Steve Richardson

STEVE RICHARDSON has served as president of Pioneers-USA since 1999. Pioneers mobilizes and supports 3,200 missionaries and marketplace professionals who impact 500 unreached people groups in 95 countries. Steve was raised in Indonesia, where his parents planted churches in a jungle tribe. He witnessed the impact of the gospel on their war-like society, a story documented in his father's missionary classic, Peace Child. Steve and his wife, Arlene, also spent eleven years planting churches among an unreached people group in Southeast Asia. The Richardsons now live in Orlando, FL and have been blessed with four daughters and ten grandchildren.

Brittany Cragg

BRITTANY CRAGG has been editing and authoring marriage curriculum as the Director of Content for Grace Marriage since 2015. She has a degree in English Literature from Wheaton College and a law degree from Emory University, where she won the Golden Pen Award for excellence in legal editing. She has worked as an editor at Christianity Today in the preaching resources department and for investment firms in Chicago and Dallas. Brittany and her husband, Mark, have been married for over eleven years and live with their three children in Prosper, Texas.

Rick Lawrence

RICK LAWRENCE is Executive Director of Vibrant Faith, a ministry resourcing, training, coaching, and research organization. He’s an award-winning author, journalist, cultural researcher, editor, and national speaker. For many years he led Group Publishing’s Youth Ministry Resourcing Team, and helped launch its “Jesus-Centered” line of adult resources. He also leads a “home church” for young people: Pursuing the Heart of Jesus, Not His Recipes. He’s the general editor of the bestselling Jesus-Centered Bible, and author of many books, including The Suicide Solution, Jesus-Centered Daily, and The Jesus-Centered Life. He’s host of the popular podcast Paying Ridiculous Attention to Jesus. He’s married to Beverly Rose and has two young-adult daughters, Lucy and Emma.

Kim Erickson

KIM 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.

Heather Holleman

DR. HEATHER HOLLEMAN is an associate teaching professor of advanced writing at Penn State, speaker, and author. She has written ten books, including the bestseller Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison, the award-winning Sent: Living a Life That Invites Others to Jesus (cowritten with her husband, Ashley Holleman), and The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility. Heather works with her husband, Ashley, in the ministry they founded called Seated & Sent. Learn more about Heather's books at HeatherHolleman.com

Matthew Soerens

MATTHEW SOERENS serves as the Vice President of Advocacy & Policy for World Relief. He is the coauthor of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate and Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, where he also serves as a guest faculty member for the Humanitarian & Disaster Institute, and of DePaul University. Matt lives in Aurora, Illinois with his wife Diana and their four children.

Ted Esler

TED ESLER is the President of Missio Nexus, an association of agencies and churches representing about 30,000 Great Commission workers worldwide. He worked in the computer industry before becoming a church planter in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the 1990's. Ted is the author of Overwhelming Minority, which tells the story of their family's ministry in Bosnia. In 2000, Ted became the Canadian director of Pioneers, and three years later moved to Orlando to join Pioneers USA's leadership team. He was appointed as President of Missio Nexus in 2015. Ted holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012).

Roger Parrott

DR. ROGER PARROTT is one of America's most experienced presidents, leading Belhaven University, a doctoral-level institution, highly regarded as one of the 36 schools in the world working at the highest level of collegiate Arts programs. Behhaven was named in 2021 as "Best University to Work For" by the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Roger was recognized as one of "The 10 Most Visionary Education Leaders of 2021" by Education Magazine. For a quarter-century, he served in board leadership roles with Lausanne Movement and The Mission America Coalition and was chairman of the 2004 Forum for World Evangelization. He is the author of The Longview: Lasting Strategies for Rising Leaders.

Gil Mertz

GIL MERTZ is Assistant to the President at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. He has been involved with full-time Christian service for nearly forty years and draws from a vast background of ministry with international missions, humanitarian causes, public policy, and consulting. He is a former pastor and radio talk show host. His daily commentaries on forgiveness have been broadcast on more than 300 stations across America. Gil and his wife Patricia reside in southern California and have three children and three grandchildren.

Amy Ford

AMY 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.

Shai Linne

SHAI LINNE is a recording artist who has released numerous acclaimed Christian hip-hop albums, including The Atonement and The Attributes of God. After completing a pastoral internship at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. and serving as an elder at Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA, Shai co-founded Risen Christ Fellowship, an inner-city church in his hometown of Philadelphia, PA. Previously, Shai wrote God Made Me and You and co-authored It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Blair and their three children, Sage, Maya, and Ezra.

Craig Allen Cooper

CRAIG ALLEN COOPER is a USA Today bestselling author and keynote speaker. He cowrote the book Glad You’re Here with Grammy-nominated country singer-songwriter Walker Hayes. Glad You’re Here instantly became a Publishers Weekly, ECPA, and USA Today national bestseller and has been featured on The Today Show, People magazine, Family Life Radio, and more. Craig served as one of the founding pastors of Redeeming Grace Church in Franklin, Tennessee, and is the founder of Glad You’re Here Ministries. He resides in the greater Nashville area with his lovely wife, Laura, and their four kids. You can follow Craig on Instagram @craigallencooper and learn more at craigallencooper.com.

Joshua Sherif

JOSHUA 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.

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Gordon H. Fraser

GORDON HOLMES FRASER was born in Quebec, Canada. He moved to Detroit, Michigan, at the age of ten, and came to a personal knowledge of Christ when he was seventeen years of age. After majoring in business administration, he spent several years in executive and sales work. The call then came to enter full-time Christian work. His mentor in spiritual things was the late Dr. H.A. Ironside. Under private tutorship he studied Chinese while engaged for five years in Christian work in Chinese communities such as are found in Oakland and Sacramento, California. His entry into full-time missionary work under the American Sunday School Union was in 1932. He is the founder of the Southwestern School of Missions in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Timothy George

TIMOTHY GEORGE is the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School and a professor of Divinity. He is the author of numerous books including Baptists: A Brief History, God the Holy Trinity: Reflections on Christian Faith and Practice, and Is the Father of Jesus the God of Muhammad?. He is co-author of For All the Saints and The Mark of Jesus. He is currently serving as executive editor for Christianity Today and on the editorial advisory boards of The Harvard Theological Review, Christian History and Books & Culture. Tim resides in Birmingham, Alabama.