Andy Bowen

Trainer

Andy was born and raised in Kenya, where his parents served as cross-cultural workers. As a child, he loved hearing the many languages around him and quickly developed a passion for language learning. He discovered a natural ear for language sounds and a fascination with the structure and unpredictability of human language.

For 30 years, he lived and worked in Paraguay, helping cross-cultural workers from diverse backgrounds learn Guarani, the national language. He has loved MTI for many years and is excited to help new cross-cultural ministers of the Gospel become joyful, enthusiastic, and successful language learners.

Andy is married to Lizet, who is Bolivian, and they have three boys, all born in Paraguay. They currently live in Wilmore, Kentucky.

Jeff Brake

Trainer

Jeff served in Russia as a single cross-cultural worker and later married Amy, a fellow cross-cultural worker. He worked as a professor in order to remain in the country while also serving a local church plant. Over eight years, his primary work included church planting, teaching English, and community development.

Jeff has served at Mission Training International since 2015 as a pre-field trainer, coach, and debriefer.

His hobbies include parenting two children, studying neuroscience, and engaging in spiritual formation.

Dwight Gradin

Trainer

In the 1960s, Dwight and his wife Barbara, now with Jesus, served in Viet Nam with Wycliffe Bible Translators during the Viet Nam War. They worked among the Jeh, a minority language group in the Central Highlands near the Laos border. Dwight played a key role in helping the Jeh develop a written language.

The Gospel reached the Jeh through Vietnamese cross-cultural workers, sparking a people movement as entire villages turned to the Lord. The full Bible has since been translated by the Jeh themselves.

The Gradins joined MTI in 1971 when it was based in the Detroit area of Michigan and moved with the organization to Colorado Springs in 1992. Dwight has served in many roles, including Acting President from 1987 to 1989, though his primary focus has been language acquisition. He has specialized in developing learner-directed language learning techniques and resources for cross-cultural workers. From 1993 to 2016, Dwight also launched and coordinated the International Congress on Language Learning, or ICLL.

Jaci Grooters

CHIPs Trainer

After graduating college in 2015, Jaci began her missions journey. She spent five years in Costa Rica serving an international youth group for missionary kids and third culture kids. This experience gave her firsthand insight into life as a missionary kid and sparked a passion for caring for them.

Later, she joined the home office staff of Commission to Every Nation, where she developed a care program for their missionary kids. Jaci is excited to continue this work as a children’s trainer in the Compass program.

In her free time, she enjoys being outdoors, especially on a lake, knitting, and reading. She is a self-proclaimed coffee snob and loves watching the Minnesota Vikings and college basketball.

Deb Heefner

Director of Compass & MTI Mobile

Deb serves MTI as the Director of Compass, Partner Connect, and MTI Mobile.

She served with Cru for 28.5 years before coming to MTI. Twenty-one of those years were spent overseas in Leningrad, USSR, Lithuania, Kandern, Germany, and the UK.

Deb loves Jesus and loves people, so watching the two connect in the context of a safe community is her favorite part of her job.

Deb is single. On a free day, she can be found somewhere in nature with her camera in tow taking pictures of landscapes and critters.

A day spent with a friend laughing wholeheartedly, then talking deeply about the Lord and life, is a day well spent.

Tracy Henderson

CHIPs Trainer

Tracy grew up as a third culture kid, born in Germany and raised in Spain, Japan, and America. After hearing and believing the Gospel in college, she married and served in Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and Colorado.

Along the way, she had five boys who have grown to love the Lord. She now has TCK grandchildren in Japan, where her son’s family serves, and a grandson nearby in Colorado.

Serving children and women for over 30 years has been a blessing, as pointing people to God makes her heart sing.

Aly Houser

CHIPs Director

Miss Aly grew up near Buffalo, New York. She earned an education degree from SUNY Fredonia and has over 14 years of experience working with children.

She spent six years in Uganda as the Discipleship Coordinator at a primary school for local Ugandan children. Although she entered the field without cross-cultural training, she is now passionate about equipping others for success in cross-cultural ministry.

Aly loves theatre, painting, and spending time outdoors.

Emma Huber

CHIPs Trainer

Emma spent four years of her childhood in a deaf village in Jamaica, where her parents served as cross-cultural workers. After returning to the United States and completing college at Moody Bible Institute, she developed a passion for working with TCKs.

Emma started at MTI in 2023 and has enjoyed learning how to support and equip the whole family as they prepare for life overseas.

Emily Skinner

CHIPs Trainer

Emily started at MTI in 2015 and serves as the primary trainer for the toddler class in the Compass program. A preacher’s kid from North Carolina, she holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in teaching.

She brings over two decades of experience working with children of all ages, including interning in a Montessori preschool, directing an elementary summer camp, and teaching junior high and high school history and Bible. As a ministry kid herself, she is deeply grateful for the opportunity to invest in other ministry kids at MTI.

When not teaching, Emily enjoys cheering for her favorite sports teams, watching movies, hiking, exploring new foods, and being Auntie Em to her niece and nephews.

Sally Strnad

Trainer

Sally served with The Navigators for twelve years, focusing primarily on campus ministry. Eight of those years were spent in Shizuoka, Japan. Before moving to Japan, she completed the Compass program in fall 2014, which shaped her conviction in quality training that helps people thrive overseas.

Sally returned to the United States in 2023 and joined the MTI Compass adult team in June of that year.

She loves drinking green tea, cheering for the Kansas Jayhawks, playing the piano, and anything Disney-related.

Andrea (Gradin) Tepley

Language Coordinator

Andrea grew up as a missionary kid at MTI. Her parents, Dwight and Barbara Gradin, began the PILAT language program when she was young, following their service with Wycliffe in Viet Nam. Growing up in the MTI environment, she developed a deep love for missionary kids and language.

As a teen and young adult, Andrea served on the CHIPs team and as a phonetics instructor. Her work as a teacher in a Christian elementary school opened the door for several summers abroad teaching English in Siberia and serving alongside mission workers in the region.

Andrea loves helping people grow in confidence as they approach language learning. She and her husband, Ryan, have three children who love being MTI staff kids, just as she did. Their family enjoys sporting events, game nights, and time with friends and extended family.