A forced refugee to Texas, Matt was born in the great state of South Carolina, where things like hills and trees are common. In 1998, while sitting on a picnic bench on the banks of the Sarapiqui River in Alajuela, Costa Rica, God clearly spoke to Matt about being involved in leading students on mission trips. Matt has served churches in Alabama, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas. He enjoys eating weird foods, sports, reading, and good humor. Matt leads the Latin American division of NEXT Worldwide. He doesnt have a favorite quote, but one that he recently struck his fancy: "To quench thirst, you must drink. But reading about it only makes it worse." In South Carolina this is translated, "Get up and do something!"

Jake is a 2006 graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Spanish. Jake has a heart for youth and during college had the privilege of encouraging young men to draw closer to Christ as a counselor at Kanakuk Kamps for 2 summers. His passion is to see students realize who they are in Christ, take hold of their faith, and influence others. It was during his time in college that the Lord gave Jake a heart for other cultures.While studying abroad in Mexico and Costa Rica, God developed a passion in Jake to have an impact on people of other nations. Shortly after graduating, Jake worked in the financial realm, but felt God calling him to step out in faith to work in the ministry. Jake came on staff in March 2009 and he is so thankful that at NEXT Worldwide, God has given him an outlet to live out two of his passions on a daily basis. Jake and his wife Felecia are proud residents of Grapevine, Texas. They met each other when they were 16 years old, and were married in the fall of 2006. Jake and Felecia are proud parents of Bree Madison, who was born in August 2009.

Truitt James Henson was born and raised in the great state of Texas. He is 25 years old, and graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2007 with a BA in Entrepreneurship. In 2008, he graduated from Christ for the Nations with a Diploma in Advanced Youth Ministry. Truitt loves to play all kinds of sports on the weekends. These include, but not limited to, softball, volleyball, football, ultimate Frisbee, and cricket. Truitt was called into full-time ministry at the age of 15 on a mission trip to Zambia, and finally was blessed to begin working at NEXT as a Mission Leader in 2009. Truitt has been on several mission trips around the world, and currently is on college staff at The Harvest Church in Allen, TX. He has worked as a volunteer, an intern, and the interim youth pastor for The Harvest and continues to be active in the youth ministry today.

Kara was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. She now lives in Plano, and loves the community she has with her small group from The Village, as well as with her friends in this area. Kara has worked in ministry since 2003. She felt God calling her to NEXT in July 2005 and loves the journey she is on. Kara participated in her very first mission trip in the fall of 2004 and her eyes were opened to what God was doing all over the world through church planting. She was amazed when she stepped out of her comfort zone to see God move and wanted to be a small part of that! Kara enjoys outdoor activities, as well as spending time with her family and friends. She has developed a passion for health and fitness and in October of 2008 completed her very first triathlon! She has a heart for helping people make and reach goals that they never imagined for themselves.

Chrislyn Lowery was born and raised in South Gate, California. She attended the same Elementary, Middle and High Schools thather father attended. She moved to Flower Mound, Texas in 1988 with her husband Ken and two children Michael and Amber. In 1991 Ken and Chrislyn welcomed a little girl, Brittany into their family. Chrislyn worked for a Fortune 500 company for 15 years, before God called her to work as a Ministry Coordinator in Small Groups and Newcomers for the past five years at her local church. In her spare time she loves watching football, basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball. Her favorite teams are The Dallas Cowboys, The Dallas Mavericks and USC. She also enjoys going to the movies with her husband, riding her bike all around Flower Mound and spending time with her children and two granddaughters.

A die-hard Aggie, Clint grew up in Sachse, Texas, but has relocated to the great city of Frisco. In 2001, he entered Texas A&M University. During his time there, he became involved in Breakaway Ministries, where he eventually took a leadership role. Clint was called to missions on a 2003 trip to Costa Rica. In May of 2005, after graduation from Texas A&M, Clint married his wife, Holly, and started at Dallas Theological Seminary. In May of 2010, he graduated from DTS with a Masters of Theology in Cross-Cultural Ministries. Clint came on staff at NEXT in May of 2007, where he has focused primarily on church planting in Venezuela and Kenya. Clint is a football fanatic, and enjoys learning about culture, traveling, fishing, and reading. Clint and Holly became parents in November 2009 when their daughter, Ginny, was born.

Amy was born in Abilene, but soon after that, her family moved to the Dallas area where she has lived ever since. She now lives in Prosper with her wonderful husband, Drew, whom she married in 2006. She entered Texas A&M University in the Fall of 2002 with aspirations of going into the dental field. After her sophomore year, she was accepted into the Dental Hygiene program at Collin College. Upon graduating in 2006, she began working as a hygienist in various offices around the Dallas area. It wasnt long into her practice that she felt God calling her to do more with the gifts and skills that He had given her, and she knew she wanted to use those gifts on the mission field. She started with NEXT on a part time basis in the fall of 2008 with a desire to see dentists and hygienists use their skills for the glory of God in conjunction with NEXTs vision for church planting.

