We know him affectionately as "The Tractor." A visionary and advancer to the core, Kent walked away from a promising career in 1998 with a prominent sports marketing and travel company to follow a dream that God placed in his heart. As the founder and leader of SportQuest Ministries, Kent’s vision, encouragement, and passion keeps everyone motivated and “on mission” for God.

After traveling the globe to twenty something countries (including twenty-six stops to Paris, France), Kent has developed a keen cultural awareness and is able to fit into practically any country and people group without standing out as an "obvious American tourist." Of course, this doesn't include the unforgettable - let's return a cheeseburger because it has mustard on it moment – embarrassing our SQ Belgian staff as they watched the McDonald's employee violently throw his cheeseburger into the trash and refuse to refund his money.

What some see as barriers, Kent sees as challenges to be overcome. Kent has a God-sized heart for ministry. He is committed to the calling that God has placed on his life to impact the nations for the cause of Christ. He humbly serves and unselfishly gives of his time, talents, and treasure to further the Kingdom of God.

Though Kent is busy wearing many SportQuest hats, none more important than donning his "husband and dad" hat for his beautiful wife and best friend, Michelle, and their three children: Jacob (2001), Luke (2002), and Holland (2006).

Seth, a.k.a. BIG KAHUNA (the best dude on the beach), was born in the OC and raised in Southern California. Seth joined the SQ team back in 2002 with his wife Joy. Somehow Joy convinced Seth to move from sunny SoCal to southwest Oklahoma to become the first full-time staff to join founder Kent Susud.

Since 2002, Seth has led SQ ministry projects to Indiana, California, Belgium, Greece, and Ireland. Seth currently lives in Belgium and has a passion to see young people become committed followers of Christ. With a heart for discipleship, Seth leads Bible studies with local youth and organizes SQ projects throughout the year in multiple cities, sharing Christ through sport. Seth serves as the Director of Operations and provides leadership in the day-to-day planning and oversight of the ministry. Most importantly, Seth tackles important details like finding the best Frituur in all of Belgium. Seth has a true servant’s heart and a unique ability to solve complex challenges. He loves to laugh and make others laugh.

Seth has a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from California State University, San Marcos. Seth is the proud father of two boys, Levi (July 2005) and Ethan (Jan. 2008), and will soon welcome a third addition to the family (in May, 2010). In addition to surfing, Seth enjoys snowboarding, rock climbing, basketball, photography, and learning to play guitar. Since moving to Belgium, Seth has learned Flemish and sometimes even acts like a Belgian, especially when it comes to eating chocolate and waffles!

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, Kris moved at the age of 11 years old to Lisbon, Portugal. Kris is the textbook definition of a "Third Culture Kid" – slightly misplaced, while perfectly at home in a variety of countries. Kris eventually moved to Connecticut, then to Georgia, then to Texas, and most recently to Indianapolis, IN.

Kris, the ultimate relationship builder, has yet to meet someone he wouldn’t call “friend.” Kris loves people so much that he once pulled over a passing vehicle at midnight because the driver discarded a half eaten donut. Kris proceeded to inform the guy that he was littering and wasting food. Through his persuasiveness, the financial advisor picked up his donut and invited Kris to breakfast the following week and yes; they are still friends.

After traveling with SQ in 2005 and 2007, Kris took the plunge and joined the SportQuest team in November of 2007. Kris travels to Belgium each year encouraging SQ teams, loving on kids, leading worship, playing basketball, missing 3 pointer after 3 pointer, and doing what he does best…building friendships that will last a lifetime. Kris has an amazing testimony on the cost of following Christ. Kris currently manages our Indy office and serves as our alumni director. Not a day goes by without Kris praying for and encouraging our SQ alumni and team members. Kris is the glue that keeps our family of SQ connected.

Kris graduated from Hardin Simmons University in 2006 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. While attending Hardin Simmons, Kris played varsity Golf. In addition to golf, his hobbies include playing and watching sports, strumming his guitar, writing and listening to music, and "kickin it" with friends.

