Greg Livingstone, Founder of Frontiers, 1940-2025
With great sadness, Frontiers has announced the passing of its beloved founder, Greg Livingstone, who died peacefully at home on Saturday 19 July. He was 85 and with his wife Sally and daughter-in-law Alma. Greg had been living with prostate cancer since his diagnosis in July 2016. He is survived by Sally, their sons Evan, David, and Paul, and seven grandchildren.
God’s sheepdog
Greg Livingstone changed mission history. When he started Frontiers, he created an organisation that was radically different from the norm at the time. We may take it for granted today, but those of us who are part of Frontiers today have inherited that legacy, including:
The scope: The entire Muslim world
The goal: Not just evangelising, but planting churches
The candidates: No formal theological training required – but an ongoing learning posture expected
The platform: Jobs, not missionary visas
The structure: Teams, not individuals; governed by the field, not the home office
His influence reverberated across the mission world, and leaders of other organisations have contacted our leaders in recent days to tell us of profound conversations with Greg that shaped their ministry.
Yet his earliest origins would not have suggested the impact he would have.
“My life proves God can use anybody,” Greg often said. He was unwanted by his unmarried mother. In fact, he mused that if he had been conceived in a different decade, his life would likely have been snuffed out before it began. In his early years, he and his mother traipsed from one town to the next as she fell in with one man after another and scraped together a living as a waitress, sometimes leaving him behind with a series of informal foster families. He later reflected that those nomadic early years bred in him the ability to move easily from one place to the next.
His life turned a sharp corner when he landed in Aspen, Colorado and a girl in his high school invited him to church – where he was introduced to Jesus and gained a new family. After high school, he moved to Wheaton College where he planned to train as a lawyer. Two people he met there particularly shaped the trajectory of his life: George Verwer, who later founded Operation Mobilisation; and the cute red-headed woman who was preparing to become a missionary doctor, Sarah (Sally) Coltman.
Throughout their married life, he and Sally lived in 32 homes in India, the Arab world, Europe, Malaysia, and North America. In all of those places, he said that his favourite endeavour for Christ’s kingdom was to be a sheepdog: “To recruit team leaders and team members for new church planting teams to minister long term where there is no church … or extremely few nationals who are able and willing to risk ministry to Muslims.”
In addition, Greg specialised in studying and writing about the history of missions to Muslims, convinced that effective discipling and church planting requires a thorough knowledge of past endeavours.
Greg thought much about that day – the day he experienced on Saturday. In fact, two years ago when a Southern California pastor friend of his died. Greg commented on our Frontline forum: “Jack Hayford went HOME … lucky guy!”
As part of the 25th Anniversary of Frontiers Greg spoke to the need he saw that prompted him to start Frontiers.
In his autobiography, he described how he envisioned his own eventual homegoing:
Two things have kept me going all of these years. One is that I keep focused on “that day” – that day when I’m going to meet the Lord Jesus face to face. As he was able to say to his father, I want to be able to say to him: “I’ve accomplished what you sent me to do.” That’s what keeps me focused. I feel like a marathon runner who just wants to fall into the coach’s arms at the finish line and see his big smile. I want to hear Jesus say those most wonderful words: “You’ve run the race to win. Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The other thing that has kept my life focused is an image from Jesus’s parable about the steward of a rich ruler in Luke 16:9. Jesus tells his disciples to make “friends … who will welcome you into eternal dwellings.” Here’s how I picture it. I think that when we reach heaven, we’ll all get a print out. (It’s the one place where all of the computers will work well!) On my print out will be a list of all of the people whom God used in my life – the girl who lured me into the Baptist church, her parents who took me home for chicken dinner, the pastor who steered me toward a Christian college, the father-figures at Wheaton and elsewhere, my fellow OMers – all of the people who nurtured me to follow the Lord Jesus with all my heart.
Why? So I can welcome them into eternal dwellings. Imagine everyone in heaven – a number that no one can count – and they’ve all got their print outs. I want my name on thousands of those print outs!
