Pastor Joe Watkins was born in the South of the United States - in Alabama. After serving in the military, he and his wife, Pauline, felt led to attend Bible school at Milwaukee Bible Institute. Later they became missionaries to the Phillippines and served the Lord there for 29 years, being instrumental in the establishment of roughly 500 Bible-believing churches.

In 1986, Joe and his family returned to the U.S. at the invitation of their home mission office, Things to Come Mission, presently located in Indianapolis, Indiana. After holding the office of Executive Director for the past several years, Pastor Watkins retired in 2004. He now enjoys being actively involved in teaching Bible courses at the Berean Bible Institute of Wisconsin, preaching at churches and conferences throughout the world, and offering valuable advice to all on missions and church planting.