The Short Story

Brian is the Pacific Area Director based in Cairns, Australia while Hannah is a stay-at-home-mom homeschooling and overseeing our guest flat where we host regional missionaries.

The Long Story

We worked in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with Pioneer Bible Translators for many years where we first went to serve as language surveyors. Survey involves researching the languages of unreached people groups and providing Pioneer Bible with the information they need to make effective decisions in those areas. We are also trained to gather information on the groups Pioneer Bible is already working with to help refine the impact of the translation programs being implemented.

Travel is challenging in PNG, which made it unfeasible to take Ray, Willa, and Gemma on surveys with us. For this and other reasons, Brian began stepping out of survey and into the administrative team. In late 2015, he became PNG Branch Director, solidifying his transition from “survey” to “administration.” He loved leading our team and our family felt constantly blessed surrounded by such loving people. In 2019, he also took on the role of Area Director, overseeing the Pioneer Bible fields in the Pacific region. He has now fully transitioned out of the PNG Branch Director role and into the Area Director role. Hannah also stepped back from her role as a surveyor and stepped up as a full-time homeschooling mom. We have one in Grade 6, one in Grade 4, and one in Grade 1!! It’s a delight.

In the end, our ministry in PNG was based on the needs we found on the field, and that has continued even though we’ve moved to Australia. Brian travels quite a bit now overseeing Pioneer Bible’s work in this region. Hannah and the girls are balancing homeschool and managing “The Cockatoo Perch,” our guest space downstairs available for missionaries coming to Cairns for medical, mental health, or vacation purposes. We love working with our teammates and being part of the translation movement in the corner of the world my mom loves to call “under the rainbow”!