Contributors – Alumni Page

I live in the midwest, surrounded by cornfields and love, with my husband and seven blue-eyed children.

We laugh, we play, we fight, we mend; but we don’t do anything that even slightly resembles quiet. Unless it’s listening to our lives, which has proved to be the biggest challenge of them all.

All posts // Kelli’s Blog // Twitter

Stefanie is a Registered Clinical Counsellor living in Vancouver, BC. She feels blessed to work in a helping profession and is grateful that her work requires her to show up not in a power suit but with listening ears and a compassionate heart.

Stefanie enjoys spending time with family and friends and has never met a kid or baby she doesn’t like. She is a noticer and appreciator of birds (chickadees, herons, eagles) and many a beach rock has come home in her pocket. Stefanie is a lover of music, tv and movies, and she is gifted at absorbing and retaining useless pop culture trivia. She loves walking, fresh air, the smell of dirt, and anything of the salt and vinegar persuasion. She can often be found puttering.

All posts // Twitter

Rachel Pieh Jones has written for the New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, EthnoTraveler, the Desiring God blog, and Skirt.

She lives, writes, and runs in Djibouti with her husband and three children. She blogs at www.djiboutijones.com.

All posts // Rachel’s Website // Twitter

Sarah is a writer and blogger.

She lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia with her husband and three tinies. Her first book Jesus Feminist: An Invitation to the Kingdom of God Waiting on the Other Side of our Church’s Gender Debates was published by Howard Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in 2013.

All posts // Sarah’s Website // Twitter

Enuma was born in the United States and raised in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and England. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School where she served as Director for the Center for Theological Writing. She is an author, speaker, spiritual director and continues to lead workshops and retreats on varied topics engaging the literary and visual arts, and spiritual disciplines.Her spiritual memoir, Reluctant Pilgrim: A Moody Somewhat Self-Indulgent Introvert’s Search for Spiritual Community (Fresh Air Books, 2010) was a winning finalist in the 2010 USA Best Books Award and received the 2011 National Indie Excellent Book Awards Winning Finalist in “Spirituality and African-American Non-Fiction.” She is co-author with Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove of Common Prayer: Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals You can find her online at enumaokoro.com

Trisha Baptie is Executive Director of Honour Consulting and founding member of EVE (formerly Exploited Voices now Educating). In 2008 she won BC’s Courage to Come Back Award for her bravery in transitioning to a healthier lifestyle, for giving the murdered women of Vancouver a voice through her trial coverage of Vancouver’s serial killer and for her ongoing activism. Follow Trisha’s tweets at @trisha_baptie.

An artist-turned-academic, Sabrina spends her days navigating between a wide variety of roles including that of mother, wife, graduate student, researcher and daydreamer. She is currently a doctoral student in the Communication Studies program at Northwestern University where she researches the various ways in which children and parents engage media and technology and the potential effects these interactions might have on the development of children. Prior to her time at Northwestern, Sabrina earned a Master’s degree in child development from Tufts University, as well as a Master of Arts in puppetry from the University of Connecticut. She has a passion for all things involving play, whimsy and the art of nurturing. She tweets at @sabrinaconnell.

Christina recently traded the seaside views of Bowen Island, BC for the banks of Toronto’s Humber River where she, her husband and two young children attend Grace Toronto Church. Her work has appeared in MUSE and Vancouver magazine, and is forthcoming in UPPERCASE, Geez and the Literary Review of Canada. She is the founder of Seeking Eve and blogs at christinacrook.com

Inquisitive quidnunc (without the gossip), voracious learner, atypical culture vulture, impulsive linguist, simplicity-addict, people-watcher, friend-collector, food-experimentalist. I have a bio. It’s somewhere.

Wife, mother of two little ones, business owner, entrepreneur, actor/writer/director, filmmaker. I like to keep myself busy taking care of my family and chasing my dreams! I am passionate about encouraging others to follow their dreams and giving a voice to those who have no voice. Always ready for a fight, I love to take on new battles that seek justice while secretly dreaming about being Wonderwoman. Often quiet around those I’m getting to know, you’ll find me blunt and honest, outspoken and goofy with my besties. My taste in film and music is likened to that of a 60-80 yr old. I’ll be watching psychological thrillers, period films, indie flix and listening to jazz, motown, opera etc.I love education, constantly learning and sharing what I have learned.In the mornings you’ll find me grumpy and crawling for my soy, hazelnut latte. At night you’ll find me energized and hammering away on the computer or getting into a good TV show with my hubby, who, might I add, is an incredible supporter of my career and of fighting for women’s issues (which I do on a daily basis). You can findmy website over here

Kisa completed her law degree last  year and is currently at a law firm in Vancouver. She grew up on Vancouver Island but has lived all over: North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. In this next season of life, she hopes to see creative community and access to justice established in Vancouver. She tweets at @kisamac.

