This is part of a series of staff spotlights at American Bible Society. We hope you enjoy getting to know our staff members, who are using their gifts to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

Today, meet Stephen Kao, who serves as American Bible Society’s general counsel. In this role, he uses his legal expertise and love for ministry to guide American Bible Society in our mission of sharing God’s Word with all people.

Tell us a little about yourself!

I was born in Hong Kong and emigrated to the United States at age five with my parents and sister Stella. In Hong Kong, my dad was a full-time pastor, and my mother was a schoolteacher and pianist. When we came to the U.S., my parents transitioned to itinerant ministry—they both had day jobs as accountants and served churches on the weekends. My mom worked for Scandinavian Airlines for 35 years, which really opened up my world as a child! Every summer, my parents would pick a different exciting, exotic spot to fly to as a family.

I grew up in New York City. Even though the Big Apple is supposed to be very cosmopolitan, I encountered a lot of bias from others, especially since I didn’t speak a word of English when I arrived. Teachers in my school asked my mom, “Why don’t you just move to Chinatown?” Eventually, we learned the language and adapted to the culture. But the racial discrimination I encountered fueled my desire to overcome injustice. By the time I went to college, I took a path that was fairly untraditional for an Asian American at the time: I majored in political science and then continued to law school.

I met my wife Teresa when I was a singles minister reaching out to an apartment complex full of young professionals (yes, it was a successful outreach!). She is now a teacher at Veritas Scholars Academy. We have three kids: Caleb (22), Bethany (20), and Micah (16). Caleb recently graduated from Colorado Christian University with a degree in history and was commissioned as an officer by the U.S. Army. Bethany is an international studies and art history major who is studying abroad in Florence and Athens. She has the kind of wanderlust that runs throughout our family! And I’m not sure what Micah will do. Right now, he would probably say that he wants to be an ESPN football analyst—or a Wall Street financier!

What did you do before coming to American Bible Society?

Like a lot of law students, I went to law school because I really wanted to become a constitutional lawyer who impacts our culture. And, like a lot of law students, I became mesmerized by corporate law firms offering starting salaries that would help pay off my student loans.

After graduating from law school, I joined a global law firm to practice antitrust law. I eventually became disillusioned because it felt so disconnected from my original motivation for becoming a lawyer. Abandoning law practice, I became the leader of a singles ministry in North Carolina connected with Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ). Christian ministry was familiar territory since I had grown up traveling with my parents to different churches and conferences. I loved the opportunity it provided to be creative, fun, and sociable.

Then I came across a book by Chuck Colson: Kingdoms in Conflict. The book exhorted Christians to engage their culture through their professional skills and reject the notion that Christians have no voice in the public square. I wondered if there was a way I could integrate my love for justice and my desire to minister to people. I began to practice religious liberty and civil rights law, and then joined Chuck Colson to advocate for criminal justice reform at Prison Fellowship in Northern Virginia.

While at Prison Fellowship, I met a lawyer named Pete Rathbun, who worked for a D.C.-based Christian law firm, Gammon & Grange. At first, I thought that attorneys like Pete were intrusive and interfered with ministry work. But I learned to respect Pete, and when he left Gammon & Grange to become general counsel at American Bible Society, I accepted an offer to replace him at the law firm. There, I represented churches and nonprofit ministries like International Justice Mission and Mercy Ships, among many others. I guided them through contract negotiations, preserved their tax-exempt status, taught them best practices in board governance, and advised their management through crisis.

It was an amazing coincidence and divine providence when, almost 15 years later, Pete called me and said, “Steve, you took my place once already! Would you like to take my place again?” He was retiring from American Bible Society. And in 2015, I arrived here! It has been the perfect mix of practicing law and engaging people and culture through ministry.

How do you use your training and skillset as a lawyer to further the Bible cause at American Bible Society?

At American Bible Society, I’m a business partner who relies on my legal background to weigh risk, cultivate culture, and fulfill mission. Sure, I negotiate contracts and oversee litigation. It’s my job to keep American Bible Society safe and avoid liability. But I have to always keep the people and purpose behind our ministry in the foreground. It’s a difficult balance to achieve!

Sometimes, I focus on the smallest details, like all the fine print in contracts. But if I’m not careful, I can become myopic. With each new contract, I ask myself: What is this contract for? How is it serving not just American Bible Society but also the body of Christ? Will the way we are attempting to fulfill our mission going to jeopardize our donors’ privacy or the security of our data or our assets? How will this contract help us equip the church to engage people in the Bible?

The relational, collaborative side of my role is just as important as the risk management side. In the end, I am a teammate working with others to reach the same common goal!

What do you enjoy about working at American Bible Society?

When you serve in a private law firm, you only get to interface with the president, the chairman of the board, or someone else in leadership. But as general counsel, I have met a wide spectrum of people and have great affection for them, their personal journeys, their professional skills, and—in many cases—their creative giftings. I’ve even performed stand-up comedy, written and performed creative sketches, and produced short films with some of my colleagues to cultivate our sense of community. I couldn’t have done that in a law firm!

While everyone at American Bible Society has different backgrounds, we love the Lord and want to make a difference by sharing God’s Word. We talk a lot about Scripture engagement, and what makes the most difference to me is that I see people on staff engaging with Scripture each day in the ways they interact with one another. They want to live that mission in their own lives and in our corporate culture!

I also love the chance to hear how American Bible Society’s donors are making a difference through their generosity. Several years ago, one of our longtime donors passed away. As I worked with her nephew to preserve the charitable intent of her will, I learned about his aunt’s deep love for the Bible. She had never forgotten how her parents were impacted when they received the Bible in their own language. Her parents went on missionary journeys to spread the gospel, and this donor followed in their footsteps by sharing God’s Word through American Bible Society.

Would you share your favorite verse with us?

I have several favorite verses. But these days, when I hear about the tragedies in Kyiv, Buffalo, and Uvalde, I am reminded of a passage that has carried me through the much smaller trials I have endured. It’s from Habakkuk 3:17-19 (GNT):

Even though the fig trees have no fruit
and no grapes grow on the vines,
even though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no grain,
even though the sheep all die
and the cattle stalls are empty,
I will still be joyful and glad,
because the LORD God is my savior.
The Sovereign LORD gives me strength.
He makes me sure-footed as a deer
and keeps me safe on the mountains.

When this passage was written, Judah was about to be invaded by Babylon. And it was awful, terrible. Just like we’re seeing on the news every day and night in Ukraine. There was this sense of, “Why, God?” Habakkuk asked all the questions any of us would. And yet, somehow, he heard God say, “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4 KJV). And Habakkuk clung to that, and it gave him hope.

I really appreciate Habakkuk’s candor. I appreciate that God let him be transparent. You can see his faith rise to the occasion by God’s grace. And this passage has encouraged me multiple times when I’m facing difficulty—whether it was when I was a child adjusting to a completely different country, or when I didn’t know what I would do with my life and career. In each of these moments, I didn’t know what God was doing. I didn’t know the ending. Sometimes we never learn a definitive answer! But passages like this one speak to my heart. And it has been my experience that, in these moments, God still gives this intangible hope that he is up to something. Even when my faith is struggling, I can cling to him.