Joy is originally from San Diego, California and coached our first volleyball team to Belgium in the summer of 2001. Joy has been a part of SQ since shortly after her return, convincing her energetic, outdoor-loving husband Seth to leave San Diego and move to Lawton, OK to become the first full-time staff to join SQ founder Kent Susud. Joy represents the heart of the ministry as she passionately lives a life of faith, willing to go wherever God leads. Joy's an unshakeable dreamer with a lengthy to-do list for her life. Her hearts desire is to someday live among an unreached people group and translate the Bible into their spoken language.

Joy has led SQ trips to California, Belgium, and Greece. After spending several summers in Belgium, Joy fell in love with the Belgian people and in 2006, she and Seth moved to Belgium as SQ missionaries. Joy currently serves as the follow-up director for SportQuest Belgium. This includes writing curriculum to be used for various youth programs and Bible studies throughout Belgium, organizing and leading small group Bible studies, and working closely with partner churches to raise up new leaders for future youth ministry.

Joy has a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from San Diego Christian College, and played volleyball there. Joy loves her family and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart Seth and her two boys, Levi (July 2005) and Ethan (Jan. 2008), and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of #3 (May, 2010) so she can get back to playing volleyball again. When Joy's not busy correcting all the spelling and grammar mistakes in the office or trying to convince SQ athletes that "purpling" (boy's = blue and girls' = pink) on a mission trip is a bad idea, she's playing volleyball, reading, writing, and studying languages.

A new addition to the SQ family, Nick and Uliana join us from their hometown of Kishinev, Moldova. With a desire to influence the influencers, Nick and Uliana will develop SQ in Moldova with a ministry to professional athletes, coaches, and officials. In addition to their work at the professional level, a strategy is being developed to partner with local churches and reach the youth in Moldova through sport camps and clinics.

Nick and Uliana make the perfect team with a heart for discipling new believers in the world of sport. Uliana studied and played volleyball at the Academy of Economic Science, while Nick graduated in 2001 from Moldova Bible Seminary. During Nick’s second year attending Bible Seminary, he started "The Race" sports ministry at Kishinev Bible Church with the focus of evangelism and discipleship for children and youth. In 2002, Nick brought his sports ministry under the umbrella of Athletes in Action (Campus Crusade for Christ) and his ministry expanded to reach adults in the professional and semi-professional arena. In 2003, Nick and Uliana met during the first Athletes in Action conference in Moldova and were married in 2005. Nick and Uliana have two children, Nicolai (3) and Anastasia (1).

Having traveled the globe as ministers through sport, Nick and Uliana understand that in any language, many athletes hide behind titles and achievements. Their purpose is to help these athletes discover who they were created to be by sharing the love and grace of God.

I am Yura. I was born in and grew up in Kishinev, Moldova, in a common communist family. As I grew up, I played baseball with the Moldovan National League. We all had an idea about God and believed in Him like everyone else (only when we needed to). At a sporting event in 1996, I heard about Jesus and his death for my sins. I accepted him as my Lord and Savior that very year. A few years later, I finished high school and went to a Bible school in order to learn more about God and grow closer to Him. A year before Bible school I got involved with the sports ministry of our church that Nick was running. And so throughout my time in seminary I was stuck to sports ministry. And I still am. Through Nick, I met with SportQuest in 2009.

I’d also like to share a true story, because it is very significant in my life. When I had just begun with the sports ministry, we played softball with youth every summer, in order to reach them for Christ. For two seasons I watched two specific young girls that were coming and playing with us, and who were Christians, but didn’t go to church. That made me really wonder. For the next outreach, I prepared a lesson and shared about Jesus with the guys who came to play and with these two girls specifically. That was Saturday. I could not keep silent and also told them about church next morning. And to my wonder, they came! Since that Sunday, Julie and her sister Alina started a new journey in life. That was 2002. One year later they both began attending the same seminary as I. After they graduated in 2007, Julie and I got married. Now we have a wonderful son (born in July 2008) whose is named after his father and grandfather – Yuri.

My name is Julie. I was born in Kishinev, Moldova, and I have one older sister, Alina. My mother is a seamstress and my father is an engineer and is “Master of Sports” in the USSR for fencing. Since my childhood he has been coaching youth and children. He had big sports plans for my sister and I. At a very young age he taught us to play tennis and to fence. I participated in some tournaments, and did well, but gave up training after a while.