Warren and his family have lived in Prosper, Texas for the past 12 years. Warren and his wife Sherry have three daughters. He surrendered to the call to ministry in 1978. Since that time he has served in churches and mission organizations all across Texas. He served as Minister to Students at FBC Dallas from 1986-1991. In 1991 he began serving as the Minister to Married Adults at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas. In 1998 he joined the team of Global Missions Fellowship as Director of Leadership Development. In 2005 he helped launch NEXT Worldwide, a short term mission agency that mobilizes high school and college students to plant new churches in neighborhoods where no church currently exists.

Like the rest of the staff, Wes’ story of hearing from God about NEXT Worldwide is too long to put in a bio. The direction to help start an organization focused on church planting and student leadership development was communicated with clarity though. Like his former pastor, the late Rick Ferguson of Riverside Church in Denver, CO would say, “I didn’t hear God audibly, it was louder than that.”  God used a series of events while serving on church staff over a 21-year period, both in the church and leading mission trips to China, Indonesia, Singapore, Venezuela, and Nicaragua to prepare Wes and his family.

During his seminary years, Wes served on the student staff at First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX and Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, TX.  After graduating from Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Wes served as Student Pastor at Idlewild Baptist in Tampa, FL and Riverside Baptist in Denver, CO. He served as Executive Pastor/Students at Trinity Church in Lubbock, TX, and Assoc. Pastor at Valley Creek Church in Flower Mound, TX.  Wes and his wife, Colleen, their boys Sam and Tate live in Flower Mound where they also serve in their home church, The Village Church.

Scott is a Dallas native who received a BBA in Marketing/Management from Baylor University and a MARE in Youth Ministry from Southwestern Seminary. He has been involved in youth ministry since 1986 serving on staff at FBC Dallas and High Pointe Baptist in Cedar Hill, Texas. Scott has been on 36 mission trips in 12 countries and numerous states in the US. His passion is to disciple students so that they will be able to find their place of service in the Kingdom. Serving through NEXT allows Scott to combine his passion for students, gift of service and leadership skills to fulfill the mission to which God has called him. Scott has been married to the love of his life, Jenny, for 21 years. They have two sons - Harrison who will be a freshman at Texas A & M fall of 2009 and Johnson who is a sophomore at Grace Preparatory Academy in Arlington, Texas. Scott enjoys spending time with family - whatever the boys are doing, football, running, travel, reading and ice cream!

Kyle hails from West Texas (Lubbock, to be exact) and is a 2005 graduate of Texas Tech University (B.S. History/Political Science). He received Christ at the age of seven and was baptized at FBC Lubbock in 1991. He has worked in ministry since 2003, and with NEXT since 2008. Kyle is the husband of Carrie Wiley and the father of Laura Kate Wiley. He enjoys rugby with great passion (New Zealand All Blacks, Christ Church Crusaders, and NSW Waratahs, mostly), lifting weights, playing chess, writing poetry, reading books, and listening to Indie music. Kyle and his family attend Providence Church in Frisco; he is very passionate about discipleship and teaching. Kyle is an outdoorsman with a love of hunting, fishing and camping. His and Carrie's hearts are for the peoples of Asia and hope to one day live there.

Carrie (Wood) Wiley has been an ML with NEXT Worldwide since July 2008. She and her husband Kyle are the proud parents of Laura Kate, and reside in McKinney. Carrie holds a B.S. degree in Human Development / Family Studies from Texas Tech University.Carrie was born in Mobile, AL and moved to Texas when she was in junior high. The daughter of a pastor, Carrie grew to know Christ at an early age and began feeling called towards ministry while in high school. It was in college that she began working in ministry, serving as an officer in her Christian sorority RSC, as well as director for Foundation, and becoming the childrens ministry coordinator at Turning Point Community Church. She married her husband, Kyle in July of 2006. They, as a couple, feel called more and more to the mission field, especially Asia and to join the staff of NEXT.

Ron grew up in Charlotte, N.C. and received his B.A. in Youth Ministry from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. He attended New Orleans Seminary and graduated with his M.A. in Marriage and Family Counseling. He has previously worked with Nike in the business world and is a veteran student pastor that has been involved in ministry for over 20 years. He has served churches in Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Illinois and North Carolina.

Ron is married to his beautiful wife Keri and has three amazing children: Halle, Landry and Brady. He loves the Dallas Cowboys, the great outdoors and watching movies. Ron is passionate about seeing students lives transformed. He believes that through experiencing international mission adventures their lives will forever be impacted. His desire is for students to bring glory to God through their lives and impact their generation. Ron felt God was calling Keri and him into missions prior to a trip to Kenya in 2000. After a Passion conference and challenging messages from Louie Giglio and Francis Chan, He has recently answered that call. Ron joined NEXT in 2009.

A proud Texan, Abby was born and raised in Dallas. She graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2003 with a Bachelor in Business Administration. She worked in the corporate world briefly until the Lord redirected her to ministry as administrative assistant at a local church. It was there Abby met her future husband, Jon Wood, as he served on the church staff as well. They married in June 2007 in Dallas. Shortly after, Abby started at NEXT in August of 2007. In her spare time Abby likes to get lost in a good book or movie. She’s also found a passion to write, with one book finished and many more to follow.