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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 MoreFRED SANDERS is a professor of theology at Biola University's Torrey Honors Institute, where he has taught since 1999. The doctrine of the Trinity is his main interest, but he writes and speaks on the full range of Christian doctrine. He is the author of several books, including The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything and Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love. He and his family live in La Mirada, California, and attend Grace Evangelical Free Church.
Read MoreRICH BROWN Rich and his wife Janet have served together in churches in the Midwest and the Seattle area. He and Janet have three adult children; Rich III, Jenna, and Ryan. In 2003, Rich transitioned from serving as Pastor of Student Ministries to become Associate Professor within the Department of Church Ministries at his alma-mater, Liberty University. It is in this context of mentoring, equipping, and teaching the next generation of youth ministry leaders where he ministers to the college students God has placed in his life. Along with his residential teaching load, he also teaches online to adult learners. He has developed a number of youth ministry courses, including published work texts.
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.
Read MoreKIM ERICKSON began following Christ after the death of her three-year-old son in 2008. Kim began a writing and teaching ministry to help other women, which can be found at www.KimAErickson.com. She is the author of His Last Words: What Jesus Taught and Prayed in His Final Hours and Surviving Sorrow, as well as a contributor to Hopelifter: Creative Ways to Spread Hope When Life Hurts. Kim is an attorney and practices immigration law. She lives in Florida with her husband, Devin, and son, Ethan.
Read MoreBECKY HARLING has a degree in Biblical Literature and is a speaker and Bible teacher. The host of The Connected Mom podcast, Becky has a passion for helping women find hope, healing, freedom, and life transformation through Jesus Christ. She is the author of many books and Bible studies, including Our Father, The Extraordinary Power of Praise, Who Do You Say That I Am, Psalms for the Anxious Heart, The 30-Day Praise Challenge, How to Listen So People Will Talk, and How to Listen So Your Kids Will Talk. Becky and her husband reside in Colorado.
Read MoreDR. ERIK THOENNES (B.A., Central Connecticut State University, M.A., Wheaton College Graduate School, Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Professor and Chair of the Theology Department at Biola University and is a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, CA. He was voted Professor of the Year twice, and was awarded the Faculty Excellence Award by his colleagues at Biola University. He is the author of Life's Biggest Questions: What the Bible Says About the Things That Matter Most and Biblical and Theological Studies: A Student's Guide. Erik and his wife Donna have four children: Caroline, Paige, Samuel, and Isaac.
Read MoreAARON DAMIANI (MA, Biblical Exegesis) serves as the lead pastor of Immanuel Anglican Church in Chicago and is the author of The Good of Giving Up: Discovering the Freedom of Lent and Earth Filled with Heaven: Finding Life in Liturgy, Sacraments and other Ancient Practices of the Church. Aaron writes and speaks regularly about spiritual formation, leadership, and recovering the gifts of the ancient church for today's challenges. Aaron and his wife Laura live with their four kids in Chicago's Irving Park neighborhood.
Read MoreDARCY WILEY is a storyteller who digs below the surface to find the transforming work of the Lord in unexpected places. As a youth, she took part in praying for the gateway cities of the 10/40 Window, and then traveled extensively, observing movements of God and serving on mission in various regions of the world. Even as family life has turned her from a world traveler into a stay-at-home mom, God continues to cross her path with the nations through international ministries or casual conversations in the grocery store. Darcy lives in the Indianapolis area with her husband and their three exuberant children. She writes about faith, family, and adventure at www.DarcyWiley.com.
Read MoreJEN BARRICK is an inspirational speaker who travels all over the country, with her mother Linda, sharing their miraculous story of faith, hope, and forgiveness. She suffered a traumatic brain injury over a decade ago when her family's van was struck head-on by a drunk driver going 80 miles per hour. Even though Jen still suffers from vision impairment and memory loss, she knows there is no limit to what God can accomplish through her life. She completed a diploma from the Institute of Biblical Studies at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA. Connect with Jen and Linda at hopeoutloud.com.
Read MoreJ. S. PARK, (BA Psychology, Univ. South Florida; MDiv, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a hospital chaplain, viral blogger, and teaching pastor. As an interfaith chaplain at a large hospital in Tampa, he provides grief counseling and assists with end-of-life care. He also serves as a community care chaplain at Metropolitan Ministries, one of the largest nonprofit charities on the east coast, which serves the homeless in Tampa. He loves to play the drums and guitar, and has a sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He lives in Tampa, FL with his wife, Juliette, a nurse practitioner.
Read MoreROBERT GALLATY, Ph.D. is the Senior Pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He was radically saved out of a life of drug addiction on November 12, 2002. In 2008 he began Replicate Ministries to equip and train men and women to be disciples who make disciples. He is also the author of Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples, Firmly Planted: How to Cultivate a Faith Rooted in Christ, Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus' Final Words Our First Work, Foundations: A 260-Day Bible Reading Plan for Busy Believers, and The Forgotten Jesus: How Western Christians Should Follow an Eastern Rabbi.
Read MoreRON L. DEAL is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, Director of FamilyLife Blended® for Family Life®, the author of numerous videos and books on stepfamily living including the bestselling The Smart Stepfamily, and is consulting editor for the Smart Stepfamily Series of books. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular speaker, and host of the podcast FamilyLife Blended. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Find events and resources at RonDeal.org.
Read MoreCRICKETT KEETH is the Women's Ministry Director at First Evangelical Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where she writes and teaches the women's Bible studies. She is the author of several published Bible studies, including The Gift of Rest and Sumatra with the Seven Churches (co-authored with Sandra Glahn). Crickett was on staff with Cru for ten years and is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary. In addition to teaching regularly at her own church, she also speaks at women's conferences and retreats. She offers free resources for discipleship and encourages others in their own walk with God through her website at www.crickettkeeth.com. Her life purpose is to encourage others to passionately pursue Jesus Christ.
Read MoreDOUGLAS GEHMAN attended Goshen College and Fuller Theological Seminary, and completed Master's and Doctorate degrees in Missions at Liberty Christian University in Pensacola, FL. Since 1994, Doug has served with Globe International, a mission-sending agency based in Pensacola, FL. He became the Director in 2001 and the President in 2004. Doug loves coaching and mentoring emerging leaders, helping them discover their giftings and life direction. Doug and Beth have ministered in neary sixty nations. They have four married children and eleven grandchildren. Doug is the author of three books. The most recent is their family's story, called White Picket Fences. He loves writing, surfing, cycling, walking, and spending time with his family.
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.
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