WHO WE ARE: THE STUDIO TEAM
BOARD MEMBERS
GREG LIVINGSTONE
Rev. Dr. Greg Livingstone is widely recognized as one of the greatest mobilizers of global workers to the Muslim world. Greg served as North American Director of North Africa Mission and was influential in founding Operation Mobilization and Frontiers. The Livingstones have facilitated the placement of over 1500 long-term global workers serving in more than 50 countries, and have themselves spent 50 years among Muslims in India, the Arab World, Europe, North America and Malaysia. Greg and Sally met at Wheaton College, and have three sons and seven grandchildren. Their amazing life story is published in You’ve Got Libya. Now based in Los Angeles, Greg is back to his favorite endeavor for Christ’s Kingdom: recruiting leaders and team members for new church-planting teams “where there is no church”. Greg Livingstone has been a “cheerleader” for Studio since it’s founding in 2017 and has been a board member since 2020.
DON ALLEN
Dr. Don Allen encourages and inspires team leaders and field leaders in North Africa and the Middle East to thrive in their faith and multiply followers of Jesus. Don comes with 28 years of experience as a cross-cultural worker, a trainer, and a pastoral coach. For 12 years he served as Director of Training for Frontiers. He has an MA in Old Testament, an MDiv in New Testament, and a DMin in Leadership Development. Dr. Don says, “Studio graduates prove the importance of preparing well for cross-cultural ministry. As a trainer and pastoral coach, it is a privilege and a delight to serve Studio.” Don serves as an advisor and a trainer at Studio, and was formative in helping create the “Studio Vision” from its foundation in 2015. He is Studio’s longest serving board member.
LEN BARTLOTTI
Len Bartlotti, Ph.D. is a strategist, inspirational speaker, author and educator with 40 years’ experience in cross-cultural ministry in the Islamic world. He and his wife Debi served many years in Central Asia among one of the world’s largest unreached people groups. Their pioneering work included translation, literature, ethnic music, refugee relief, and discipling groups of believers. Len earned a Ph.D. at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (UK), and has taught at Biola and other universities. An ordained minister, Len travels and speaks internationally, helping leaders, field workers, churches, and organizations maximize their effectiveness among unreached peoples. Len has been a member of the Studio board since Studio was launched in 2017.
ROGER
Roger and his wife Tammy lived and served in several central and south Asian countries for 25 years before returning to the US as trainers. Roger’s qualifications as a Ph.D. “visiting scholar” helped open doors to several “closed” nations. He and his family served in groundbreaking church planting work among four unreached peoples and were blessed to see churches emerge in three of these. On the field, Roger served on two Bible translation projects and filled several other roles over the years: evangelist, disciple maker, team leader, area overseer, businessman, and teacher. He and Tammy raised their children overseas through high school. Currently, Roger directs the Studio Internship, a community of practice where aspiring missionaries study and minister alongside veteran workers here in the USA. At Studio, Roger teaches disciple making movements (DMM), spiritual warfare, mobiles and media, and a smattering of other topics. Roger also sits on the Studio board contributes to Studio’s TESL program for refugees.
TAMMY
Tammy and her husband Roger lived and served in Mongolia, Pakistan and several other countries in central and south Asia for 25 years. She has served in groundbreaking church planting work among unreached peoples, as well as in mobilizing and training existing local believers. On the field, Tammy filled many roles—evangelist, disciple maker, languaculture coach, homeschooling mom, and educational administrator. She now serves alongside her husband, leading the Studio Internship, a community of practice where aspiring missionaries study and minister alongside veteran workers here in the USA. At Studio, Tammy teaches language acquisition, orality and Bible storying, and theology of risk and suffering. She also oversees Studio’s English language program for new refugees. Tammy has personally invested in learning eight different languages besides English.
BRAD
Brad has worked in several countries in both hemispheres beginning in 1989. In Haiti he worked with MCC helping subsistence farmers in community development and agriculture. In West Africa he worked in the Sahel with income-generating projects, appropriate technology and micro-credit while also doing church-planting and discipleship. He loves spending time with people talking about issues of faith and helping them in tangible ways. At Studio, Brad teaches peacemaking and is also responsible for intern housing, meal preparation, and other logistics. Life experience garnered through 25 years of challenging physical hardship overseas in three countries has helped make Brad a rare mentor and coach. A San Diego native, he enjoys backpacking, swimming, kayaking, cross country skiing, and recently completed his first triathlon.
