Lucas and Jamie met as undergrad students at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Six months after their wedding (summer 2003), they did their internship in Siberia with InterAct, where God opened their eyes to the needs among the more than forty unreached Siberian people groups. Their four children are an integral part of their ministry as their family stands out in a country of absent fathers. Their children love life in Russia, especially getting to ride the train and playing on ice slides in the winter.

The Orner’s ministry can be summarized by saying they support church planting in Siberia, which comes in many forms. They are involved in discipling, hospitality ministries, teaching English clubs, evangelism, etc. Arriving in Siberia in October 2008, they spent a year and a half studying the Russian language. Lucas became field director in 2013, and they currently live in Krasnoyarsk, a city of a million on the Trans-Siberian Railway.