Greg Livingstone, Founder of Frontiers, Dies at 85

PHOENIX, AZ – With heavy hearts, the Frontiers organization announced that Greg Livingstone, the ministry’s much-beloved founder, passed away quietly at his home in Altadena, California, on Saturday, July 19. He was with his wife Sally and their daughter-in-law Alma.

His death was a result of complications from prostate cancer, which was diagnosed in July of 2016. He was 85.

Livingstone is survived by Sally; their sons Evan, David, and Paul; and seven grandchildren.

Known widely among the international missions community as a consummate mobilizer with a heart for Muslim peoples, Livingstone once admitted that it wasn’t always that way. When he was a student at Wheaton College in 1959, he attended a prayer meeting where he agreed to pray for Libya. “I didn’t even know where that was,” he said.

That night of prayer began a lifetime of seeking to reach the Muslim world. “We formed a prayer group at Wheaton that prayed every day at noon for Muslim people who needed missionaries. And I was hooked. I knew I couldn’t do anything else.”

Livingstone mobilized workers for missions organizations in the 1960s and ‘70s, sending to Europe, India, and beyond until the agencies asked him to stop. They didn’t have the capacity to send any more.

That’s when God gave him an idea for an agency that would send Gospel messengers only to Muslims—to all Muslim peoples. In 1983, he launched Frontiers, the first and only sending agency with that mandate.

“Greg’s passion to recruit and send teams to ‘the places where there are no pushpins in anyone’s missionary maps’ was palpable,” said Janelle Stoops, Frontiers U.S. Director Team.

“He never wavered from the founding vision of Frontiers,” said Bob Peckham, President of Frontiers USA. “In fact, Greg’s passion for God’s glory among all Muslim peoples only grew stronger as years passed and he saw steady progress.”

Bob Blincoe, President Emeritus of Frontiers USA, reminisced about his friend and co-laborer. “Greg used to say, ‘It’s a good beginning. But it’s too soon to celebrate, too soon to quit.’” Indeed, Livingstone continued working to see the Gospel shared with Muslims until the end of his life.

Stoops continued, “He would frequently email me to enthusiastically report that he was still working to recruit people to serve in some of the hardest to reach places. He never stopped. His passion for all Muslim peoples never dimmed.”

“We are confident that the legacy of Greg’s ministry will be the wonderful chorus of tongues, tribes, and nations worshiping the Lamb,” Peckham added.

In his autobiography “You’ve Got Libya,” Livingstone wrote, “[One of the] things [that has] kept me going all of these years … is that I keep focused on ‘that day’ – that day when I’m going to meet the Lord Jesus face to face. I want to hear Jesus say those most wonderful words: ‘You’ve run the race to win. Well done, good and faithful servant.’”

Though deeply saddened by his loss, the organization that Livingstone founded knows with certainty that he heard those words when the Lord called him home.

His family plans to hold a private service within the next few weeks. A public celebration of life service will be held in California in the next few months and made available to watch online.

Those who would like to leave a remembrance about Greg are invited to do so at:

Kudo Board

Password: Greg2025