The short version...
(see our full Printable Bio's below)

About Joel

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At an early age I realized the seriousness of my own sin and my personal need for the saving work of Christ. As a child I called on the Lord and accepted God’s gift of salvation. I was baptized a year later. As a teenager I committed my life to full-time service and believed the Lord was leading me to the mission field. Toward that end I enrolled in Bible College where the Lord directed me into the field of Biblical Languages. I heard the presentation by Glenn Kerr of the ministry of Bibles International. With over 4000 people groups still without any written portion of God’s Word in their language, I believed God had been preparing me to serve in this field. The Lord confirmed this direction for my life as I had opportunity to travel with Glenn to a restricted access country in SE Asia and see the translation process in person.
The Lord brought Sarah Braden into my life through serving together on a college ministry team at a local church. We were married in 2006 after graduating from Northland Baptist Bible College. We then moved to Greenville, SC to enroll in the Bible Translation program at Bob Jones Seminary. We have been blessed to be members of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Greenville and have enjoyed serving in a number of ministries. As a culmination of my Master of Divinity degree in 2012 I was ordained to ministry through the commendation of Pastor Gary Reimers and the leadership of Cornerstone. We are sent by Cornerstone serving with Bibles International as a Field Translation Consultant in Southeast Asia since 2015.

About Sarah

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The godly influence of my family impacted me so that I came to Christ and was saved at the age of five. About a year later I was baptized. Throughout elementary, high school, and college I made choices to surrender my life to the Lord for full-time service, although with no specific direction. After meeting Joel in college God’s specific plan began unfolding. I was introduced to the ministry of Bibles International and followed the Lord’s leading to become involved on a personal level. I had the opportunity to work at the office of Bibles International in Grand Rapids, MI for a year before marrying Joel. The year spent at BI proved to be a great experience and confirmation of the Lord’s call for me to serve as a missionary. The Lord has blessed us with six wonderful children, Hannah Esther, William Carey, Andrew Judson, and Kara Abigail, Samuel Elliot & Laura Elizabeth. In God’s perfect plan he saw fit to take Andrew home to heaven at birth.
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Audio Testimony on Harvest Family Radio - March 2021
An excellent song by Chris Anderson and Greg Habegger that conveys the prayer of our family. Presented at Harvest Baptist Church, Guam.
A special song presented at our commissioning service by Pastor Chris Lynch, Pastor Chris Pennington, Pastor Brock Mawdesley, Pastor Mark Hurley with accompaniment by Mrs. Corinne Scott.
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My son Will also sang with me: "To Live or Die"