My name is Njoki. I was born and raised in Kenya. My family immigrated to Canada 13 years ago. If asked to introduce myself, I would say: I am a daughter, sister, niece and friend … my family defines who I am. We love to love, cook, eat and laugh-out-loud. The happiest days are spent hanging out with my family and close friends. I am a pediatric nurse, driven and passionate about issues affecting women and children.

My life is lived out of the calling “to advance Christ-centred work.” I am currently Director of Marketing and Development at Mercy Ministries, working to get the word out about the life-transforming work that takes place here. Prior to my work at Mercy, I directed a Crisis Pregnancy Centre, studied Christianity and Culture at Regent College and co-led women’s programs at my local church. I have four great children and am married to Steven, a gift to me from the Creator.

Vera Raposo is the Founder & Creator of YourCreativeBiz.com, devoted to helping women entrepreneurs realize their dreams in all aspects of their lives and to have a business that is customized to who they are. Vera was born and raised in beautiful British Columbia. She’s a Mom to three wonderful kids and tweets from @yourcreativebiz  &  @veraraposo.

Christi has a Communications degree from Trinity Western University. She loves stories and feels privileged to have heard some truly incredible ones while interning at Childcare Canada. Christi hopes to figure out how she can best use her gifts to impact the world around her. Her greatest passions are writing and travel. Over the next few months she’ll be in Australia where she’ll hopefully do plenty of both.

Emily is a wife, mother of four boys (two of which are her own), artist, and the author of Chasing Silhouettes: How to Help a Loved One Battling an Eating Disorder with Dr. Gregory Jantz. For more info about Emily, visit emilywierenga.com.

Natasha Files is Case Manager with a Mental Health and Addictions Team. She has experience working with youth and adults struggling with a variety of life-controlling issues and she specializes in eating disorders. Natasha’s passion for mental wellness began when she personally experienced the impact of a genuinely caring professional. That passion is paired with a love of espresso, only to be overshadowed by her desire to see women set free from life-controlling issues.

Shekinah is a drama queen who lives in Chennai, India, with her knight (not always in shining armour because it tends to get too hot to wear metal clothing) and their two toddlers who make her laugh, and love her on bad hair days. Her idea of heaven is coffee, a good conversation, and cupcakes with zero calories. She likes writing about her family because it’s a good way to preserve the memories, and more enjoyable than taking photographs.

Stacy Wiebe likes biriyani, books and things that grow. She’s lived in Chennai, India for the past three years, writing and speaking with WOW and other non-profits. All posts // Twitter

I believe in the power of storytelling. I’m a photographer and writer for Fakeleft. Together with my husband, we love sharing stories of courage, of strength in the face of adversity, of triumph and hope. I truly believe that by partnering with others who want to bring change and justice to our world, we can actually make a difference. I’m learning to walk in my nascent faith, but it’s not always easy. It’s an interesting journey. I am currently living in Montreal, Canada, but my heart is everywhere. I’m a proud Latina from Choluteca, Honduras. I wish I had a Latino accent. My favourite meal is dessert and my favourite sport is tanning. All posts // Stephanie’s Website // Twitter

I was born and raised in South Louisiana and am a Cajun girl at heart. After graduating from Tulane University in New Orleans, I divinely moved to Gressier, Haiti in 2011. I am the founder and director of Respire Haiti, a non-profit organization created to encourage, educate and empower restaveks, orphans and vulnerable children. I am the mother of two beautiful Haitian daughters who have been redeemed from their pasts and are being transformed through Christ. I love to sing, dance and eat. I am a passionate fighter for justice, an advocate for freedom and a loud voice for the voiceless children in this world. All posts // Megan’s Website // Twitter

Olive is an artsy optimist who grew up in Toronto and spent a couple years in China before settling in Vancouver. Her favourite place in the whole wide world is her home. On Easter weekend of 2008, the love of her life, Tim, proposed with a goat, instead of a diamond ring. These days, she splits her time between writing for www.timandolive.com (they have recently written two books, Fight With Me and, Then Came The Baby) and caring for their daughter, Alena. A contemplative at heart, she aspires to be a conduit of grace, rest and beauty in this hurried and chaotic world. Recent post // Olive’s Website

