Steve had been thinking that God was calling him to the Middle East; Kathi felt called to South America. Yet their church, Bridges Christian Fellowship, had a close relationship with OMF, which worked only in East Asia. After some investigation, Steve and Kathi found that OMF's emphasis on prayer, simple lifestyle and international teams fit well with their calling from God. After joining OMF in 1988 and building friendships with Japanese students in California, God guided them to Japan in 1989.

Steve graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 1981 with a degree in psychology, then moved to Riverside, California, where he spent four years working with high school students through Campus Crusade for Christ. That's when he met Kathi, a public school math teacher with a heart to influence her students for eternity. Although born in Indiana, Kathi was raised in California and graduated from Chapman College (Orange,CA) with a math major. Steve and Kathi were married in 1983. They prepared for the mission field by earning masters degrees in biblical studies at the International School of Theology in San Bernardino, CA. Megan Grace (1986) and Benjamin Joseph (1988) were born before they left for Japan.

Because of their backgrounds and experience, Steve and Kathi responded positively when asked by OMF to teach at Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ), a school in Tokyo mainly for missionary kids. Kathi has taught math at the elementary, middle and high school levels and serves as the boarding coordinator. Steve taught Bible, computers, and social studies as well as serving as chaplain until he switched into full-time Japanese ministry in 2000.

Over the next five years, Steve was mentored by experienced OMF missionaries, helped pastor a cell church, worked on Japanese language, and served as OMF Japan's education coordinator. Then in April 2005 he was asked to lead a new type of evangelistic emphasis: developing networks of house churches.

After taking a year to settle their kids into college life in California, Steve and Kathi are back in Tokyo. Kathi has jumped into her 15th year at CAJ while Steve is praying for God, in His mercy, to use house church networks to stimulate exponential growth in the Japanese church. He is also filling in for 2 years as the Coordinator for Serve Japan, OMF's short-term program.