Robert Craft has a ministry background of more than 50 years as a pastor, missionary and evangelical missions leader. He is the founder and is serving as the Servant-at-Large (AKA-President) of Reach A Village. He has been working alongside international Christian leaders since 1989.

Bob has been involved in evangelism and discipleship ministry, helping local churches reach out to their own communities and beyond. He has served in ministry throughout Southeast Asia for the past 40 years, helping train local pastors and Christian workers in their efforts to grow and establish new churches. He has also been involved in multiple projects to develop training curriculum as well as discipleship/Bible study curriculum. Bob has a degree in Christian Education from Trevecca Nazarene University and is a graduate of Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada, with a focus in Bible/Missions. While living in the Philippines, he also continued some graduate courses at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary (APNTS) in Manila, Philippines, related specifically to theology in the Asian context.

From 2006-2008, Bob was involved in the development of the “Discovery Bible Study” (DBS) method. This particular Bible study method is being used in current “Disciple Making Movements” (DMM) around the world. Well-known organizations like Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ), Youth With A Mission (YWAM) along with many others have begun using this method of Bible study in their programs. Click here to learn more about Bob's involvement in DBS. 

Bob founded Reach A Village in 2012 after seeing that hundreds of thousands of villages in Southeast Asia have remained untouched by mission efforts, even though there are Bibles and other resources available in their many local languages. These villages represent more than 2 billion people!

Bob says this about the role of Reach A Village in modern missions: "The most effective and efficient way of reaching the remaining unreached villages of the world is through equipping local, indigenous Christians to reach their own people. Reach A Village helps them have the mobility, materials and training they need to carry out the Great Commission in unreached villages. As a result, new villages are reached every single day with the Gospel, and new churches are established where there were none before." 

Ellis Craft grew up in Thailand and the Philippines, where his parents were missionaries. Upon returning to the United States for college, he attended Moody Bible Institute and University of Illinois Chicago, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. He then did work for his master's degree in Community Development at North Park University and worked two years in Chicago's South Side.

The next 10 years were spent developing his skills while working with the largest Illinois non-profit provider of services for people with disabilities. The first eight years were spent in management, and the last two years focused on staff development and training. Sensing a deep call to church ministry, Ellis returned to Moody in 2016 to attend Moody Theological Seminary. His master’s program in Ministry Leadership was completed in 2018.

Ellis serves Reach A Village as the Vice President of International Ministry, interacting with our ministry partners overseas. He assists with managing finances and reporting.

Tim Trout, Chief Financial Officer for Reach A Village, has a financial and ministry background of over 35 years. After college, he became a full-time pastor and served as a missionary to the Philippines. On the field, Tim organized and managed finances. When he returned to the United States, he earned a MBA in Accounting and Finance from Keller Graduate School of Management, and he is a CPA. His experience includes Chief Financial Officer and Regional Finance Officer for two major international ministries. 

Tim's life verse is 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is Your Kingdom. We adore You as the One who is over all things. Riches and honor come from You alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and it is at your discretion that people are made great and given strength."

Erin Menke-Assam oversees donor development, communications and international partnerships. She has vast experience in missions, training, research and development. She is a literacy master trainer and played a key role in the planning and implementation of international literacy programs. Her research experience includes program evaluation, donor surveys and market research.

Erin also enjoys connecting and engaging partners in ministry. She says, "It's a blessing to help people become part of fulfilling the Great Commission. We are all working together to see that the Gospel goes forth and people come into relationship with Christ." Erin completed a master's degree in International Public Service from DePaul University in 2011 to prepare her to fulfill the call to serve in international Christian non-profit organizations.

Of her role as Vice President of Development and Communications at Reach A Village, she says, "I am thrilled to be part of a ministry that is working not only to share the Gospel, but disciple people and establish a thriving church in unreached villages."

Jim Thompson serves Reach A Village as Vice President of Ministry​ Advancement. After ​seminary, he pastored in the United States for ​18 years. Though having a ​pastor’s heart, his great passion was for the unreached​ multitudes throughout the world who have not known of the love and salvation​ of Jesus.

Since 2006, Jim has served in three ​global​ mission organizations​, connecting​ the hearts of American Christians to the hearts of the ​unreached. He finds​ great joy using his gifts for empowering American Christians to resource the​ global Church for spiritual growth.

Jim holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological​ Seminary in Evangelism, Discipleship, and Revival. Dr. Thompson has written extensively on the worldwide Bible Gap and serves​ on the research team for the Bible Watch List that will be published in the ​fall​ of 2025.​ He is also the author of the​ book, “The Enoch Generation”.

