Board of directors
Nick rice / executive director
Nick is the co-founder of the organization, and the only member of our team who has done long term mission work "on the ground". Nick is doing the day to day work of keeping up with our missionary contacts in the field, as well as the majority of the travelling with our short term mission team contacts. He's also the primary recruiter and point person on our brotherhood campuses.
He has a beautiful wife, Heidi, and two wonderful girls Julia and Maggie.
Peter clark / board president
Peter comes to the Board with extensive experience working in Finance, Operations, Marketing, and IT. He has also dedicated much of his time to volunteer work, serving on the board of trustees of the Willowbrook Christian Communities for over 10 years and as a deacon in the church of Christ, working in a variety of areas including benevolence and missions.
His involvement with mission work spans several continents and dates back a number of years and his relationships with our Navajo missionaries has been incredibly valuable.
Peter is happily married to his wife Marsha, and they have three grown children.
Michael Nicodemus / Board Vice President
Michael is an associate professor of Biology at Harding University. Prior to that, he was an assistant professor of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Abilene Christian University.
Mike has always had a strong interest in Christian missions. He's always looking for ways to show his students the possibilities for studying agriculture, the environment, or biology in the mission field. He's taken students to missions conferences and led a number of missions trips for his university students.
Mike has had a special interest in the Navajo Reservation ever since good friend, Nick Rice, began living and working there.
Jeffrey Darby / Board Member
Jeff is presently the Preaching Minister of the Marysville Church of Christ in Marysville, Ohio. Previously he has been a Campus Minister, a football coach, a biology teacher, and a pizza logistics coordinator. His wife Sue is the executive director of the YMCA of Central Ohio and coordinates efforts on behalf of those experiencing homelessness. They have been married for almost 25 years and have five wonderful children.
Jeff enjoys hiking, riding his motorcycle, reading and fishing. He is presently committed to the goal of becoming the person his dog believes him to be.
Jeff is a gifted speaker, presenter, and motivator.
Kayley ross / intern
Kayley is a senior at Harding University from Orlando, Florida. Her major is Business Marketing with a minor in Bible & Missions.
She discovered a need for the reservation after visiting the church in Kayenta through a mission trip with Harding's Global Outreach program. In this program, she fell in love with the reservation and will be working to share the need with others through social media and various projects.
In her free time, Kayley can be found hiking, reading, drinking coffee or visiting with friends.
Brent Dougan / Board Member / Treasurer
Brent is a deacon in his local church in Columbus, where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He has worked with the Navajo Reservation, even travelling to lend a hand on the ground, for more than 10 years. He has been a tireless servant working with the college program, "Buckeyes 4 Christ" and at Fort Hill Christian Youth Camp. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University and now a valued member of the team at the headquarters for Chase Bank.
Brent's familiarity with the work on the ground as well as fiscal acumen have been invaluable to the Roots Mission team.
Victoria Langley/ Intern
Victoria is a junior studying psychology, English, and sociology at Harding University. She became involved with Roots Mission while meeting Nick and Heidi Rice on a mission trip to the Navajo Reservation. She hopes to use her gifts to spread the love of Christ to Roots Mission, the Reservation, and those who don’t yet know about this amazing work. Victoria’s focus will be on building relationships with those on the Reservation, collecting and distributing information about Roots and the Rez, and helping to raise funds for Roots.
Victoria enjoys painting, making others laugh, spending time with loved ones, and learning. She is also a proud Texan.
William Moore / Board Member
Bill was the latest addition to our Roots Mission team. He serves as an elder for the Fishinger & Kenny Roads church of Christ.
He's an avid reader and Russian novel enthusiast. The Apostle Paul describes the Word of God as a sword (Eph. 6:17), and as such I can only describe Bill as a master swordsman. A Spiritual Samurai. He is a, the greatest compliment you could pay any man, serious student of the Bible. Bill has a tremendous heart, a patient spirit, and a persistent positivity that makes his perspective precious.
Bill has been blessed with a wonderful wife, Lynne, and three grown children.
Keith O'Neal / Board Member
Keith serves as a Youth Minister and strives to build strong biblical foundations while fostering spiritual growth in our Youth. He is married to his lovely wife Tara, & they have three children Amelia, Grant, & Ethan. Keith received his bachelor’s degree in Education and minor in Church Music from Lipscomb University in 2002. He earned his M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Ashland University in 2007. In addition to bonding with and ministering to young people, Keith enjoys traveling with his family, running, & disc golf.
evan Todachine / Board Member
Evan was born and raised on the Navajo Nation in Kayenta, Arizona. Evan attended Arizona State University on multiple academic scholarships. While in college, Evan married his high school sweetheart Crystal. In college Evan & Crystal were converted by a good family friend, Josh Austin. After the tragedy of losing their 1 year old son, Evan & Crystal were forced to truly study out God's word for answers. By the grace of God, Evan & Crystal grew in their faith only to realize that the hope & peace they found in Christ was something they wanted to share for the rest of their lives. They attended Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. Evan graduated in 2017 & returned to Salt River to help the Austin family in an effort to reach his Native people with the saving gospel message. Having been raised in the traditional Navajo teachings, Evan understood firsthand the conversion process & obstacles for Native Americans from their belief system. Evan's passion lies in the area of Christian Evidences & Apologetics. Evan currently is engaged in graduate studies. Evan & Crystal are blessed with two beautiful daughters - Faith & Kenley. They are truly grateful for all that God had done in their lives & cannot think of anything else they would rather do.