WHO WE ARE: THE STUDIO TEAM
BOARD MEMBERS
DON ALLEN
Rev. 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 the mission agency, 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
Rev. 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.
ROBERT A
Robert and his family have been involved with Christian missions for forty years and spent twenty-five of those years living and working in Central Asia among one of the world’s largest and most resistant people groups. Their pioneering work included medical missions, education, church planting, Bible translation, and regional oversight. Robert is currently Adjunct Professor and Associate Director of the J Christy Wilson Jr. Center for World Missions at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. He’s also candidate for Doctor of Ministry at the same institution. An ordained minister, Robert travels internationally to coach and mentor other missionaries. He also serves in leadership with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church World Outreach. Robert joined the Studio board in July, 2025 following the retirement of the late Dr. Greg Livingstone who also served with the EPC
STAFF AND TRAINERS
TONY
Tony and his wife Tessa lived and served in Asia for 25 years before returning to the US as trainers. He and his family served in groundbreaking church planting work among four unreached people groups and were blessed to see churches emerge in three of these. On the field, Tony served on two Bible translation projects and filled several other roles over the years including: evangelist, disciple maker, team leader, area overseer, businessman, and professor. He and wife raised their children overseas through high school. After returning home from the field in 2015, he and his wife felt God calling them to establish the Studio Internship – a community of practice where aspiring missionaries study and minister alongside veteran workers here in the USA. Tony serves as Director of the Studio Internship, where he also teaches disciple making movements (DMM), spiritual warfare, mobiles and media, and a smattering of other topics. Tony also sits on the Studio board and contributes to ESL and Citizenship training for refugees.
GREGORY
Gregory 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. Gregory and his wife helped establish the Studio Internship in 2016, where Gregory teaches peacemaking and is also responsible for intern housing, meal preparation, and other logistics services. Life experience garnered through 25 years of challenging physical hardship overseas in three countries has helped make Gregory a rare mentor and coach. A Southern California native, he enjoys backpacking, swimming, kayaking, cross country skiing, and recently completed his first triathlon.
TESSA
Tessa and her husband Tony lived and served 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, Tessa filled many roles—evangelist, disciple maker, languaculture coach, homeschooling mom, and educational administrator. After returning to the USA she joined the Studio Internship in 2016. Tessa fulfills many roles at Studio: In addition to mentoring interns, she teaches GPA based language acquisition methods and orality and Bible storying. She’s also intern coordinator and lead recruiter for Studio. Tessa is a veteran ESL teacher and frequently offers ESL training for instructor. She has personally invested in learning eight different languages besides English. She finds joy in offering hospitality and encouraging others to follow Jesus with all their hearts.
MARIA
Maria 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 Maria 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, Maria trained as a spiritual director. She and her husband helped form the Studio Internship in 2016 where Maria serves as a spiritual formation coach, mentor, and trainer for Studio. Life experience garnered through years of challenging overseas service has helped make Maria 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. Maria is an experienced ESL trainer and enjoys helping refugees and new immigrants master English.
ERIC
Eric and his family served in several Middle Eastern countries for 25 years before returning to the US in 2018. Eric’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, Eric served as evangelist, disciple maker, team leader, businessman, and mentor-coach to new workers. Eric joined the Studio Team in 2018 where he continues to find 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 Eric and his wife Rene to serve as exceptional mentors and coaches to interns preparing to go overseas. Eric also contributes to ESL training and in many other ways helps refugee settle in the USA.
STEVEN
After God stirred his heart to reach Muslims for Christ, Steven 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 Michigan for 20 years, where he met and married his wife Felicity. Steven joined the Studio Team in 2019. For the past 4 years he and Felicity have lived in Southern California where they continue to befriend Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan, and Iranian immigrants and refugees. His experience overseas and years spent ministering to Muslim immigrants here in the USA help make Steven an invaluable mentor and trainer. Steven also serves as the director of an ESL training center where he and his wife find joy blessing the Muslim refugee and immigrant communities in a number of different ways.
LYNN
Lynn 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 coordinator. Lynn joined the Studio team in 2019 where she continues to serve through administration, logistical support, prayer shield coordinator, mentoring new workers, teaching English to refugees and new immigrants, and many other practical ways.
TINA
Tina grew up in a non-Christian family in East Asia and came to the Lord through missionary witness as a young adult. She and her husband served the Lord overseas for several years before moving to California where they continue to minister to immigrants and refugees from their region under the oversight of IMB. Tina joined the Studio team in 2020 and plays a vital role as lead child care worker. She has a special gift for helping intern children understand their identity in Christ, and prepare for the many transitions and challenges they will face as they move into into a new culture and life overseas.
PAUL AND CAROLYN
Paul & Carolyn both grew up as third-culture kids in several countries in Asia. After serving on the field as singles, they met and married and joined a ministry team in South Asia where they continued to serve for 24 years. Raising two sons, experiencing the ups and downs of team life, facing discipleship challenges, and enduring several kinds of crises has given Paul & Carolyn an understanding and deep appreciation for the importance of resiliency and healthy relational skills. They now live in Southern California and serve field workers in a member care capacity. They have been guest trainers at Studio since its inception in 2017 where they present the “Thrive” elements of our resiliency module.