Wycliffe USA Leaders

Wycliffe USA leaders have a passion for the glory of God through the translation of His Word for all peoples of the earth in the language they know best.

Women and men who provide leadership in the Bible translation movement, to meet the needs of Vision 2025, are characterized by very specific attitudes, skills, and knowledge.

Effective leadership grows out of particular attitudes toward God, others, self, and the structures in which we serve. Wycliffe USA’s leaders have confidence in the sovereignty of God and a profound respect for others, demonstrated through service to all, a life of integrity, and passion for accomplishing the vision of Bible translation.

Wycliffe USA’s leadership team, under the direction of the president and CEO, applies biblical principles and values as they work together to make decisions and solve problems.

Todd Nelson

Title

Vice President for Prayer Ministries

BIOGRAPHY

Todd Nelson says, “My wife Gail and I joined Wycliffe as newlyweds in the mid-1980s. At that time, we were both computer programmers, and had been looking to see how God might use us in missions. We attended the Urbana ’84 missions conference where we learned more about Wycliffe. The work of Wycliffe just made sense to us—evangelism, church planting, discipleship, etc., all spring from and are enhanced by people having God’s Word in a language they can understand. This was something we wanted to be a part of. We also felt drawn to Wycliffe by the fact that we could have an impact on Bible translation using the skills we already had.”

Todd has served in a variety of positions with Wycliffe and with SIL, Wycliffe’s primary strategic partner organization. After several years as a database programmer with Wycliffe, he worked as a linguist/translator in Benin, West Africa. From there, he transitioned into several leadership roles, including field director in Togo and Benin, and Francophone Prayer Mobilizer for Africa. Returning to the United States, Todd became vice president of Prayer Ministries in March 2009. He also serves on the board of trustees for the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL).

Todd holds a bachelor of arts in mathematics from Bethel University and a master of arts in linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Todd and Gail were married in 1985. They have four children: Christopher, Kylie, Julia, and Benjamin.