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Author 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.
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ALISTAIR BEGG (Trent University; London School of Theology; Westminster Seminary) was born in Scotland and spent the first 30 years of life in the United Kingdom. Since September of 1983, he has been the senior pastor at Parkside Church in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. He is the daily speaker on the national radio program Truth For Life which stems from his weekly Bible teaching at Parkside, and is the author of Made for His Pleasure, Lasting Love, and What Angels Wish They Knew. He and his wife, Susan, have three grown children.
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BARRY J. BEITZEL (PhD, The Dropsie University; Fuller Theological Seminary; University of Pennsylvania) is professor emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. He obtained a postdoctorate in ancient Near Eastern geography from the Université de Liège, Belgium, and has engaged in postdoctoral archaeological work in eastern Syria through UCLA. Dr. Beitzel is the editor and cartographer for Biblica, The Bible Atlas: A Social and Historical Journey Through the Lands of the Bible (Viking/Penguin Press), editor of the Lexham Geographical Commentary series (Logos/Lexham Press), and author of Where Was the Biblical Red Sea?: Examining the Ancient Evidence (Lexham Press). His published mapwork appears in Bibles produced by Moody Publishers, Zondervan, B. B. Kirkbride Bible Company, Tyndale House Publishers, Holman Bible Publishers, Crossway, Thomas Nelson Publishers, and Schuyler Publishers. He and his wife, Carol, reside in Mundelein, Illinois, and have three married children.
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LINCOLN BRUNNER has been a journalist for 22 years. After cutting his teeth as a sportswriter and general assignment reporter in central Wisconsin in the early 90s, he went on to edit a small daily paper in Illinois. He then served as an editor for several trade magazines. In 2004, he felt a strong call to do full-time reporting about Christian missions work and went on to report on missionaries around the world for two different missions organizations. These days, he works as managing editor for a Bible translation organization. Lincoln and his wonderful wife, Ann, have three daughters and live in Texas.
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LUIS BUSH is a prominent strategist and the originator of the 10/40 Window Movement, which has brought into focus the region of the world with the greatest human suffering combined with the least exposure to the gospel. Born in Argentina and raised in Brazil, Luis has traveled the world over for the sake of the Great Commission. Over the decades, through work with Partners International and AD2000 & Beyond, he and his network of catalysts have mobilized millions of believers to impact the world through devoted prayer and a lifestyle of service. Since 2005, he has served as international facilitator of Transform World Connections based out of Singapore. And since 2009, he has championed the 4/14 Window Movement, which seeks to protect, nurture, and empower children worldwide to embrace the inheritance in Christ. Luis and his wife Doris make their home in the Chicago area near their four adult children and nineteen grandchildren.
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NOEL CASTELLANOS has worked in full-time ministry in urban communities since 1982. He has served in youth ministry, church planting, and community development in San Francisco, San Jose, and Chicago. Noel is a highly sought after speaker, motivator, and mentor to young leaders throughout the USA, and has a deep passion to serve and invest in the lives of emerging leaders. After serving on the Board of the Christian Community Development Association for many years, he has established the new CCDA Institute, which is working to equip emerging church leaders in the philosophy of Christian Community Development, and currently serves as the CEO of CCDA. He and his wife, Marianne, have three children, and make their home in the barrio of La Villita in Chicago.
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TIM DOWNS is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University in Graphic Design. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred newspapers worldwide. In 1979 he joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, where he founded and directed the Communication Center, a communication training facility. He continues to serve as a speaker and writer. He and his wife, Joy, have spoken at FamilyLife Marriage and Parenting Conferences since 1985. He is author of First the Dead, Less Than Dead, Chop Shop, Head Game, Plague Maker, Shoo Fly Pie, and Finding Common Ground, which was awarded the Gold Medallion Award in 2000. He is also co-author of Fight Fair and The Seven Conflicts: Resolving the Most Common Disagreements in Marriage along with his wife Joy. Tim lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife and three children.
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JADA EDWARDS is an experienced speaker, Bible teacher, and mentor and holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas. She currently serves as the Creative Arts Architect for her church, One, where she seeks to serve the evolving communities of Collin County through creative expression and cultural relevance. She also works in new business development, partner relations and marketing for Caribbean Choice for Christ. Jada and her husband, Conway, have co-authored two books: When Love’s in View: Finding Focus in Dating and Relationships and The Undercover Woman: A Guide for Single Women and Their Spiritual Fathers. Jada lives in Allen, Texas with her husband.
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HANS FINZEL (D.Miss., Fuller School of World Missions; Th. M., Dallas Theological Seminary) is the president of HDLeaders. He served for 20 years as president of WorldVenture (formerly CBInternational). He and his wife, Donna, spent ten years as missionaries in Eastern Europe, working with WorldVenture to train pastors behind the Iron Curtain. Hans is the author of ten books, including Change is Like a Slinky, Launch Your Encore, The Power of Passion in Leadership, Unlocking the Scriptures, and his bestseller The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make. He co-authored The Top Ten Ways to Love Your Wife with his wife. He is the host of the Leadership Podcast, The Leadership Answer Man and is a widely sought-after speaker as an expert in leadership development, change management and international studies. The Finzels make their home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado and have four children.