Those two pictures of being welcomed into heaven – by Jesus and by those whose lives we’ve touched – are what keep Sally and me going
(You’ve Got Libya, pp 309-310)
Celebration of Greg’s life
Plans are being developed for a service to celebrate Greg’s life, which will be held in California and made available live online. Information about how to join that service will be available from the office.
Tributes from some of our leaders:
Andrew Dimmock: The first time I encountered Greg personally was at International Conference (IC) 2000. That was the year he stepped aside from being international director, a role he had held since Frontiers was founded. I recall being deeply impressed that he was planning to move to Malaysia as a team leader: The general joining the foot soldiers on the frontline! Even though 25 more years have passed, he remained actively involved with Frontiers until the end and, more importantly, never lost his passion for raising up more workers for the Muslim world.
Teresa Dong: As a new field worker in 1992, I experienced a taste of the heart of our apostolic spiritual community when Greg wanted to visit us in our home in Turkey and have a meal with us. Wow, what a joy to host the founder of our organisation and share our story with him! Fast forward to IC 2023 when he extended to me a warm welcome to the international directors club and his self-confession that my appointment was a stretch for his theological preference! Eric and I had the privilege of spending a morning with Greg and Sally May 2024. Greg shared again his sense of urgency and heart for Muslims and exhorted repeatedly, “Let’s keep the main thing the main thing,” followed by, “What can I do to help? Let me know.” I’m going to miss his servant heart, emails of exhortation, and vibrant passion for those who have yet to experience true, abundant life.
Andrés Duncan: Greg Livingstone deeply believed in the potential of the Latin American church to carry the gospel to the furthest corners of the Muslim world. From the moment I began sharing the vision of forming a Latin American team, Greg responded with enthusiasm and unwavering support. He stood with us as we laid the foundations for some of the continent’s first sending bases. Greg didn’t just support our mission – he lived it. He prayed faithfully for each of our leaders by name, joined us gladly at international events, and spoke passionately in our webinars. He often expressed his admiration for the pioneering spirit he saw in our workers and dedicated some of the final years of his life to mobilising even more Latin Americans for the field. But Greg was more than a founder and director, he was family for us and our children. We will miss him, but we celebrate his life and the impact he had for the kingdom of God.
Friedrich Leonhardt: Greg cared for people. After we were expelled from the Maldives in 1998, Greg – together with our overseer Steve H – invited Martina and me to come to High Wycombe to discern together our next steps. Greg spent one whole day with us, on a weekend, to talk and pray. I believe he could have been busy with many other things. But he made spending time with us a priority. Though Greg was used by the Lord to start something significant, he remained personally humble. He didn’t need the best seat or the big stage (though he got those too). When travelling he would be happy with a simple meal and a small guest room, when making a mistake he would be quick to acknowledge it and take ownership.
Erwin Wälchli: Greg was a truly inspiring man whose kindness and warmth and clear vision to reach all Muslim peoples in the world touched everyone he met. His talks have inspired uncountable people all over the world to surrender their lives to Jesus and serve the Lord. Greg’s unwavering positivity brought light into our lives, even in the darkest times. His passion for Jesus and his unwavering spirit will always be remembered and cherished and will continue to inspire many people to share Jesus with Muslims around the globe. Kathrin and I have been encouraged repeatedly by Greg’s vision, leadership, and often very personal words into our situation. His life reflected the words of Paul: “Follow me as I follow the Lord.” His life has inspired Kathrin and I to continue to follow the Lord and serve him and continue doing this till the end as Greg has been a wonderful example for us.
Dan Eitzen: My great love and respect for Greg sits right alongside the fact that we were very different and disagreed on many things. And that's the beauty of much of my experience in the community he founded. Perhaps what stands out most was his quick, unflinching support for me to join Frontiers in 1984. Turned away by two other agencies and not finding a place in a third, Greg's "You're a number one draft choice" to me was a refreshing response and door-opening invitation that I still revel in. Thanks, Greg!
