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LEE ECLOV is Senior Pastor of the Village Church of Lincolnshire (Evangelical Free) in the northern suburbs of Chicago where he has served since 1998. Previously, he served for 14 years as senior pastor of Chippewa Evangelical Free Church, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and for five years as an Assistant Pastor at North Suburban Evangelical Free Church, Deerfield, Illinois. His columns on preaching and his sermons appear regularly at www.PreachingToday.com and he is a Contributing Editor of Leadership Journal. He has been an adjunct professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for over ten years, currently teaching pastoral counseling. Lee is a native of South Dakota and the product of a rural church. He and his wife Susan have been married for nearly 40 years and have one son, Anders.
Read MoreDR. BRIAN FIKKERT (PhD, Yale University) is the Founder and President of the Chalmers Center at Covenant College, where he has also served as a Professor of Economics and Community Development since 1997. He has published numerous articles in academic and popular journals and is co-author of six books, including the best-selling When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself. Brian and his wife, Jill, have three adult children.
Read MoreJOSHUA SHERIF was born in Egypt to a Muslim family and immigrated to the United States, where he later came to faith in Jesus. For the past decade, he has planted and pastored in Albany Park, Chicago, IL, one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the country. His congregation represents more than thirty nationalities, speaking twenty languages. Josh has enjoyed his years equipping and coaching other missionaries and pastors around the world. His story was featured in Love Costs Everything, a documentary produced by CIY and Voice of the Martyrs, concerning Christian persecution.
Read MoreAARON COE serves as the Vice President of Mobilization and Marketing of the North American Mission Board, providing leadership in mobilizing churches and missionaries to plant churches.Aaron, a native of Louisville, KY., served from 2003 to 2010 as a church planting missionary where he worked with New Hope New York, an organization that planted 38 churches in the years after 9/11. From this experience, he became the lead pastor/church planter at Gallery Church in 2006. He also has played a role in raising leaders, partners and resources for many new churches, including the Gallery Church.In 2009, he became executive director of “SendNYC,” the impetus for what has become Send North America – NAMB’s church planting initiative.Aaron has a Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Carmen, have four children, Ezra James, Danielle, Joshua, and Harper.
Read MoreCHARLES LEACH was born in England on March 1, 1847 and started from humble beginnings, having to begin work at the age of eight. He worked hard and eventually went to Ranmoor Theological College. In 1873 he took up a pastorate in Sheffield, and for the next thirty years, preached, ministered, and lectured all around England. He also took several trips to the Middle East and the United States. While he was successful in his professional life, he was not as fortunate in his personal life as only two of his six children were alive at his death. In 1908 he joined the Liberal Party to run for Parliament. Although initially thought to be a weak candidate, he won his seat in 1910. While in Parliament he introduced several bills and was fairly influential. Because of this and his ministry background he was named Chaplain to the Armed Forces at outset of World War I. After this, he began to step back from public life because of physical and mental deterioration. He died in England on November 24, 1919 at the age of seventy-two.
Read MoreR. K. HARRISON (1920-1993) (B.D., Th.M., Ph.D., University of London; D.D., Huron College, London, Ontario) was a professor at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He also served as a professor at Toronto School of Theology. He wrote, co-authored, and edited dozens of books including Numbers for the Wycliffe Exegetical Commentaries and Unger’s Bible Dictionary.
Read MoreLESLIE NUNNERY, cofounder of Teach Them Diligently and mom of four, inspires Christian parents to embrace biblical discipleship and intentional parenting. She equips families to grow spiritually and build strong relationships.
Read MoreSUE HEIMER is an author, counselor, Bible teacher, and international speaker. She is the founder and president of Leaving Your Legacy Ministries, a ministry to encourage and support women in every stage of life. For the past 17 years, Sue has been a sought-after conference and retreat speaker, inspiring thousands of women each year with her messages of hope. In 2023, she was the keynote presenter at over 30 women’s conferences and retreats, with about 3000 women present and thousands more viewing online.
