Todd Gessele

Todd Gessele joined the Oklahoma Conference of Seventh‑day Adventists in August 2025 as the new Assistant Communication Director. In this role, he assists in guiding the Conference’s communications strategy—enhancing outreach, reputation, and supporting digital evangelism and ministry across multiple platforms statewide.

Todd is a 3rd generation Adventist on both sides, thanks to a colporteur who sold his grandfather the Desire of Ages, Great Controversy and the Your Bible Story books in McClusky, North Dakota and neighbors, who invited his mother’s family to tent meetings in Hodge, Louisiana. His parents met at Union College and his father pastored churches in Kansas and Oregon.

When Todd attended Walla Walla University, he began looking for creative ways to share the gospel outside of church buildings, and opted to study mass communications and business, rather than theology.

While studying abroad at Southeast Asia Union College in Singapore in 1990, Todd tried to make sense of the many diverse religious beliefs, practices and traditions. Todd was photographing Thaipusam, a trance ceremony and it turned into his Mount Carmel/Elijah type moment.

As the body piercing & demonic dancing began, he was snapping photos along with other tourists in front of a local temple and praying silently, "Lord, protect me, this will be so great to have these images for my National Geographic portfolio."

Suddenly the local holy men stopped the ceremony and singled Todd out and asked him to move.

“Why me? Why not the other tourists?” Todd asked.

They replied, “Our prayers are bouncing off of you and can’t make it into the temple!”  

This is why Todd is passionate about harnessing your “How I found & experienced God” testimonies because your life can magnify, build faith and advance mission work.

Throughout his career, Todd has worked simplify the gospel so it could be shared cross-culturally. He began as a Communication intern at the North Pacific Union Conference in 1992 and served as Director of New Outreach Media/Global Missions until 2013. He has worked on projects with Seventh‑day Adventist media ministries such as Voice of Prophecy, It Is Written, The Hope Channel, Quiet Hour Ministries, Life Talk Radio, Christian Digital Media, and wrote the 50 ministry plans for Adventist Mission’s Centers of Hope.

Todd is married to his high school sweetheart, Gioni Gessele, whose two adult children and two grandsons live in the Weatherford, Oklahoma area. The Gessele’s moved here from Klamath Falls, Oregon, where Todd worked as a Health Project Manager and Emergency Preparedness Coordinator for Klamath Tribal Health and Family Services.

If you have a story to share, something to report, don’t be shy about contacting Todd at tgessele@okadventist.org or 503 348-8652. Your testimony matters.