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PAT CIMO has led a dynamic children's ministry and coached children ministry leaders domestically and internationally for nearly twenty-nine years. She is currently the director of Marriage and Family Life at Willow Creek Community Church in the suburbs of Chicago, and for many years this included direct leadership and oversight with Willow's Children's Ministry. She has a deep passion to own the game she most wants to win: influencing and developing champions of faith. Pat and her husband Dave live in the northwest suburbs of Chicago near their two married children and four grandchildren.
Read MoreDR. A. J. SWOBODA is a professor, author, and pastor of Theophilus Church in Portland, Oregon. He teaches biblical studies, theology, and church history at George Fox Evangelical Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, among others. Previously he served as a campus pastor at the University of Oregon. He is the author of A Glorious Dark: Finding Hope in the Tension Between Belief and Experience, Messy: God Likes it That Way, and The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith, and coauthor of Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology.
Read MoreAMY FORD is the President of Embrace Grace, Inc., a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of providing curriculum and leadership support for churches nationwide to open their arms to young women with unplanned pregnancies. Embrace Grace is utilized by over 700 churches across the nation and world. She is also the author of A Bump in Life: True Stories of Hope & Courage During an Unplanned Pregnancy. Amy resides in Arlington, Texas, has been married for 21 years, and has four beautiful children.
Read MoreDAN PATERSON is a Christian thinker and the founder of Questioning Christianity, a ministry connecting the Christian story to life's deepest questions. With a personal background of wrestling through the problem of evil, he has earned several university qualifications in Theology and Apologetics in Australia and Oxford, fueled by a passion to help others process their doubts and discover the relevance and reasonableness of faith in Jesus. Speaking regularly to audiences around Australia and beyond, Dan is based in Brisbane, where together with his wife, Erin, their favorite job is raising three boys.
Read MoreANDREW MONTONERA is the great-grandson of Cornelius Stam, younger brother to John Stam. He holds a BA in communication from Trinity International University and resides in suburban Chicago.
Read MoreJONATHAN LEEMAN is the editorial director of 9Marks, which involves him in editing the 9Marks series of books as well as the 9Marks Journal. He has written a number of books on the church, including Reverberation, and he teaches theology at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in a suburb of Washington, DC and serves as an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington. You can learn more about him and his writing at www.9Marks.org.
Read MoreLEN G. BROUGHTON was a Baptist minister, medical doctor, and author. He attended Wake Forest College and the Kentucky School of Medicine.
Read MoreERIN DAVIS is passionately committed to getting women of all ages to the deep well of God’s Word. She is the author of more than twenty books and Bible studies, including The Story of Joseph, 7 Feasts, Lies Boys Believe, and Fasting & Feasting. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest. Hear her teach on The Deep Well podcast.
Read MoreJONATHAN PEARSON is the Orangeburg Campus Pastor at Cornerstone Community Church and Assistant Director of The Sticks, an organization that empowers small town leaders. Jonathan is also co-host of the Next Up Podcast and author of Next Up: 8 Shifts Great Young Leaders Make and The Productive Pastor Handbook. He is married to Melissa and has a son named Riley. They live in Orangeburg, S.C. Find Jonathan online at www.JonathanPearson.net.
Read MoreJESSICA MANFRE is a licensed social worker, author, and Chief Financial Officer of the nonprofit, Inspire Up. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Central Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Northwestern State University. Jessica is the proud wife of a U.S. Coast Guardsman, Scott, and mama to their two children, Anthony and Raegan. She is passionate about creating a kinder and more generous world—one that Jesus prayed and gave His life for.
Read MoreAARON MENIKOFF is the Senior Pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Before entering pastoral ministry, he served as a legislative assistant for the late United States Senator Mark O. Hatfield. He earned an M.Div. and a Ph.D. at Southern Seminary where he studied Christian social engagement during the Second Great Awakening. He is the author of Politics and Piety: Baptist Social Reform in America, 1770-1860 (Pickwick, 2014). Aaron has a heart for encouraging pastors. He organizes a yearly conference called Feed My Sheep, leads a monthly pastors fellowship in his area, and is Visiting Lecturer in Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He is married to Deana and is the father of Rachel, Jonah, Natalie, and Tori.
Read MoreWESLEY K. WILLMER is the former vice president of university advancement and professor at Biola University. He currently serves as senior vice president with the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). He has been author, co-author, or editor of twenty-one books, including A Revolution in Generosity: Transforming Stewards to Be Rich Toward God, God and Your Stuff: The Vital Link Between Your Possessions and Your Soul, and The Prospering Parachurch: Enlarging the Boundaries of God's Kingdom. He has also contributed to many professional publications.
Read MoreBILL ELLIFF leads the pastor emphasis of the OneCry movement. As the Senior Teaching Pastor of The Summit Church in North Little Rock, Arkansas, his passion is to see both genuine revival and methodological renewal in the church. Bill is a frequent conference speaker, writer, and consultant to churches drawing from more than 40 years of pastoring and revival ministry. He and his wife Holly have eight children and live in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Read MoreCai Sujuan, also known in the West as Christiana Tsai, was born the 18th of 24 children in Nanjing, China. Sujuan grew up in a fortunate setting, but she was often sad and a very serious child—she even considered becoming a Buddhist nun. She was fascinated by the English language and was initially introduced to the Gospel at a missionary school. Soon after, though she was inclined to disbelieve, the message of Jesus Christ struck Sujuan’s heart and she became a Christian.Sujuan grew in love and faith, and upon graduation decided to return home to bring her family to Christ. In all, 55 members of her family eventually followed the Lord.Later in life, Sujuan contracted malaria and spent much of the rest of her life bedridden. But her ministry only grew! From her bedside, Sujuan was able to comfort lost and broken souls more effectively than she ever had before.After many decades of faithful service to the Lord, never losing her love for her homeland, Sujuan went to be with Jesus on August 25th, 1984.
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