Read MoreMICAH FRIES is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. Micah is married to Tracy and they have two daughters, Grace and Kessed, and a son, Haddon. Prior to serving at Brainerd, he worked for LifeWay Christian Resources, served as a Senior Pastor in Missouri, as an international church planter in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and as a Youth Director in Dothan, AL. He holds a Master of Divinity, a Bachelor of Arts, and is currently a Ph.D. student, studying North American Missiology. He is the author of a commentary on Haggai and Zephaniah in the Christ-Centered Commentary Series. Micah, along with Dr. Keith Whitfield, contributed and co-edited Islam and North America.
Read MoreDR. ARNOLD R. FLEAGLE is the senior pastor of Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Amherst, Ohio. Previously he served as Director of Church Development for the Central District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance that covers Northeast Ohio and West Virginia.Dr. Fleagle holds a B.S. in education from Shippensburg University, a M.A.R. degree from Asbury Theological Seminary and a D. Min. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has authored or co-authored devotional and academic articles and eight books, including Developing Your Secret Closet of Prayer (50,000+ sold to date).He is married to Faye and they have two sons, Matthew and Marc.
Read MoreBRENDA CANNON was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1890. After teaching school for seven years in that city, she attended the Women’s Missionary Union Training School in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1919 she went to North Carolina to serve as secretary of a small mission school, which developed into a home for homeless children and continued to serve the young mountaineers of the area as a school. Except for two years spent as a field worker and young people’s leader in Oklahoma, Cannon remained in North Carolina, teaching school and doing community work. So when she wrote of mountaineers, she wrote understandingly of friends and neighbors. She died in North Carolina in 1965.
Read MoreFRANCENA H. ARNOLD was a schoolteacher, talented storyteller, mother of four children, and author of ten novels. Her first, Not My Will, was originally written "just for the eyes of the family" and has since sold more than 500,000 copies. Her other novels include Then Am I Strong, Three Shall Be One, Brother Beloved, Straight Down Crook Lane, The Road Winds On, Fruit for Tomorrow, and Light in My Window. Raised in rural Illinois, Francena lived with her husband, Frank, in the Chicago area.
Read MoreA graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, CRICKETT KEETH is the author of several women’s Bible studies, including On Bended Knee, Before the Throne, The Gift of Rest, and Sumatra with the Seven Churches (coauthored with Sandra Glahn). Crickett has served in ministry to women for decades on staff with Cru and large churches in Dallas and Memphis (Women’s Ministry Director). She teaches at her church in Memphis and at women’s conferences and retreats nationwide. Crickett has a heart for coming alongside other women’s ministry leaders, and her life purpose is to encourage others to passionately pursue Jesus Christ. Find free resources to encourage you in your walk with God at www.crickettkeeth.com.
Read MoreTERRY GLASPEY is an author, creative mentor, and teaches at Northwind Seminary. He holds a D.Min. in spiritual formation and an M.A. in history. He has written over a dozen books, including Discovering God Through the Arts (winner of a Christianity Today Book Award and a Gospel Coalition Book Award), 75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know (winner of a Christianity Today Award), The Prayers of Jane Austen, 25 Keys to Life-Changing Prayer and Bible Basics for Everyone. Terry has been a featured speaker at colleges, conferences, and churches throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Taiwan, and the UK. You can reach him through his website, terryglaspey.com.
Read MoreERICA WIGGENHORN is the founder of Every Life Ministries, bringing the truths of Scripture to transform lives. She teaches in various local and national venues and serves on the women's ministry leadership team for her church. She's also taught women in the Arizona State Prison system, and overseas. She loves to bring God's Word through Bible teaching, conferences, seminars and retreats. A graduate of Azusa Pacific University, Erica lives in Phoenix with her husband, Jonathan, and their two children, Eliana and Nathan. For more information about Erica, her Bible studies, and writing/speaking ministry, visit www.EricaWiggenhorn.com.
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