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JAMES FORD, JR. (Moody Bible Institute, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) has been the Senior Pastor at Christ Bible Church (formerly South Shore Baptist Church), located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, since 1982. He serves on several boards, including the Alumni Board of Moody Bible Institute, is President of Impact Ministries, and provides the messages for Impact Ministries’ radio broadcast, Treasured Truth for Troubling Times. Pastor Ford is a contributor to the book Heart for the City and is the author of When A Man Loves A Woman and Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. He and his wife, Leslie, have three children and six grandchildren, and live in Chicago, Illinois.
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SARAH "VIRGINIA" JACOBER was born in Dayton, Ohio and accepted Jesus as her Savior at age eleven. The first time she heard a missionary speak, she knew this was what God wanted her do. After graduating from Nyack College, she married Edward G Jacober. They pastored a church while he attended Dallas Theological Seminary, and then were appointed by The Christian and Missionary Alliance to do evangelistic work in India. Their four children attended school in the Himalaya Mountains. Transferred to Bethlehem, Israel, they taught the Bible and visited Bedouin tents for fifteen years. Sarah’s husband died, but she continued working and speaking in churches. After retiring, she made fifteen short term mission trips to various countries around the world.More than forty of Sarah’s articles and poems, plus six books have been published. Sarah lives near family in North Carolina, has seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and continues to write for God’s glory.
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SARAH LEW TIERNEY is a Canadian-American who was born to missionary parents and spent her childhood in the mountains of Eastern Congo (DRC). Due to political unrest, her family moved to Illinois where she met and married her high school sweetheart. Jake and Sarah have two children -- a ninja and an artist -- and continue to reside amongst the cornfields today. She is a licensed clinical counselor by day...and a passionate writer typing madly at her keyboard by night (after the ninja and the artist go to bed). Her writing includes fiction, nonfiction, and personalized birthday songs for friends and family, which she performs accompanied by her dashing mandolin-wielding husband. She loves to collaborate on book projects and especially enjoyed teaming up for The Stranger at Our Shore with her friend, Joshua Sherif.
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SUSIE LARSON is a national speaker, bestselling author, and the host of the daily talk show, Susie Larson Live heard on the Faith Radio Network. Susie has written 17 books and many articles. She's been a guest on Focus on the Family, The Life Today Show, Family Life Today, and other media outlets. Voted twice as a top-ten finalist for the John C. Maxwell Transformational Leadership Award, she is also a veteran of the fitness field. Susie has been married to her dear husband Kevin since 1985 and together they have three sons, three daughters-in-law, two beautiful grandchildren, and one adorable pit bull named Memphis. Susie's passion is to see people everywhere awakened to the value of their soul, the depth of God's love, and the height of their calling in Christ Jesus.
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DR. ERIC MASON is the founder and pastor of Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA. He and his wife, Yvette, have four children. After more than two decades of gospel ministry, Dr. Mason has become known for his passion to see the glory of Jesus Christ robustly and relevantly engaged in broken cities with the comprehensive gospel. He helps coach and train families to plant churches locally, nationally, and internationally. He is the founder and president of Thriving, an urban resource organization committed to developing leaders for ministry in the urban context, and is the author of three books, Manhood Restored, Beat God to the Punch, and Unleashed. He is the recipient of multiple earned degrees, including a BS in Psychology from Bowie State University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a Doctoral degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
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MATT MARKINS serves as the President and CEO of Awana, a global leader in child discipleship. As a researcher in child discipleship and children’s ministry, Matt has commissioned eleven research projects since 2013, including a study conducted by Barna Group called Children’s Ministry in a New Reality. He’s a board member at large for the National Association of Evangelicals and is the author or coauthor of four books, most notably The Faith of Our Children: Eight Timely Research Insights for Discipling the Next Generation and RESILIENT: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church. He’s also the cofounder of the Child Discipleship Forum and D6 Conference. Matt and his wife, Katie, have been involved in children’s ministry for more than 25 years and spend their time in Nashville with their two sons. For more information go to www.ChildDiscipleship.com and www.Awana.org.
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DR. RICHARD MAYHUE is the Executive VP and Dean and Professor of Theology and Pastoral Ministries of The Master’s Seminary. Before attending seminary, Dr. Mayhue served with the United States Navy from 1966 to 1971, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. Dr. Mayhue joined the faculty of The Master's Seminary in 1989 and was appointed as Dean of the Seminary in 1990. From 2000 to 2008, Dr. Mayhue also served in the role of Provost at The Master's College. Dr. Mayhue has authored, contributed to, and/or edited more than 25 books, including How To Study The Bible, Seeking God, Unmasking Satan, The Healing Promise, What Would Jesus Say About Your Church?, and Practicing Proverbs, plus numerous periodical and journal articles. Dick has been married to his gracious wife, "B", for over 42 years, and they have two children plus two grandsons. Dick enjoys gardening, model railroading (N scale), stamp collecting (USA), and grandfathering when he takes brief breaks from ministry.
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