When I was in high school, a classmate invited me to a baseball game that was going on in a park next to where we lived, and I agreed to go. I was very glad to contact with sports again. Later I found out it was a sport ministry from a church and the guys who taught me how to play baseball were Christians. One of them, Yuri shared the gospel with me and my sister, and invited us to his church. In the summer of 2002 I accepted Jesus.

After high school, I entered the Moldova Bible Seminary and graduated from it in 2007. Later that year, Yuri and I got married and served together in Balti with another ministry. In 2008 we became parents of a wonderful boy – Yuri junior. After some time of searching and wondering, God brought SportQuest into our lives. Hallelujah!!

In short, Michelle is an overachiever extraordinaire. On any given day Michelle will put any overachiever to shame. In addition to wearing the HR and finance hats for SQ, she is a Kindergarten Instructional Assistant and owns her own Juice Plus+ Virtual Franchise. But most importantly, Michelle is a loving and devoted wife and mother to Jacob (2001), Luke (2003), and Holland (2007). Besides the fact of having a daughter named Holland while working closely in Belgium, she also happens to be married to SQ founder, Kent Susud.

Prior to her life with SQ, Michelle worked full-time with Kanakuk Christian Sports Kamps and then taught elementary school for three years. In 1999, Michelle took a huge step of faith, “retired” from teaching, and joined her husband Kent to help establish SQ. She has served alongside Kent not only in areas of administration but has led teams with her husband to the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, and Indianapolis, USA.

Michelle is an avid athlete and played college volleyball and soccer. As an all-conference and academic all-conference volleyball player, she once held three school records at Southern Indiana University. She has coached volleyball and tennis and now enjoys teaching her children sports and attending their little league games.

If her life doesn't already sound ambitious enough, Michelle ran her first mini-marathon in 2009 and is training for her second one while still finding time to invest in the lives of other women, leading and participating in women’s Bible studies and faithfully serving her family. Michelle is a beautiful picture of the Proverbs 31 woman.

Kurt Maeyens is 100% authentic! The real deal!!! Kurt is the heart of SportQuest in Belgium. Committed to seeing revival in Belgium, Kurt prays endlessly and runs tirelessly, sometimes with the help of twelve Red Bulls a day, to love kids, motivate leaders, find peace in chaos, and serve others. His heart for the Lord and Belgium are contagious. Kurt is one of the most energetic and respected leaders in Belgium. In addition to working with SQ part-time, he also coaches youth leaders on a national level and serves as a youth pastor in the local church of Aalst.

As a local pastor in Hamme in 2000, Kurt partnered with SQ for the very first Belgium project. After seeing the impact that SQ had in the lives of the local youth, Kurt made a commitment to establish the ministry of SQ in Belgium, and prayed that God would use SQ to impact a generation of youth throughout the country. Well, by the grace of God and thanks to Kurt: mission accomplished. Adventurous, eternally optimistic, and passionate about life, Kurt can withstand most any challenge. With that being said, we also think it necessary to mention that a large trash can full of tens of thousands of maggots could not overpower Kurt's optimism and servant's heart. He quickly whisked the open 75 gallon can into the back of his van and with maggots crawling everywhere, disposed of those varmint critters in the middle of the night.

Kurt completed seminary at the Evangelical Theological Faculty in Leuven, Belgium. On May 6, 1995, Kurt married the most lovely woman in the world, Fokkeline! Together they have four adorable children, Liesbeth, Samuel, Nathan and Eunike.

Sarah grew up in Tongeren, the oldest city in Belgium. She graduated from the University of Hasselt in 2007 and received a Master’s Degree in Applied Economics and also earned another master’s degree in healthcare management in 2008. While studying, Sarah was an avid soccer player. Sarah currently works as an economic advisor for the Flemish Construction Confederation. When she’s not busy analyzing economic uncertainties, she’s busy for SportQuest. Sarah has a knack for perfection and operates in absolute certainties. Without her attention to details, well…let’s just say that our planning meetings would last much longer. Sarah enjoys soccer, squash, snowboarding, skiing, traveling, worship and spending time with her friends and fiancé. I wonder if her fiancé knows about her addiction to curry ketchup?

