A QUARTER-CENTURY JOURNEY

OUR STORY

twenty-five years of leaving — finally ready to stay

A bride and groom smiling and posing for a wedding photo, with the bride wearing a white dress and veil, and the groom in a suit with a tie, standing close together.

We're opposites in almost every way — personality, coffee order, how we solve problems, even how we approach therapy.

It's exactly why we make a good team.

  • 26

    YEARS MARRIED

  • 16

    MOVES

  • 30+

    COUNTRIES VISITED

  • 3

    CALLED HOME

  • 1

    DEPORTATION

  • 0

    PLANS TO LEAVE

Defining moments that shaped our journey.

PIVOTAL

MOMENTS

A cute, smiling happy, posing after graduating with people in the background.

2000

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Fort Worth, Texas

It started with a wedding and a yes. We married, were appointed to Russia, and spent the next year preparing — training and growing our family — before we ever boarded the plane.

A family of four, including two children, in white shirts, standing outdoors in front of greenery and trees, smiling at the camera.

2002

ARRIVING IN RUSSIA

Ivanovo, Russia

In early 2002, we finally arrived — filled with hope, excitement, and just enough courage to go. Ivanovo taught us dependence. On God. On our teachers. On strangers who became friends. We stumbled through the language, fumbled through the culture, and learned that showing up willing is sometimes the most powerful thing you can be.

Family of four standing in front of Saint Basal's Cathedral with a garden featuring yellow flowers in the foreground.

2004

FOUND OUR FOOTING

Yaroslavl, Russia

This is where we began to settle in. The language began to click. Relationships deepened. Community took root. We learned that real impact isn't loud — it's consistent. It's showing up. It's staying.

A family of four posing on the 4th of July in a lush, green indoor botanical garden. The woman and man are standing behind two children, a boy and a girl.

2008

The Unexpected Pause

Oklahoma

A long, hard lesson in waiting — how to trust when the path isn't clear, how to be still when everything in you wants to move. We didn't love it. We needed it.

A family of four posing in the Peterhof Gardens front of a fountain, with trees and a bright sky in the background.

2010

LIGHT & DARKNESS

Saint Petersburg, Russia

It stretched us in ways we didn't see coming. The days were long and the winters were dark… so dark. When the sun finally broke through, we noticed. When the flowers grew, we celebrated. We learned to see God in both the light and the darkness.

A smiling woman and man standing on snow in a winter landscape with bare trees in the background. Both are wearing winter jackets and jeans.

2016

Deported

Toronto, Canada

Fourteen years in Russia ended with 72 hours' notice. We were deported — accused of being something we never were. We left a home, a community, and a life we loved, and started over in Canada. There was real loss. Grief. But also growth.

Family of four taking a selfie in front of the White House, with black fence bars visible in the foreground and lush green grass and trees in the background.

READY TO STAY

North Carolina

After twenty-five years of leaving, we're finally ready to stay. We've traded our suitcases for counseling degrees and a licensed practice, as we continue our calling to walk with others through their hardest seasons. Here, we're putting down roots: a home, a practice, and maybe even a few bees and chickens.

TODAY

Each place challenged us,

changed us — not always in ways we understood,

not always in ways we would have chosen.

But together, they tell a story of

dependence, growth, waiting, endurance, and renewal.

The places have changed. The mission never has.

Kristie & Keith Sullivan
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