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ROBERT GILMORE LETOURNEAU (1888-1969) rose to eminence in the competitive world of manufacturing and construction. Although his competitors thought him insane, history has proved that his inventive genius was decades ahead of its time. Mr. LeTourneau is known as the man who gave 90 percent of his income to Christian causes around the world. His combination of enterprise and Christian commitment led to his sponsoring many works involving missions and education, including LeTourneau College, a Christian liberal arts and technical school in Longview, Texas. Mr. LeTourneau is author of Mover of Men and Mountains.
Read MoreSHAI LINNE is a recording artist who has released numerous acclaimed Christian hip-hop albums, including The Atonement and The Attributes of God. After completing a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and serving as an elder at Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA, Shai co-founded Risen Christ Fellowship, an inner-city church in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Previously, Shai wrote God Made Me and You and co-authored It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Blair and their three children, Sage, Maya, and Ezra.
Read MoreBILL MOWRY (M.A., Ohio State University) has a passion for creating ministry cultures where relational disciplemaking is the norm. Bill and wife Peggy serve on staff with The Navigators Church Ministries in Columbus, Ohio. Both are avid "yardeners" and Peggy is a certified Master Gardener. Bill and Peggy have two adult children, two special grandchildren, and a coon hound named Ginger. They live on "Above and Beyond Acres" where they want to create a little place of beauty in a fallen world where people can reflect on the goodness of God. Bill is a published author in culture building, evangelism, and disciplemaking. You can contact Bill at his website: www.alongsider.com.
Read MoreKEN WYTSMA is a leader, innovator, and social entrepreneur respected for his insight and collaborative spirit. He is the president of Kilns College, where he teaches courses in philosophy and justice. He is the founder of The Justice Conference—an annual international conference that introduces men and women to a wide range of organizations and conversations relating to biblical justice and God's call to give our lives away.Ken is a consultant and creative advisor to nonprofits and a sought-after speaker on justice, church, and culture. A church planter and lead pastor at Antioch Church, Ken lives in Bend, Oregon, with his wife, Tamara, and their four daughters.
Read MoreCHRISTIN DITCHFIELD is an international conference speaker, Bible teacher, and author of more than 80 books, including the best-selling A Family Guide to Narnia: Biblical Truths in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, and a dozen other guides to spiritual truth in classic literature. Christin holds a masters degree (MA) in Bible & Theology and doctorate (DMin) in Spiritual Formation. She shares her love of all things C.S. Lewis with her husband, Lewis scholar and Episcopal priest, Andrew Lazo.
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).
Read MoreCHRISTMAS CAROL KAUFMAN received her unique name in honor of her Christmas morning birth in 1901 in Elkhart, Indiana. She was raised in a Mennonite home and spent some time as a student at Goshen College. When she was 22, she married Norman Hostetler. However, tragedy struck when two months after their second anniversary, Norman was killed in an electrical accident. She worked in a sewing shop following the wake of her loss, but in 1928, her bishop recommended that she get away for a while and enroll as a Bible student at Hesston College. It was there that she met the man who would be her life partner—Nelson Kaufman. The two were married in 1929. Five years later they were commissioned by the Mennonite General Mission Board to start a mission church in Hannibal, Missouri. It was in their 22-year ministry in Missouri that she found the inspiration to write her many novels. In 1956, they returned to Elkhart where Kaufman wrote her last several books. She died in Elkhart on January 30, 1969.
Read MoreJIM VAN YPEREN (B.A. ,Wheaton College; M.A., Wheaton Graduate School) is the Founder and Executive Director of Metanoia Ministries, a non-profit Christian ministry serving evangelical churches in conflict reconciliation and leadership formation. Jim is the author of Making Peace: A Guide to Overcoming Church Conflict. He and his wife, Sharon, reside on a small sheep farm in East Washington, New Hampshire. They have two adult children.
Read MoreCARY SCHMIDT (MMin, DMin) serves as the senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Newington, Connecticut. He and his wife, Dana, have been blessed with three children, their spouses, and four grandchildren, and they have enjoyed over thirty years of marriage and ministry together. Cary is the author of more than a dozen books, and his passion is to point people to Jesus Christ through leading, teaching, and writing. You can connect with Cary at www.caryschmidt.com.
Read MoreSTAN GUTHRIE is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine. His most recent book, All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, was released by Baker. He is author of Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Read MoreTRICIA GOYER is a speaker, podcast host, and USA Today bestselling author of over 90 books. She writes in various genres, including fiction, parenting, marriage, and books for children and teens. Tricia is a wife, a homeschooling mom of ten, and enjoys mentoring writers through WriteThatBook.Club. She lives near Little Rock, AR.
Read MoreEVERETT F. HARRISON (B.A., University of Washington; M.A., Princeton University; Th.B., Princeton Seminary; Th.D., Dallas Theological Seminary; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania), has served as a missionary in China and as a Presbyterian minister in Pennsylvania, though most of his work was in the classroom. He taught both at Dallas Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous books and commentaries including Colossians (Everyman’s Bible Commentary), Interpreting Acts: The Expanding Church, and Romans (Expositor’s Bible Commentary).
Read MoreDR. BOB ROBERTS, JR. is founding pastor of NorthWood Church, Fort Worth, TX. NorthWood has started over 200 churches in the US and a center for training new pastors. He is a leading practitioner and writer on Glocal transformation of individuals, religious communities, NGOs, cities, and global engagement, having worked extensively with the UN and various State Departments globally. He is a nationally and internationally recognized speaker and author of books including Transformation, Glocalization, Real-Time Connections and Bold as Love. Bob is married to Nikki and they have two children and one grandson.
Read MoreCLARENCE SHULER is the President/CEO of BLR: Building Lasting Relationships. Clarence is a counselor, diversity consultant, speaker, and author of ten books. He and his wife, Brenda, reside in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and have three adult daughters. For more information, visit www.clarenceshuler.com.
Read MoreJAMES VINCENT (B.A., UCLA ; M.A., University of Illinois) served as assistant professor of communications at MBI for ten years and is now senior editor at Moody Publishers. He has written or cowritten three books, including the centennial edition of MBI: The Story of Moody Bible Institute. Jim lives in Valparaiso, Indiana, with his wife, Lori, and their three sons.
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