
Our Leadership
At the Glory Project we work with indigenous churches, leaders, and ministries to build the kingdom of God in Asia. True transformation occurs only when the local church identifies their needs and others are mobilized. Therefore we seek to make disciples and reproduce the church of God in Asia.
A Church in Every Village

Dr. Breckenridge L. Merkle
President/CEO
Dr. Breckenridge Merkle served over ten years as a missionary in Asia, alongside his wife and partner in ministry, Candice Merkle. They worked to plant churches among an unreached people group in a restricted country. In 2015 they returned to the states for the health needs of their fourth son where Breck then served as a pastor in Colorado Springs for 6 years. In early 2019 he launched The Glory Project to mobilize the church to empower local leaders and ministries to reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ for the glory of God in Asia. His heart is to see the church of God come together and finish the task of making disciples among all unreached people groups.
Breck studied missions and ministry in Missouri and North Carolina while serving in Asia. He completed his Doctor of Ministry degree with Gateway Seminary, Rocky Mountain Campus. Breck loves the Lord Jesus and his family passionately. You can find Breck doing outdoor yard work, grilling, biking, and reading when he is not in another part of the world. As a Colorado Native, he is a lifelong Broncos fan rooting on his favorite team to the Super Bowl.

Steve Wilke
Director of Operations
I'm Steve Wilke, the Director of Operations for the Glory Project. I'm a retired Army Officer where I spent much of my adult life overseas, in nearly 50 countries and 5 continents. There is just something special about each one of those places, even in war. God's beautiful creation on display in each one, yet nothing is more important than his best creation, man. I'm excited to serve with the Glory Project because of the unique opportunity to reach many cultures in many countries. My time in military I served an important mission and the defense of the USA, but the Glory Project serves the most important mission, the furtherance of God's kingdom within the gospel and salvation through Jesus Christ. One by one, little by little, until there's a church in every village.

Simon Smeddle
Director of Donor & Member Care
Upon graduating from high school I enrolled in a training school for missions, and since then my passion for global missions has only grown stronger. I’ve had the incredible privilege of participating in missions and ministry in South Africa, the United States, and Myanmar.
I earned my bachelor's degree in Psychological Counseling, and for the past decade I’ve been serving in ministries that address inner-city homelessness and addiction with the gospel.
My beautiful wife, Ashley, also served in missions for 12 years. She’s now in the highly esteemed role of homeschooling our four delightful children. We cherish our time together, engaging in activities like hiking, homesteading, and hanging with friends.

Chris Swiontek
Director of Finance
At a young age I had a desire to help those in restricted countries and began supporting missionaries who were smuggling God's Word into the Middle East. Ever since then I have had a passion to help the Gospel reach those in the 10-40 window and throughout the world. I have served on mission trips both state-side and overseas and enjoy helping young kids memorize Scripture through the Awana program. My hope and prayer is to continue help those living in hard to reach areas to have the opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel. I am married to my amazing wife Danielle who homeschools our three wonderful children. If we're not outside enjoying God's creation rock climbing, hiking, or mountain biking we are probably inside playing a game or making something together.

Luke Walcher
Secretary
Luke Walcher strongly suspects his passion for supporting missions work comes from a childhood hearing the stories of visiting missionaries who would eat lunch with his family after visiting their church in rural Oklahoma. He and his wife April have supported various missionary efforts throughout their married life. They live in Colorado Springs, where they homeschool their girls and participate in the music ministry of a small church.
Luke still can't believe he gets paid to work at his dream job: designing cool cybersecurity solutions to protect his customers' information. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Sterling College, where he and April met as fellow band nerds. When not singing or playing music, he can usually be found reading, playing tennis, or enjoying the wonders of God’s creation on various hiking trails in the Pikes Peak region.

Michelle Lashley
Director of Internal Communications
I'm a Southerner by birth, but fell in love with the beautiful mountains of Colorado and we made it our home state nearly 20 years ago. I enjoy working as an Operations Director for a global information technology company and helping my team bring cutting edge products to our clients. My husband and I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters and a life full of sports, travel, and giving back to the Lord.
My passion for supporting missions has grown steadily over the years and the Lord has continued to bring bigger and bigger areas of opportunity for support to me. I'm honored that He lead me to support the Glory Project. I'm excited to serving on the board to assist in a deeper level through thought leadership, focused prayer for all needs, and collaborating with the other Board members to further the cause of Christ as the Lord leads us.

Michelle Byrne
Director of Community Engagement
During and after college, I spent time studying and ministering to people with disabilities in Eastern Europe and North Africa as well as serving families of children with autism and cognitive disabilities here in the States. I am now married to my wonderful husband, Joel, and spend much of my time homeschooling our 4 children. I also love gardening, throwing pottery, and jumping rope. I am passionate about seeing unreached people groups gain access to the gospel. I desire to help our missionaries have holistic support as they take the gospel to their communities and to offer ministry supporters first-hand experiences "on the field" through short-term trips that partner with our full-time missionaries.

Henry
Director for Glory Education Center
Dehli
Training up a new generation of leaders to lead the church in Asia and plant new churches across the region.

