Biography

A son of Massachusetts’ south shore, Joel came to faith in 1991 and almost immediately became both confronted and burdened by the fact that while roughly half of all unreached people worldwide are Muslim, less than half of 1% of all missionaries are sent to the Muslim world. He heard the testimony of a disciple-maker living in Kazakhstan as a young believer, and committed his life that evening to serving Muslims worldwide with a faithful testimony of Jesus. He moved to Kansas City in 1993, just before spending the better part of 1994 living and working in Israel, while traveling regularly to Egypt and Jordan. It was in this time he truly fell in love with the Middle East, and returned to KC to pursue an engineering degree at UMKC.

It would be difficult to summarize Joel’s ministry and history in a paragraph; he launched a campus ministry devoted to international students in 1996, founded a decorative painting business in 1998 (which was his 9-5 before shifting into full-time ministry in 2016), and has consistently reached out to Muslims locally and internationally since the mid-90s. Joel is the author of eight books (including one New York Times bestseller), has produced several Christian films and documentaries, hosts the popular YouTube program, The Underground with Joel Richardson, and co-pastored a home church fellowship in Kansas City for five years.

Joel serves on the board of three ministries dedicated to reaching Muslims, including FAI, bringing more than twenty-five years’ experience in Muslim-related ministry to the table. His passion to see a faithful witness of the Gospel of the Kingdom reach the Middle East underscores his ministry worldwide as a teacher, conference speaker, and as a friend and brother we are tremendously grateful for. We are privileged to have him on the Frontier Alliance International Board of Directors, where he served for years before becoming Board Chairman in 2021. His clarity on and commitment to the faithful testimony of the prophets and apostles helps preserve the integrity of our messaging and our life as a body, community, and family.

Joel and his wife Amy, married since 1997, remain in the greater Kansas City area with their five children. If he’s not traveling, he starts his mornings with an early forest jog, winds down in the evenings with his family listening to gospel, bluegrass, and jam bands on his back patio—but he especially enjoys getting to serve as a parent assistant at his son’s football practices.