them; if they are going a little off-course, I want to help them get back on track. The consultant is there to help teams get to the finish line so that people can have access to the Good News.

What translation resources do you really value? I appreciate and use many of the exegetical resources and commentaries in Paratext and Logos, but in a crunch, it's going to be Exegetical Summaries and Translator's Notes.

How do you continue to grow as a consultant? I echo the sentiments of my colleague, Steve Doty, that being part of the staff of TCDW (Translation Consultant Development Workshop) keeps me growing and current in my work. I learn from both the trainers and the Consultants-in-Training, because everyone comes from different contexts and brings different experiences to the discussions. Beyond that, I learn from my fellow consultants all the time - through casual conversations, work interactions, and intentional information seeking. There are lots of specialists and more experienced consultants that I can turn to, to seek advice and learn from.

Share something that you learned from a mentor or from a mentee? I received a lot of grace and patience from my mentor. I have made a lot of silly mistakes and have failed in a myriad of ways. But my mentor was always gracious and kind – overlooking my failures, helping me correct my mistakes, and patiently guiding me and teaching me to look at things from different perspectives. As such, I try to extend that same grace and patience with the people I work with.

What do you see as the place of the church in Bible translation? Unquestionably, the church has an important role to play in Bible translation whenever and wherever possible. While this is true, the level of the church's involvement can be more complex than it might initially seem. There are many reasons and factors that can shape how this looks in different situations, so each new project needs to be approached with care, wisdom and lots of conversations. Ideally, the church and translation teams would work closely together. But since we live in an imperfect world, there are certain places or situations where our job is to simply do our best to involve the church as much as we can, and work on building a strong, respectful partnership over time. And in some cases, this may not even be possible, but we can always pray, trusting that God is at work and will guide the process in His time.

What would you say to young/aspiring translators? Be a lifelong learner, stay humble and listen well. You’ll make mistakes, and that’s okay. Learn from them and keep going. Surround yourself with people who can encourage and challenge you. You’re not in this alone. Keep going because helping people receive the Bible in their own language is a joy and privilege.