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DR. JOSEPH M. STOWELL has a distinguished career in higher education and church leadership. He has served as President of Moody Bible Institute and Cornerstone University and has had the honor of pastoring several churches in the Midwest. An internationally recognized conference speaker, Joe has written devotionals for Our Daily Bread and authored several books, including Strength for the Journey, The Trouble with Jesus, Simply Jesus, and Redefining Leadership: Character-Driven Habits of Effective Leaders. He and his wife, Martie, enjoy the pleasure of three children and ten grandchildren.
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MICHELLE LYNN SENTERS (B.A. Education; M.Ed. Integrated Teaching Through the Arts) raised two daughters on her own and experienced many issues common to single mothers: financial crisis, emotional trauma in children, pursuit of education, isolation from church, feelings of guilt/shame, consequences of fatherlessness, and the challenges of relationships and remarriage. Her message has been forged in her own journey as a single mom and has deepened through her years of mentoring single moms and launching ministries geared to them in the local church. She founded the Arise Ministry for Single Moms at her local church in Colorado Springs and this ministry is being considered by other area churches. She is a sought-after speaker at women's events, Bible studies, and writer's conferences.
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JENNIFER LUCY TYLER is a wife, mom, Bible teacher, speaker, and author. Since 2006, she has traveled the globe, speaking at conferences to groups of women and youth and serving trafficking victims and orphans throughout several countries. One of her passions is helping women grow spiritually through online courses, retreats, events, and Bible studies. In 2018, Jennifer founded SoulCircles Ministries. SoulCircles began as an alternative ladies’ night out to study the Bible and has since become a virtual hub for women to learn theology and inductive Bible study from women of color Bible teachers. Jennifer is a Senior Church Advisor for World Vision and has a heart for serving the church through local and global missions. In the fall of 2025, Jennifer will release her book When Dreams Fall Apart: How Unanswered Prayers Can Deepen Your Intimacy with God with Moody Publishers. Jennifer resides in Maryland with her husband, Jeffrey, and their daughter, Justice.
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DR. JOHN TOWNSEND is a psychologist, relational expert, business consultant, and leadership coach. He has written or co-written over 20 books, selling 5 million copies, including the 2 million best-seller Boundaries; Leadership Beyond Reason; and Handling Difficult People.For more than twenty years Dr. Townsend has engaged with audiences, organizations and leaders around the world, providing practical solutions to their problems. He is a co-host of the nationally-syndicated talk show New Life Live John is a visiting professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, and is Clinical Director of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is active on the Board of Directors of Mustard Seed Ranch www.mustardseedranchtn.org, a residential program for abused children. He, his wife, and their children reside in Newport Beach, CA. John’s passion is playing in a band which performs at southern California lounges and venues.
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JOHN TRENT, Ph.D., is the Gary D. Chapman Chair of Marriage and Family Ministry and Therapy at Moody Theological Seminary. He works to help train the next generation of family pastors and Christian counselors. He's also the President of StrongFamilies.com, a ministry committed to building strong relationships in these stressful times. Dr. Trent's main focus includes writing and speaking at retreats, conferences, business settings, churches, and seminars across the country. In addition to building family teams, Dr. Trent regularly speaks to corporate America on teambuilding, recruiting and retaining outstanding employees. He has authored and co-authored more than a dozen books for both adults and children, including Love For All Seasons, The Language of Love, and The Blessing. In addition to writing books, Dr. Trent has written numerous articles for both professional and popular publications. He and his wife, Cynthia, live in Scottsdale, Arizona and have two grown daughters.
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THE VOICE OF THE MARTYRS is a nonprofit, interdenominational missions organization dedicated to serving the persecuted church worldwide through practical and spiritual assistance and leading other members of the body of Christ into fellowship with them. Voice of the Martyrs was founded in 1967 by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned for fourteen years in Communist Romania for his faith in Christ; his wife, Sabrina, was imprisoned for three years. In 1965 they were ransomed out of Romania, and soon thereafter they established the global network of missions of which Voice of the Martyrs is a part. They based these missions on Hebrews 13:3, "Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." (NIV)
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SHELLY BEACH has invested her life in the field of communication as an educator, administrator, writer, and writing consultant for the past thirty years. Her writing has been published in both the secular and religious markets in a wide variety of genres including poetry, short stories, feature articles, and interviews. Shelly speaks at writers’ conference, seminars, retreats, schools, and women’s conferences through the Midwest. In the editorial field, Shelly has also served as managing editor of specialty Bibles for Zondervan and was a contributing feature writer for the Stewardship Bible (Crossway Books).Shelly is a graduate of Oakland University and Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. She and her husband Dan reside in Rockford, Michigan, where they attend Blythefield Hills Church. They have two adult children who reside in Iowa and Washington State.
