While working in Seattle, Ian began pursuing God's call on his life toward global missions. This led him to graduate school at Wheaton College in Illinois. After graduating from the Intercultural Studies program Ian joined Converge and in 2014 launched out to Japan on his first term as a career missionary. Ian's first term in Japan consistent mainly of language studies and building the foundational relationships and cultural understanding for future ministry opportunities. He also worked closely with a local church in Chiba as well as with a ministry to Japanese college students at Tokyo University. 

After returning to Japan in 2019, Ian continued to work with his partner church in the Japanese Baptist Church association and pursue language studies. Around the same time he began to court Maki Okada, and in February of 2022 they were married.

Ian and Maki are currently serving in Wakayama Prefecture, establishing the foundations of the Converge Japan Initiative's new Shirahama Project. Wakayama is one of the least reached parts of Japan, and by moving to Wakayama in December of 2022, Ian and Maki doubled the number of missionaries serving in a prefecture. Almost a million people live in Wakayama, most of whom have never heard a credible Gospel presentation.

Ian and Maki are working alongside Shirahama Baptist Church and its suicide prevention ministry. It is their hope that they will be able to establish a new training center to equip future missionaries to the rural parts of Japan, as well as training up leaders for the Japanese church to minister in areas with little or no Christian presence.