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KENDRA SMILEY, named Illinois Mother of the Year in 2001, hosts a daily radio program, Live Life Intentionally, and speaks nationally and internationally. She graduated with highest honors from the University of Illinois then went on to earn her Master of Science from University of North Dakota.She has written more than half a dozen books including High Wire Mom and Empowering Choices. She and her husband are co-authors of Do Your Kids a Favor...Love Your Spouse and Journey of a Strong-Willed Child. Kendra has also written numerous magazine articles, contributed to several books, and currently writes a monthly column for Hearts at Home magazine.Kendra and her husband, John, live in East Lynn, Illinois.
Read MoreCAROLYN NYSTROM received her BA and MA from Wheaton College and is the author of more than 80 books, about half of which are written for children. She co-authored Guard Us, Guide Us: Divine Leading in Life's Decisions and Praying: Finding Our Way through Duty to Delight with theologian J.I. Packer, and Before I Was Born (God’s Design for Sex) with Sandra Speidel. Carolyn lives in the Chicago area with her husband and they have four grown children.
Read MoreDR. KATHY KOCH (pronounced “cook”) is the founder of Celebrate Kids, Inc., where she uses her expertise in educational psychology to help parents inspire children in their unique strengths and to thrive in their identity. She is a prolific author and sought after speaker, known for addressing contemporary challenges in parenting and education with practical, faith-integrated strategies through books and nationwide speaking engagements. Her work emphasizes the integration of Christian principles, aiming to foster character growth, identity formation, and spiritual development in children. You can learn more and access her podcasts, books, and more at www.CelebrateKids.com.
Read MoreSUZY WEIBEL is a graduate of Wheaton College and Northern Kentucky University. She spent six years as a middle school English teacher, two teaching high school English and logic, and five as a Director of Christian Education, yet she has found the past six years as a speaker and worship leader with Pure Freedom, a national sexual purity ministry for teens, to be her most fulfilling work. Suzy is author of Secret Diary Unlocked: My Struggle to Like Me and co-author of T is for Antonia and Crossroads: The Teenage Girl's Guide to Emotional Wounds. She lives with her husband, Jonathan, and their two daughters.
Read MoreROB MARTIN has been involved in Christian ministry since his conversion in 1976. He first served as the editor of a Christian publication and then for six years with the Orange County Rescue Mission, Orange County, CA, before becoming General Manager of Fieldstead & Company, a private philanthropy of Howard and Robert Ahmanson. He later served as Executive Director of First Fruit, Inc. and has been with this organization in a full time capacity since 2009, serving ministries and colleague foundations as a coach on a variety of organizational issues. Rob was educated as a journalist, and spent his formative career years in newspaper work. He and his wife, Bev, have raised three daughters and reside at Useless Bay on Whidbey Island, WA.
Read MoreJUDY DUNAGAN is a wonder-seeker of God and His Word, passionate about discipling and making God's Word and prayer come alive in everyday life. She is a speaker and Bible teacher and serves on the Board of Deeper Walk International, the ministry her father Mark I. Bubeck founded. For several years, she was an acquisitions editor for women's Bible studies and other books at Moody Publishers. Judy and her husband Rick live in Colorado. Connect with Judy at: www.JudyDunagan.com.
Read MoreJASMINE MULLEN is a writer and singer from Nashville, TN, and she was born to musical parents. Her mom is singer Nicole C. (Mullen) and her dad is a songwriter named David Mullen. She credits her love of words to their influence. Most of the time, Jasmine is writing songs or touring with her band, The New Respects, which she created with Zandy Mowry and Darius Fitzgerald. When she’s not creating music, she’s usually writing a story or daydreaming one up. Her hobbies include eating too much pizza, playing with her nieces and nephews, and laughing till she cries with her dearest and closest people.
Read MoreDavid R. Enlow was for fifteen years the director of publications for Chrsitian Business Men's Copmmittee International. He also served as associate editor of iAlliance Lifei magazine. Now retired, he and his wife Dorothy reside in Orlando, Florida, where they are members of the Westwood Church of the C&MA.