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CHRISTMAS 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.
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HAROLD MYRA served as the CEO of Christianity Today International for 32 years. Under his leadership, the organization grew from one magazine to a communications company with a dozen magazines, copublished books, and a major Internet ministry. Myra started his journalistic career with "Youth for Christ" magazine, which under his leadership became "Campus Life" magazine. Author of five novels, numerous children's and nonfiction books, and hundreds of magazine articles, Myra has taught writing and publishing at the Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois. He holds honorary doctorates from several colleges, including Biola University in California and Gordon College in Massachusetts. Myra has received various awards, among them the prestigious Magazine Publisher's Award and the James Deforest Murch Award from the National Association of Evangelicals. The Evangelical Press Association presented him with its highest honor, the Joseph T. Bayly Award, for his triple career as an editor, author, and publishing executive. Harold and his wife, Jeanette, are the parents of six children and grandparents of five. They reside in Wheaton, Illinois.
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JOSH MCDOWELL As a young man, Josh McDowell considered himself an agnostic. He truly believed that Christianity was worthless. However, when challenged to intellectually examine the claims of Christianity, Josh discovered compelling, overwhelming evidence for the reliability of the Christian faith. In 1961 Josh joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ International. Not long after, he started the Josh McDowell Ministry to reach young people worldwide with the truth and love of Jesus.
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JIM NICODEM has been the senior pastor of Christ Community Church since its start in 1984. Beginning with a group of six families, the church has grown to over five thousand weekend attendees at four campuses. A significant focus on reaching spiritual explorers has resulted in scores of new believers being baptized each year.Born and raised in the Midwest, Jim received his BA in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College, and his MDiv and DMin from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. In keeping with Christ Community Church’s mission to "make passionate disciples of Jesus Christ", Jim loves to mentor others in prayer and the study of God’s Word. With that goal in mind, he has authored Prayer Coach: For All Who Want to Get Off the Bench and Onto the Praying Field (2008) and the four-book Bible Savvy series (2013).Jim and his wife, Sue, have been married for more than thirty years. They have three adult children, and are the proud grandparents of four grandchildren. Jim enjoys biking, hiking and kayaking for recreation. He loves to hang out in Chicago, where he can watch the Cubs play (no better park than Wrigley) or listen to the world-class Symphony Orchestra.
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DOUGLAS A. SWEENEY is Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought and Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He formerly served as a lecturer at Yale University, as an adjunct professor as Aquinas College, and as a visiting professor at both Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary. Sweeney is the author of a number of books and articles about religious history and the American theologian, Jonathan Edwards. He resides with his wife, Wilma, and their son in Lindenhurst, Illinois.
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RITA A. SCHULTE is a licensed professional counselor who specializes in the treatment of mental health disorders. In 2011, she created Heartline Radio, a broadcast show that addresses cutting-edge mental health issues and provides content to educate and equip listeners in how mental health affects our culture. Rita is frequent contributor to many publications and is the author of Shattered: Finding Hope and Healing through the Losses of Life; Imposter: Gain Confidence, Eradicate Shame and Become Who God Made You to Be, and Think This Not That: Rewiring Your Brain to Eliminate Toxic Thinking. She speaks around the country on mental health-related issues. She received her B.S. in psychology and her master's degree in counseling from Liberty University. Rita is no stranger to loss and suffering. In 2013, she lost her beloved husband to suicide and her world was decimated. She speaks candidly about this loss at her national workshops in the hope of helping others heal. Rita makes her home in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.
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Cai 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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EVA STUART WATT was born in Australia in 1891. Her father was a successful businessman in the tea trade in Great Britain. He was an agnostic, but converted to Christ during D.L. Moody’s tour in Great Britain from 1873-1875. Ten years later, her father and mother left the Isles to be missionaries in Africa, but because of health concerns they moved to Australia. It was on this respite that Eva Watt was born. At the age of ten she went to Ireland for the first time so she could get an education. In 1914, she returned to Africa to serve alongside her parents. In 1928, after fourteen hard years in the field in which she lost her father and brother to fever, she returned to Ireland where she founded the Young Ireland for Christ mission in Dublin. She continued ministry in her home country until her death. During her lifetime she wrote many books about her missionary efforts both in Ireland and in Africa.
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JAMES STUART BELL is the owner of Whitestone Communications, a literary development agency. James has past editorial leadership experience with a number of publishers. He has received inside and cover credit for over one hundred print and audio volumes which he has compiled. He currently lives in West Chicago with his wife, Margaret.
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