Timothy has been helping plant churches since he could walk. His father was pastoring a months-old house church in Los Angeles when he was born, and Tim grew up serving alongside his parents and older siblings, from passing offering plates as a preschooler to leading VBS as a teenager to teaching basic exegesis to his fellow students in college.

Over the years, he saw his father’s young congregation flourish steadily into an established church, and he grew restless. As he finished his last semester of seminary, he found himself looking wistfully back on the early days of their church—the late-night discipleship sessions, the neighborhood evangelism, the raw and messy joy of Sunday worship in a rented gym. The harvest was coming in, but Tim missed the days of planting. When the church’s missions committee approached him with the idea of moving to the Middle East to lead a missionary team, he couldn’t say yes fast enough.

Church planting in his new Muslim context isn’t easy. Even the curious and tender-hearted take years to come to faith, and some take even longer to tell their friends and family. Persecution is present and painful, and the days of an established church in his city are still far off. But Tim wouldn’t move back home for all the money in the world. He and his team are right where they want to be, bringing the gospel to those who’ve never heard and laying a biblical foundation that other Christians will build on for generations to come.