An update from the FAI board of directors
12 JUNE 2025
Friends & Supporters,
Thank you for your patience through the last year and a half, and your continued financial support. You have enabled a number of ministry initiatives in war and conflict zones across the Middle East and Muslim world to continue operations, shielded from the impact of our founder’s resignation in December 2023 and the ensuing GRACE investigation (we released the final report in February 2025).
FAI has operated with two arms since 2015: our ministry initiatives on the Gospel frontier, and our public media messaging platform (our app, YouTube channel, etc). We have held these two together with a commitment to “resource those who have the Gospel as we labor to resource those who do not.”
As we have walked through the last eighteen months and have sought the Lord for the healthiest path ahead, we have made the decision to surrender our second arm, our media platform, to a new entity: THE EMMAUS TABLE. This will feature many familiar faces you know from FAI, and collaborate with others from like-minded ministries. We are hopeful that in tearing down the platform and using the proverbial wood to build a dinner table, these assets can be used in ways healthier for the Body and honoring to Jesus in the days and years ahead. TET will function with a similar missional financial model to FAI STUDIOS in that they will continue to raise funds for field ministry. We will collaborate, but we believe it to be best that these two “arms” are no longer the same entity.
Frontier Alliance International will continue to operate our existing field work. We are not recruiting or expanding for the foreseeable future, but will pursue new initiatives as the Lord leads. We remain committed to exalting the worth of Jesus amongst the unreached and unengaged at the end of the age.
We commit to communicate with you on a regular basis in the weeks and months ahead. As we emerge from this painful season, we look forward to serving the Lord in healthier means. Thank you for your solidarity, which has enabled us to continue to support our leaders and pioneers who’ve continued to do hard work in hard places. On their behalves, we thank you as well.
Perhaps over the years you’ve heard us quote this verse written by pioneering missionary Adoniram Judson:
“In spite of sorrow, loss, or pain,
Our course be onward still;
We sow on Burma’s barren plain,
We reap on Zion’s hill.”
Onward. Maranatha.
In Jesus,
The FAI Board of Directors
Email: board@faimission.org
A STATEMENT FROM THE BOARD OF FAI
THE CONCLUSION OF OUR THIRD-PARTY INVESTIGATION
4 FEBRUARY 2025
From the Board of Frontier Alliance International
At the end of November 2023, we accepted the resignation of our founder/President. Shortly thereafter, on December 23, we announced the engagement of an independent third-party organization, Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment (GRACE), to conduct an investigation into allegations of misconduct and how they were handled by the leadership of FAI. While the initial timeline for the report was six months, the process required over a year to complete. Over the last year, we have taken the time to listen and learn; to reflect deeply; and to feel the weight of the situation. To all who were hurt or impacted by our shortcomings, we extend our heartfelt apology.
To those who experienced harm (whether emotional, spiritual, or relational), we are deeply sorry for the pain that you have suffered and for the ways our organization failed to provide the safety, support, and accountability that you needed and deserved. We also recognize that, as leaders, we did not uphold the standards necessary to ensure a healthy and safe environment. We acknowledge that our policies, practices, and culture fell short, and we take full responsibility for these failures.
We understand that words alone are insufficient, and we are committed to take tangible action.
We will reach out to those individuals whose stories of misconduct or mistreatment were shared in the report in efforts to make proper amends.
If you have questions or need to reach out, we invite you to contact us at board@faimission.org. We are here to listen, learn, and provide support as we collectively navigate this path forward. We approach this process with humility and hope, trusting that as we acknowledge our failures and take steps toward restoration, healing is possible.
Maranatha,
The Board of Frontier Alliance International
Joel Richardson
Scott Montgomery
Sara Cabrera
Martin Mallory
Mike Patino
Jeff Henderson
THE RESIGNATION OF DALTON THOMAS LIFSEY
3 DECEMBER 2023
Dear Friends, Supporters, and Donors of Frontier Alliance International,
Even when the Apostle Paul had to write a difficult letter, he opened with words that brought healing. So we borrow from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Now begins our difficult letter. We must inform you that at the request of our Board of Directors, our Founder and President Dalton Thomas Lifsey tendered his unconditional resignation from his leadership role within our organization on November 20, 2023. This resignation was effective upon its submission with no possibility of Dalton being restored to a leadership or ministry role within FAI. In his resignation letter, Dalton openly shared the burdens he has faced over the past few years, including difficulties within his marriage, which have led to this decision. Since tendering his resignation, Dalton has confessed infidelity with a woman who is not a team member of our ministry.
We are committed to transparency, integrity, and accountability. We have initiated contact with a qualified and neutral third-party organization to conduct a thorough investigation. We believe pursuing their external and experienced perspective is one of the earliest steps to discern the path forward for us as an organization that honors our values and convictions, foremost of which is the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Further, we believe that it is important to publicly acknowledge that Dalton was engaged in an adulterous relationship with a team member of FAI a decade ago. Although Dalton did submit to a public process of repentance and a restoration plan, we are fully committed to subjecting ourselves to a comprehensive audit of past events, with the primary goal of ensuring that any victim or former team members of the ministry receive the care, support, and ultimately the closure that they deserve.
We assure you, our friends, supporters, and donors, that we are committed to walking the narrow way with integrity and a zero tolerance policy for infidelity and falsehood. We understand that for most reading this, this information is very disappointing, discouraging, and painful. We grieve with you, while also remaining hopeful for a redemptive end to this very painful process. We covet your prayers during this season. We will publish and/or post further communication as the process develops. We can be reached at: board@faimission.org.
Maranatha,
THE FAI BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeff Henderson
Joel Richardson
Scott Anderson
Sara Cabrera
Martin Mallory
Scott Montgomery
Mike Patino
