Velynn Brown | Emcee
It is Velynn’s deepest desire to live her life with abandon, creativity and purpose. She is a Jesus-following, redeemed Church Girl who wakes up every morning in desperate need of a touch by the One who keeps her thirsting for more. Quenched is where she blogs about her deepest pains, greatest joys and all the stuff in the middle. As a native Oregonian Velynn understands the complexities and opportunities minorities face on the West Coast, it gives her a unique perspective on the challenges facing minority women and marginalized communities and what our response should be as believers. Velynn is the Program Manager at Black Parent Initiative where she is an equity advocate and educator.
Sunia Gibbs | Conference Worship Leader
Olivia Tabert | Artist
Rachael Thomas| Artist
Rachael Thomas is a self-taught artist who creates many types of artwork from watercolor and acrylic paintings, to hand-made inspirational signs. She loves laughing and spending time with her husband and 2 kids who are her favorite people to laugh with (and at).
Art is not only a tool for her to express herself, but also a way she shows love to others, and a means by which she hopes to inspire others hearts towards Jesus.
Some of her work can be seen at: www.Facebook.com/
Glen Woods | Spiritual Mentor
Glen Woods is a missionary to his neighborhood in Southeast Portland. His heart is for the unreached and marginalized in the city, no matter their age or background. He also helps where possible in the youth and children’s ministries of his local church. In 2014 he founded the Portland Street Ministry Network to encourage local frontline leaders who minister among the poor and homeless in the city. A former children’s pastor, Glen continues to encourage leaders through coaching, writing and speaking. He is pursuing certified coach training through Western Seminary. Glen blogs at glenwoods.wordpress.com.
Jane Halton| Spiritual Mentor
Jane Halton is a certified coach, writer and speaker. She describes her coaching work as pastoral care meets your to-do list (or sometimes ‘blowing up evangelical baggage’). Using her coaching skills, an MDiv, wit and thought provoking questions she not only helps people figure out what really matters to them but also, what they’re going to do about it. Jane is a Canadian who got lost in California for half her life (there is sadly no good Mexican food in all of Canada). She lives with her husband Dane and their two young and extremely chatty boys in Vancouver, BC. She loves reading, swimming and officiates creative weddings as a side gig.
Mesu Andrews| Writing Mentor
Mesu Andrews brings the biblical world alive for her readers through well-researched biblical novels. Her first, Love Amid the Ashes (Revell), won the 2012 ECPA Book of the Year in the Debut Author Category. Her fourth novel, In the Shadow of Jezebel, released in March 2014, offering hope to those scarred by shadows of their past. Mesu was a life-long Hoosier before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2007.
Enric Sifa| Musician
Enric Sifa is an African/Soul/Dance musician whose spirited performances and activism on behalf of the poor have inspired hundreds of thousands. His musical style ranges from pulsating, danceable rhythms to soulful reflections on hardship, relationships, and grace.
Enric was orphaned in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. His passion for music was forged on the streets as a way to connect with his mother. “When I was alone on the streets, the only thing I had left in my life was my mother’s music,” he says. Enric was was given a guitar, and at the age of 14, he won a Rwandan national singing competition and became an overnight celebrity. He has performed throughout the United States to raise money for children in Rwanda, and in 2014, he launched a record label, MyiBOBO Entertainment, releasing his fourth album, The Coronation Ceremony. Enric will perform during lunch on Saturday, April 11.
Aaron Esparza| Conference Photographer
Aaron is an alumni of Multnomah University with B.S. degrees Communication Studies and Biblical studies. Currently he is a job developer who contracts with the State of Oregon in helping people with disabilities gain employment. Alongside this, he is a full-time student in the Masters of Conflict Resolution at Portland University.
To Aaron, photography is a passion that utilizes the visual arts to convey a meaning. For this conference, he looks forward to using photography to convey the individual and collective stories of the attendees and speakers.