Read MoreTRACY SUMNER is a graduate of the University of Oregon. He is an editor and writer, with a background in newspaper sports writing. Tracy is the writer of seven books, including Karsten's Way -The Remarkable Story of Karsten Solheim, three of which have been Gold Medallion finalists. Tracy currently resides in Portland, Oregon.
Read MoreROBERT BELL was the son of missionary Ethel Bell. At age 11, he experienced first-hand a life-threatening 20 days at sea and a test of his dependence on God—the story told in his book In Peril on the Sea.
Read MoreJODY ZAPPIA is the wife of Pastor Ron Zappia. After a successful career in corporate America she left to become fully engaged in ministry at HighPoint Church, leading the Women's Ministry for many years. Jody brings wisdom, humor, and much needed transparency into the conversation of marriage.
Read MoreAuthor and speakerMARLA ALUPOAICEI (Dallas Theological Seminary) serves as the Director for Leap of Faith Ministries, an intercultural marriage support ministry in Frisco, Texas. Marla has authored or co-authored over twenty books and Bible study guides, including Taking the Intercultural Leap, Generation Hex: Understanding the Subtle Dangers of Wicca, and In the Flow: Spiritual Insights for Living a More Creative Life, as well as numerous nonfiction articles and poems. Marla has fifteen-plus years of ministry, teaching, and speaking experience with a variety of organizations. Currently she works as a staff writer for East-West Ministries, a grace-based church planting organization in Addison, Texas. Marla and her husband, Catalin, whom she met while on a missions trip to Romania in 1998, have been married for 7 years and currently reside in Texas.
Read MoreMICHELLE LYNN SENTERS (B.A. Education; M.Ed. Integrated Teaching Through the Arts) raised two daughters on her own and experienced many issues common to single mothers: financial crisis, emotional trauma in children, pursuit of education, isolation from church, feelings of guilt/shame, consequences of fatherlessness, and the challenges of relationships and remarriage. Her message has been forged in her own journey as a single mom and has deepened through her years of mentoring single moms and launching ministries geared to them in the local church. She founded the Arise Ministry for Single Moms at her local church in Colorado Springs and this ministry is being considered by other area churches. She is a sought-after speaker at women's events, Bible studies, and writer's conferences.
Read MoreDR. RYAN COOK is Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Moody Theological Seminary. He is also a regular writer for Today in the Word, a daily devotional with over 900,000 subscribers. He has been a pastor and high school teacher. Ryan and his wife, Ashley, live in northwest Indiana with their three children. They enjoy traveling, playing board games, and hosting youth group game nights. Ryan also serves as an elder and Sunday school teacher at their local church.
Read MoreROY ZUCK (B.A. Biola University, Th.D. Dallas Theological Seminary), Senior Professor Emeritus of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary, has taught at the seminary for more than 23 years. He is author of a number of books, including Open Letter to a Jehovah’s Witness, and is the editor of Childhood Education in the Church, Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, and Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Dr. Zuck resides in Dallas, Texas.
Read MoreD.A. HORTON currently serves on staff at Summit Church in Durham, NC while he and his family are preparing to plant a church in Los Angeles. Prior to his current role he served as an urban church planter, pastor, and Lead Teaching Elder in Kansas City, MO for nearly six years; a National Coordinator of Urban Student Ministries and the Urban Initiatives Team at the North American Mission Board (NAMB); and the Executive Director at ReachLife Ministries, the non-profit arm of Reach Records. D.A. is currently working on his Ph.D. at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Applied Theology with a North American emphasis. With a heart to provide local churches with quality Bible-centered tools and resources for evangelism and discipleship, D.A. wrote two books: G.O.S.P.E.L. and DNA: Foundations of the Faith both published by Moody Publishers. His third book, Bound to Be Free: Escaping Performance to be Captured by Grace will be released through NavPress in spring 2016. He and his wife Elicia have two daughters, Izabelle and Lola and one son, D.A. Jr. (aka Duce).
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