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.

Madi Dortch

CHIPs Debriefer

Madi is an adult Third-Culture Kid who was born in Texas and grew up in East Asia. She graduated from Gordon College in 2024, studying Christian Ministries and Social Justice.

A life filled with transition and change has shaped her passion to walk with children in the midst of their own transitions. Madi has been blessed to come alongside TCKs across the globe, and those experiences have clarified God’s calling in her life.

Madi is excited to serve TCKs and their families with MTI.

Andy Douglas

Director of Operations

Andy began sensing God’s calling to be a part of seeing Jesus known, trusted, loved, and treasured around the globe in 2011.

He brings years of experience in various leadership roles within mission-focused organizations, including three years of outreach, discipleship, and church planting in Japan.

Andy now serves as MTI’s Operations Leader, working to ensure operational effectiveness and alignment across all departments supporting MTI’s mission to develop and equip long-term cross-cultural messengers of the Gospel.

In his free time, Andy enjoys exploring the mountains of Colorado and soaking in the beauty of creation with Jesus, family, and friends.

Andy and Katie have two boys, Zion and Jett, and consider it their greatest privilege to follow Jesus together through the adventure of this life.

Eric & Jen Ford

DAR Director & Adult Debriefers

Eric & Jen Ford served for 20 years in Asia and were initially involved in campus ministry. Most recently, they lived in Thailand and helped lead a pre-field training program for East Asian missionaries based on MTI’s Compass program. Jen worked and taught at Grace International School in Chiang Mai for six years. In 2022 the Fords transitioned back to the United States and joined MTI staff as full-time debriefers. Eric serves as Director of the DAR Program. They have three young adult TCKs.

Tarrah Grabler

CHIPs Debriefer

Tarrah has been at MTI since 2008. Before joining MTI, she spent three years teaching at Asunción Christian Academy in Asunción, Paraguay.

She holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and Music from Evangel University and an M.A. in Intercultural Studies from Biola University.

Tarrah considers any beach “home.” Outside of spending time with TCKs, she enjoys hiking, camping, event planning, cheering for the Chicago Cubs, and spending time with her husband.

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.

Vern Salter

Director of Care & Special Projects

Vern and Janell Salter have served in vocational ministry for more than 30 years, including 25 years with the Navigators, where Vern spent 23 years engaged in military ministry.

Since 2016, Vern has served on the Navigators Pastoral Care Team, providing trauma therapy, biblically informed individual counseling, and marriage therapy while also coordinating a nationwide network of counselors who served Navigator staff around the world. His work reflects a deep commitment to restoration and to cultivating healthy rhythms in vocational ministry. He holds an MA in Clinical Counseling from Colorado Christian University and integrates pastoral wisdom with professional clinical training in his care for cross-cultural workers. His additional training in EMDR, Gottman Marriage Therapy, and Soul Care broadens the scope of support he brings to member care.

Vern now serves as Director of Care and Special Projects at MTI, where he focuses on addressing the holistic needs of cross-cultural workers across the full arc of their careers. He also leads the development of the John Powell Institute at MTI, a policy institute devoted to strengthening member care and fostering collaboration among caregiving agencies.

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.

Ben & Amy Straub

Trainer, JPI, and Care Team

Ben and Amy have 4 awesome TCKs: Simon, Isaac, Casper, and Ada.

Ben trusted Christ as a young child, and Amy as a teen, and they were both raised in ministry homes.

They were married in 2006 while attending seminary together in Amy’s home state of Minnesota.

Ben grew up in Canada, where his parents were involved in First Nations and rural church missions.

The Straubs moved to Kitwe, Zambia, in 2012 to work on the cross-cultural team at Central Africa Baptist University, where Ben was involved in development and training. They also served in their local Zambian church.

They returned to the US in late 2025 after a long season of family illness and ministry challenges.

They joined the team at MTI in 2026, after attending a family debriefing in 2017. This helped give them the support and vocabulary to continue serving overseas for many more years.

Ben serves in pre-field training through Compass, contributing to program facilitation and culture coaching. He also works with JPI, engaging in research and applying insights to strengthen program content and participant care.

Amy serves on the Care Department, supporting the development of care strategies and resources for MTI staff, while also equipping MTI partners with care tools and guidance.

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.

Laura Trimble

HR Specialist

Laura first developed a heart for international missions as a teenager when she spent a summer living with her aunt and uncle, who were cross-cultural workers in Italy, and experienced their ministry firsthand.

She served as an engineer in international missions before transitioning into Human Resources. Laura sees how God uses HR as an avenue to care for and support cross-cultural workers and is grateful to serve with MTI in this capacity.

Laura is married to Wes, and they have a young daughter, Camille.

They enjoy fostering community in their neighborhood and local church by hosting meals and creating space for people to spend time together.

They also enjoy the outdoors through activities such as hiking and camping.

David Wilson

Care Associate

David serves in MTI’s Care department as a Care Associate. He has been with MTI since 2007, working in both the Debriefing and Renewal (DAR) and pre-field (Compass) programs. In recent years, he has focused on marriages and families within the Compass program.

Both he and his wife, Janna, grew up as MKs—David in France and Janna in Taiwan—which gives them a deep passion for healthy families in missions. They have eight children and enjoy the full life that brings. Their family also maintains a small hobby farm with goats and chickens.

Through his role, David supports MTI staff and helps develop ways to care for cross-cultural workers. His heart is to walk with people wherever they are in life and point them to Father God.