I am René Evelyn August, the youngest of three beautiful daughters born into a family of courageous women. I love being with people, I love the Bible, I love talking and listening to stories and I love, love, love telling stories. I dream of a world where women are free, truly free to dream and explore and live without fear of being compared to men. I dance–all the time–and all the time, I dance. On the inside, there’s always a song and drum and bass line and there’s always a harmony in my ear. I choose to be a servant of the church and I serve as a Anglican Priest in a local parish in Cape Town. I love South Africa and and all the countries of Africa. I like to make the point that Africa is a CONTINENT, not a country or a city. I love being in the bush, smelling the rain, sitting in the wind, watching animals and inspecting the shapes that trees make, while counting the shades of green I can see without moving my eyes. I love sunsets and red sand and Namibia and the desert and driving and food and eating. I love cheese and wine. I once prayed, “Lord, you can ask me to do anything, and ask me to go anywhere, but what am I going to do about good cheese and great wine?” I love Mandela and Tutu–the fathers, the elders, the sages I have been lucky enough to hear. All posts

I’m Jonathan Martin, and I lead the liars, dreamers, and misfits of Renovatus: A Church for People Under Renovation, in Charlotte, NC, where I live with my wife Amanda. I’m the author of the forthcoming Prototype: What Happens When You Discover You’re More Like Jesus Than You Think from Tyndale House. I’m a product of the “Christ-haunted landscape” of the American South, sweaty revivals, and hip-hop. My main claim to fame was getting my Aquaman, Robin and Wonder Woman action figures saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost at an early age. When I talk it’s mostly about the beauty of God, what an extraordinary thing it is to be called God’s beloved, and finding new ways to be human. I am unafraid to be seen walking my small dog Cybil. All posts // Jonathan’s Website // Twitter

My name is Ashley and I am the Children’s Ministry Coordinator at Relate Church in Surrey, B.C. My mission is to develop the God-given potential in every child who crosses my path *Insert Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” here*. I love all things jazzy, particularly music, and I tend to break into song throughout the day for no apparent reason. All posts // Ashley’s Blog // Twitter

Erin Wilson is a photographer + artist, storyteller + story gatherer, listener + learner, student + teacher, mentor + cheerleader, local food advocate + unrepentant lover of kale.

Erin teaches photography to kids who don’t yet know they’re artists through ONE SHOT Project. She’ll happily buy you a fair trade coffee and vegan donut if you’re passing through her Canadian home base, but if you connect with her in Chile or Kurdistan (northern Iraq) it’s more likely to be manjar or chai.

All posts // Erin’s Website// ONE SHOT Project // Twitter

When not scrambling eggs, I manage a community garden which grows veg for a food bank. I’m a full time mom of two almost-grown boys. Saturday mornings you’ll find me at the Farmer’s Market, religiously.

Goals include extending my rollerblading distance to marathon length and getting the courage to quit picking at my novel and publish it. A scary re-emergence into paid work may need to happen soon. Eons ago I taught ESL at a community college. Farther back, I taught in China and worked at a church in Mexico City. Childhood included a confusing mix of Spain, military bases and a tiny town in Washington State. What I would really love to have is not a job, but a puppy. I live north of Seattle and somewhere east of organized with a husband, our younger son, and a turtle.

All posts // Twitter

I’m a funny mix of academic, creative, and real.

For over a decade, my journey has been one of healing, scholarship, and calling Christian communities to bring the Presence of Jesus to those suffering intimate partner abuse and violence. I have written articles, and contributed to conferences, through Peace and Safety in the Christian Home (PASCH). I have contributed two chapters to Strengthening Families and Ending Abuse, Churches and Their Leaders Look to the Future. When I’m not researching and writing, I like reading fairy tales with my two adopted daughters, practicing hot yoga, or playing with furry members of our family (two crazy dogs). My husband and I enjoy do-it-yourself projects (cheeses, detergents, & craft beers) for sharing with neighbors and friends.

All posts // Amy’s Website // Twitter

Bev is a speaker and author who lives in the passionate conviction that we are uniquely designed for a purpose, and our hearts will never be satisfied by anything else.

Thirty years of ministry experience and a masters degree in leadership combine to give Bev a specific focus on helping people develop their call as a leader. Bev believes passionately that gender is never a reason to disqualify a person from leadership. She blogs on bevmurrill.com and is the author of two books Speak Life and Shut the Hell Up, and Catalysts: You Can be God’s Agent for Change and has a couple more books currently in the pipeline.

All Posts // Bev’s Website