Jim writes, “I am very excited to work with Reach A Village. Robert ​Craft is a strategic missions’ thinker. The methods and models that RAV are using are having astounding success as unreached villages are receiving the Gospel of Jesus for the first time in history.”

Andrea Hildebrant joined Reach A Village in 2021 as Partner Relations Associate. Andrea is blessed to have nearly 20 years of youth/children’s ministry and short-term missions experience, working with local churches and international partners. Andrea is happily married to her wonderful husband, Jake, and together they have three amazing children.

Andrea graduated from Murray State University with a Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Science in Human Development and Leadership. She has experience as a social worker, college instructor and working with vulnerable populations, such as individuals with disabilities and youth in foster care. In August 2022, she completed a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies at the University of the Cumberlands. Andrea’s desire is to use her gifts and abilities to glorify Jesus and help others know and follow Him. She is so thankful for the opportunity to join the team at Reach A Village!

Jerry Bimber first heard about Reach A Village while serving as a pastor in Lombard, Illinois. His father is also a pastor, so Jerry has been around the ministry his entire life. He attended Hobe Sound Bible College for three years, received his bachelor’s degree from Malone College, and earned Master of Divinity and Master of Theology degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

After almost 30 years in pastoral ministry, Jerry is now serving as Ministry Representative for Reach A Village. “I have as my life purpose to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He directs me," Jerry shares. “He has placed in my heart a love for the ministry of Reach A Village.”

Jerry previously served on the Reach A Village board of directors and has been an active member of several other boards. He was a longtime member and past president of the Lombard Lions Club. For 12 years, he served on the school board in Villa Park, Illinois, acting as board secretary as well. From 2014 to 2019, Jerry was a board member with the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding.

Nikolay Ivanov serves as Reach A Village’s national ministry director for all countries in Eurasia.

Born during the Cold War in Bulgaria — an Eastern European country with deep Christian roots — he began attending church in the 1980s. At that time, Christians were meeting in secret and facing serious persecution from the KGB. Bulgaria was the satellite country closest to the Soviet Union. Bibles and any Christian materials were almost impossible for believers to get. Brave Christians from Western Europe were able to deliver some materials to them secretly.

Nikolay vividly remembers receiving his first precious Bible when he was seven years old. During the next three years, he read the entire Bible three times. God was preparing this man to bring His Word to the people of Eastern Europe.

At age 17, Nikolay started preaching and serving in his local church. At age 19, he became a youth pastor. By age 25, he was part of building a vibrant, new Christian community in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. In 2003, he became involved in leading local believers in Bible Distribution, Scripture Placement and Bible Study programs, and Church Planting. He became national director of Bulgaria in 2011 and took on regional leadership in 2022.

Nikolay completed his theological training at the Logos Bible Academy (2000). He earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology at the South-West University (2005) and his master’s degree in screenwriting at New Bulgarian University (2010).

With the support of his wife Denitsa, Nikolay is now based in Sofia, Bulgaria, for his work with Reach A Village. Nikolay and Denitsa were married in 2003, and are the parents of two children, Matthew and Emma.

Igor Kurlianov has 25 years of experience in Christian ministry. He has been involved in church ministry as a preacher, deacon, pastor, and missionary. With a Christian mission, he has visited more than 20 countries, gaining extensive experience in intercultural communication. He has assisted local church leaders in developing missionary work.

Igor is fluent in three languages: Russian, English, and Chinese. In 1998, he earned a bachelor's degree in theology from Donetsk Christian University in Ukraine. In 2021, he obtained a master's degree in religious studies from Amur State University in Blagoveshchensk, Russia.

Now he has moved to the US with his family and continues to carry out Christian ministry with Reach A Village. Drawing upon his extensive experience in cross-cultural ministry, he is currently actively involved in creating teaching materials on establishing new churches for missionaries from various countries.

Lauren Bimber heard about Reach A Village while growing up at her home church in Lombard, Illinois.  From both the testimonies of founder Bob Craft and her father, Jerry Bimber, she learned about the unique, strategic, and effective work of Reach A Village and its ministry partners. "I always loved hearing the stories of baptisms of new believers and churches being established," Lauren says. "It’s amazing how God has used this ministry to reach the unreached!"

Lauren graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Grove City College in 2017 and has had experience in both Banking Compliance and Corporate Accounting.  She is excited to have the opportunity to support the ministry’s finance department.

*Denotes Executive Leader