Avery T. Willis

Dr. Avery T. Willis Jr., retired from the International Mission Board as senior vice president for overseas operations in 2004. An Arkansas native, Willis is a 1956 OBU graduate. He and his wife, Shirley, served as missionaries to Indonesia for 14 years before returning stateside in 1978.

Widely known for his work in creating the MasterLife discipleship materials, Willis headed adult discipleship programs for LifeWay Christian Resources before moving to the IMB’s administrative staff in 1993. After retirement, he moved to Bella Vista, Ark. Since his retirement, Willis has continued active work in missions, traveling internationally approximately 25 weeks per year. He serves as a consultant to missionaries, as well as chairman of Epic Partners, a coalition of global missionary organizations, including the IMB, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Campus Crusade for Christ, and Youth With A Mission.

He also is the executive director of the International Orality Network, a partnership of major missions organizations committed to using oral strategies such as “chronological Bible storying” as a means of evangelizing and discipling approximately 70 percent of the world’s population which is functionally illiterate.


To visit the Avery T. Willis Website to learn more about his ministry, please click here.