Sarah first joined SQ as an athlete in 2006, then served as an assistant team leader in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 Sarah jumped in the deep water and served as a head team leader in Belgium. Sarah continues to play an important role on the leadership team in operations and communication to our partnering churches.

Bio Coming Soon...

Wim and Judith are two of the quietest, nicest people you would ever want to meet. Displaying an amazing love for God, for each other, and for the people around them, they are quietly and nicely bringing change to their home country of Belgium. But don't let that quietness fool you. Once you get them going, they can be just as loud and boisterous as the rest (usually after an unusual amount of Coca Cola and chocolate).

Wim serves as both our sports coordinator and worship leader for SportQuest Belgium, organizing our summer team competition as well as leading worship during our training camp. Judith is in charge of our athlete recruitment and relations in Belgium. She (quietly and nicely) helps Belgian athletes through the sign-up process, and keeps them up-to-date with all of the information they will need to have a successful SportQuest outreach.

Wim has a degree in Sport and Exercise Science from the Catholic University of Leuven. When Wim isn't busy with SportQuest, he's working as a Pharmaceutical Representative (his day job) or learning the newest Ben Harper song on his guitar (or should we say, collection of guitars?). Judith works part-time in a day care, as well as taking care of their new baby daughter, Eden Norah.

Having graduated from Northwestern College in St Paul, Minnesota with a degree in Mathematics and Mathematics Education, we can officially say that really smart people can still be down-to-earth and super-cool. Jen also played basketball at Northwestern for four years and holds several school records. Since graduating in 2007, Jennifer has worked as a math teacher and girl’s basketball coach at an inner city high school in St Paul, MN.

While leading SQ basketball teams to Belgium in 2007 and 2009, Jen was also spending part of her summer in Nairobi, Kenya, ministering to kids in Kibera (the largest slum in east Africa). During her time in Nairobi, Jen experienced a deep love and calling for the people, especially in the slums. It only made sense that Jen would pioneer our efforts to bring SQ to the continent of Africa. With Jen’s propensity to get free ice cream in Dubai, free first class upgrades to places like Australia, and her unstoppable drive to the hoop, we know that Jen’s determination, vibrant personality and love for others was a perfect fit for our team.

Rance Bland is our coordinator for SQ Lubbock (the restaurant capital of America). A Lubbock, TX native, he prefers to go by the alias Ranch Dressing, due to the striking resemblance between his skin color and the salad dressing. Rance first joined SQ in 2000 on a basketball project to Israel. After personally experiencing the explosive combination of sports and missions, Rance has since traveled with SQ to Belgium seven times and to Greece one time.

Rance is a 2004 Abilene Christian University grad with a degree in Missions and a minor in business. Rance and his wife Stacy are passionate about life and making a difference for the Kingdom. They are successfully raising up a new generation of leaders while developing a dynamic youth ministry at CityView Church in Lubbock, TX. When Rance is not driving SQ athletes down dark alleyways marked only for bicycles and pedestrians, or starring in a feature film “Quest for the Torch” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IjonCMA5Zc he is walking or bathing his two dogs, Molly and Lilly.

A cheeky Irishman, Elton embodies a man “on mission.” With a heart for teenagers, Elton uniquely combines his gifts of teaching and leadership with creative and artistic influence and athletic ability. Since 2002, Elton has served as the SQ coordinator and is our go-to guy when it comes to what’s happening on the ground in Ireland. He has his pulse on the culture and spiritual climate of Ireland and with unparalleled passion, Elton is a warrior for God’s Kingdom.

Elton, received his B.A in Theology & Religious Studies from Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Ireland in 2002. He also received a Certificate and Diploma in Applied Theology from Irish Bible Institute in 2005, a Certificate in Youth Ministry from Youthworks Institute in 2004, and a Graduate Diploma in Education from Dublin City University in 2010. Elton co-founded Jamzone Christian Youth Club in 2000, and served as a full-time Youth Pastor at Shannon Christian Church from 2005-2007. Elton currently teaches Religious Education at Villiers School in Ireland.