LISA
Lisa is a native Southern Californian and spent 25 years in overseas ministry with her husband and two daughters. They worked primarily in West Africa, where Lisa homeschooled her kids and taught English to adults. Some of her favorite things about life overseas include drinking mint tea with neighbors and shopping for hand-dyed fabrics. During a sabbatical term in California, Lisa trained as a spiritual director and serves as the spiritual formation coach and trainer for Studio. Life experience garnered through years of challenging overseas service has helped make Lisa a seasoned coach and mentor. She finds joy in helping interns walk in their identity in Christ and learn tools for spiritual resiliency on the field.
ROD
Rod and his family served in several Middle Eastern countries for 25 years before returning to the US in 2018. Rod’s engineering background helped open doors into several “closed”, Muslim-only countries in the Arab world. He and his wife were blessed to see several young men come to faith and mature into house church leaders. While overseas, Rod served as evangelist, disciple maker, team leader, businessman, and mentor-coach to new workers. At Studio, Rod finds joy applying his experience and disciplined study to teach Islamics, apologetics, comparative theology, and Disciple Making Movements. Hundreds of hours of tough discussions with Muslims, plus decades of life experience overseas garnered through wars, the Arab Spring, evacuations, security problems, raising and educating their children, plus team situations and trials has helped prepare both Rod and his wife Rebecca to serve as exceptional mentors and coaches to interns preparing to go overseas.
PHYLLIS
Phyllis served in the mountains of Central Asia with her husband and children for 10 years before shifting to the Middle East to work with Kurds for another two years. Overseas, she and her husband served primarily in medical missions work and also fulfilled several other roles including disciple maker, home schooling mom, school administrator, and hospitality provider. At Studio Phyllis continues to serve through administrative and logistical support, prayer shield coordinator, mentoring new workers, and teaching English to new immigrants in Studio’s TESL program.
ANNA
Anna grew up as a third culture kid (TCK) in West Africa before moving to California to earn her degree in elementary education. After enjoying her experience teaching toddlers, elementary, and junior highers, she felt the call to train TCKs at Missionary Training International (MTI) in Colorado. There she met her husband Drew, and learned the specialized TCK care tools that she brings to StudioKids. She finds joy in showing TCK’s their true identity as God’s deeply loved children, and pointing them to Jesus in the “yays” and “yucks” of life overseas.
CHRISTINE
After a successful administrative career in the US, Christine followed the Lord’s call to work among unreached people groups. For over a decade she served as a single woman in North Africa and the Caucasus, working alongside non-governmental humanitarian organizations, as the Lord grew her heart to be a pray-er among the lost. As Operations Coordinator and Financial Manager, Christine helps keep the administrative arm of Studio on track. In the classroom she facilitates our prayer and worship times. Her experience as a single woman working overseas in three Muslim countries make her an especially valued mentor for single women.
DOUGLAS
After God stirred his heart to reach Muslims for Christ, Douglas served for 8 years in the Arab Gulf. His experience and advanced training in architecture helped open doors in “closed” nations, and later he retooled as an English language teacher – doing whatever it takes to connect best to the people! After returning to the US he served among Arab Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan for 20 years, where he met and married his wife Cindy. For the past 4 years they have lived in El Cajon, California where they continue to befriend Syrian and Afghan refugees. His experience overseas and years spent ministering to Muslim immigrants here in the USA help make Douglas an invaluable mentor. Douglas also directs and teaches at Studio’s partner TESL program, the Mubarak Center.
ROB
Robert worked in church-planting and development in a war-torn country Central Asian country for 15 of the last 20 years. He and his wife and 3 children have led Frontiers church-planting teams in new areas most of that time. Rob has an MA in World Christianity from Denver Seminary and teaches Christians insights useful in understanding Islam/Muslims in the world today. He did MDiv. studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is in a Doctor of Ministry program there and is Assistant Director of the Dr J Christy Wilson Jr. Center for World Missions and an adjunct professor at Gordon Conwell. He works with Frontiers and with EPC World Outreach consulting on ministry among Muslims. His wife Iris works with Frontiers and is an exegetical checker for a Bible translation project in Central Asia.