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 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 U.S., Todd became Vice President of Prayer Ministries in March 2009.
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 his wife, Gail, were married in 1985. They have four teenage children: Christopher, Kylie, Julia and Benjamin.