Instructor

Dr. Brian Simmons is a former missionary, linguist, minister, and Bible teacher. As a missionary, he and his wife, Candice, pioneered church plants in Central America. As a linguist, Brian co-translated the Kuna New Testament for the Paya-Kuna people of Panama. He is also a gifted teacher of the Bible who has authored several books and serves churches worldwide through his teaching ministry. He and his wife have been described as true pioneers in ministry, laboring together for forty years to bring spiritual revival and present Christ in His fullness, wherever God sends them.

After a dramatic conversion to Christ in 1971, Brian answered a calling from God to leave everything behind, become a missionary, and bring the gospel to unreached tribes. Taking their family of three children to the jungles of Central America, he and his wife pioneered and shepherded church plants among the Kuna people group for many years. While serving as missionaries Brian witnessed firsthand God’s powerful gospel-movement among the nations through spiritual revival. As a linguist, Brian also served as a co-translator for the Kuna New Testament, providing this unreached people group with a copy of God’s Word for the first time.

After their ministry overseas, Brian and Candice returned to North America, where Brian began to passionately work toward helping people encounter the risen Christ and His story of redemption. Brian and Candice birthed numerous ministries, including the dynamic church Gateway Christian Fellowship in West Haven, Connecticut. They also established Stairway Ministries under which they travel full-time as Bible teachers in service of local churches throughout the world with the gospel. Brian serves on the leadership team for Harvest International Ministries, which oversees a network of nearly 20,000 churches and ministries worldwide.

Brian is the author of numerous books that promote the redemption and reconciliation of the nations through Christ and extension of His kingdom. His best-selling book, The Journey of the Bride, has been translated into Korean and French. Other titles include: Prayer Partners with Jesus, The Dreamer, The Stairway, The Prophet of Zion, Moses the Deliverer, and The Image-Maker. Currently he is working on a new, fresh dynamic-equivalent translation of the entire Bible, called The Passion Translation.

Brian and Candice have been married for forty-three years and have three children, six grandchildren, and two great-children. Their passion is to be loving examples of a spiritual father and mother to this generation.