Steven
Glory Project Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Network leader overseeing missionaries across the country reaching Muslims and Hindus for Christ.

Peter
Native Missionary
Myanmar
Missionary actively sharing the gospel across Myanmar and training up others to do the same.
%20(3).jpg)
Sarah
Native Missionary & Director
Southern India
Raised in an orphanage, Sarah came to faith in Christ in her teens and now leads a network of close to 30 missionaries reaching lost tribes in India.
Our Native Missionaries

Dr. Breckenridge L. Merkle
President/CEO
Dr. Breckenridge Merkle served over ten years as a missionary in Asia, alongside his wife and partner in ministry, Candice Merkle. They worked to plant churches among an unreached people group in a restricted country. In 2015 they returned to the states for the health needs of their fourth son where Breck then served as a pastor in Colorado Springs for 6 years. In early 2019 he launched The Glory Project to mobilize the church to empower local leaders and ministries to reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ for the glory of God in Asia. His heart is to see the church of God come together and finish the task of making disciples among all unreached people groups.
Breck studied missions and ministry in Missouri and North Carolina while serving in Asia. He completed his Doctor of Ministry degree with Gateway Seminary, Rocky Mountain Campus. Breck loves the Lord Jesus and his family passionately. You can find Breck doing outdoor yard work, grilling, biking, and reading when he is not in another part of the world. As a Colorado Native, he is a lifelong Broncos fan rooting on his favorite team to the Super Bowl.

Steve Wilke
Director of Operations
I'm Steve Wilke, the Director of Operations for the Glory Project. I'm a retired Army Officer where I spent much of my adult life overseas, in nearly 50 countries and 5 continents. There is just something special about each one of those places, even in war. God's beautiful creation on display in each one, yet nothing is more important than his best creation, man. I'm excited to serve with the Glory Project because of the unique opportunity to reach many cultures in many countries. My time in military I served an important mission and the defense of the USA, but the Glory Project serves the most important mission, the furtherance of God's kingdom within the gospel and salvation through Jesus Christ. One by one, little by little, until there's a church in every village.

Simon Smeddle
Director of Donor & Member Care
Upon graduating from high school I enrolled in a training school for missions, and since then my passion for global missions has only grown stronger. I’ve had the incredible privilege of participating in missions and ministry in South Africa, the United States, and Myanmar.
I earned my bachelor's degree in Psychological Counseling, and for the past decade I’ve been serving in ministries that address inner-city homelessness and addiction with the gospel.
My beautiful wife, Ashley, also served in missions for 12 years. She’s now in the highly esteemed role of homeschooling our four delightful children. We cherish our time together, engaging in activities like hiking, homesteading, and hanging with friends.

Chris Swiontek
Director of Finance
At a young age I had a desire to help those in restricted countries and began supporting missionaries who were smuggling God's Word into the Middle East. Ever since then I have had a passion to help the Gospel reach those in the 10-40 window and throughout the world. I have served on mission trips both state-side and overseas and enjoy helping young kids memorize Scripture through the Awana program. My hope and prayer is to continue help those living in hard to reach areas to have the opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel. I am married to my amazing wife Danielle who homeschools our three wonderful children. If we're not outside enjoying God's creation rock climbing, hiking, or mountain biking we are probably inside playing a game or making something together.

Luke Walcher
Secretary
Luke Walcher strongly suspects his passion for supporting missions work comes from a childhood hearing the stories of visiting missionaries who would eat lunch with his family after visiting their church in rural Oklahoma. He and his wife April have supported various missionary efforts throughout their married life. They live in Colorado Springs, where they homeschool their girls and participate in the music ministry of a small church.
Luke still can't believe he gets paid to work at his dream job: designing cool cybersecurity solutions to protect his customers' information. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Sterling College, where he and April met as fellow band nerds. When not singing or playing music, he can usually be found reading, playing tennis, or enjoying the wonders of God’s creation on various hiking trails in the Pikes Peak region.

Michelle Lashley
Director of Internal Communications
I'm a Southerner by birth, but fell in love with the beautiful mountains of Colorado and we made it our home state nearly 20 years ago. I enjoy working as an Operations Director for a global information technology company and helping my team bring cutting edge products to our clients. My husband and I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters and a life full of sports, travel, and giving back to the Lord.
My passion for supporting missions has grown steadily over the years and the Lord has continued to bring bigger and bigger areas of opportunity for support to me. I'm honored that He lead me to support the Glory Project. I'm excited to serving on the board to assist in a deeper level through thought leadership, focused prayer for all needs, and collaborating with the other Board members to further the cause of Christ as the Lord leads us.

Michelle Byrne
Director of Community Engagement
During and after college, I spent time studying and ministering to people with disabilities in Eastern Europe and North Africa as well as serving families of children with autism and cognitive disabilities here in the States. I am now married to my wonderful husband, Joel, and spend much of my time homeschooling our 4 children. I also love gardening, throwing pottery, and jumping rope. I am passionate about seeing unreached people groups gain access to the gospel. I desire to help our missionaries have holistic support as they take the gospel to their communities and to offer ministry supporters first-hand experiences "on the field" through short-term trips that partner with our full-time missionaries.