Our Advisors and Friends

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Getting Started

Our Advisors and Friends

Amy Simpson
Publisher of Kyria.com

Amy Simpson is passionate about serving the church and its people through leadership, communication, and resources. She currently serves as vice president and publisher for Kyria.com and the Leadership Media Group at Christianity Today International. Her background includes a 16-year career in Christian Publishing and a lifetime of church ministry. She is the author of numerous resources for Christian ministry, including Diving Deep: Experiencing Jesus Through Spiritual Disciplines.

Amy holds an English degree from Trinity International University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Colorado-Denver. She is married to Trevor and is mom to two fantastic kids.

Ginger Kolbaba
Founding editor of Kyria.com

Ginger Kolbaba is editor of Kyria.com and manager of discipleship and women's resources. In Christian publishing for 14 years, she is former editor of Today's Christian Woman and Marriage Partnership magazines. An accomplished book author, Ginger has written or contributed to more than 16 books, including her most recent novel series, Secrets from Lulu's Café, which include Desperate Pastors' Wives, A Matter of Wife and Death, and Katt's in the Cradle.

Ginger also teaches and speaks across the country. She's appeared on national venues such as CNN's Nancy Grace and Court TV's Catherine Crier Live, as well as Family Life Radio and Moody Radio's Midday Connection.

She is a pastor's kid (both her parents are ordained ministers) and is a summa cum laude graduate of Anderson University (Anderson, Indiana). Ginger and her husband, Scott, attend Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), where she served on the drama team ministry for five years. www.gingerkolbaba.com

JoHannah Reardon
Contributing editor for Kyria

JoHannah Reardon is a contributing editor for Kyria.com and the managing editor for ChristianBibleStudies.com, an online Bible study site where more than 80,000 leaders, students, and teachers come to learn and apply God's Word. Besides writing, editing, and assigning Bible studies, JoHannah has ghostwritten two books, written content for the Couples' Devotional Bible, and has been published in several magazines. JoHannah is a pastor's wife, the mother of three, and a grandmother of two.

Hollie Baker-Lutz
Marketer and Contributing Editor for Kyria

Hollie Baker-Lutz serves as the Senior Marketing Coordinator for Christianity Today, and is also a Contributing Editor to Kyria.com. Hollie attended Elmhurst College, where she studied Philosophy and Sociology. She also earned a certificate in Discipleship from Youth with a Mission (YWAM) in Perth, Western Australia.

Hollie has traveled to more than 15 countries with Christian missions or poverty relief organizations. Her areas of interest include international social justice, gender issues, and the egalitarian church. Her favorite activities are reading, trying new foods, dance, puppies, Beatles trivia, the warm outdoors, and spending time with her family. Currently Hollie lives in Suburbia, Illinois, with her fantastic husband Nate and a pug named Amelia.

Bonnie McMaken
Editorial coordinator and Contibuting editor for Kyria

Bonnie McMaken is editorial coordinator and contributing editor for Gifted for Leadership and Kyria. She has also written for our sister sites, ChristianBibleStudies.com and Smallgroups.com. Several of Bonnie's worship recordings can be found on Smallgroups.com as well.

Bonnie graduated from Wheaton College with a BA in Christian Formation and Ministry. She leads worship and a hospitality ministry at her local church. She has a desire to serve the church and is especially passionate about how we are formed by worship and liturgy. Bonnie also is a songwriter and has recently released an album of original music with her husband.

In her spare time, Bonnie enjoys spending time with her husband, Trevor, and her baby daughter. She loves hospitality, watching LOST, experimenting with good food, and reading compelling literature.

Lindsey Learn
Contributing editor for Kyria blog

Lindsey Learn is assistant editor at Christianity Today International for Your Church magazine, TheYourChurchBlog.com, BuildingForMinistry.com, and ChurchSafety.com. She also works with several of the products on YourChurchResouces.com. While immersed in the publishing world, professionally, Lindsey heads up her church's blog team, and is a member of the communications team there, too.

Though much of her time is spent on projects for the web, her real passions reside with living life along side her husband, Matt—discovering ways to live in greater community and hospitality with those around them. She also can't get enough time with her niece and nephew, who she adores. Lindsey loves coffee shop stops, bicycling, playing board games, and wishes she had a kitty cat.

Marian Liautaud
Contributing editor for Kyria

Marian Liautaud is an editor for Christianity Today International. She edits many of the church management books and publications available on YourChurchResouces.com, and she serves as editor of two websites, BuildingForMinistry.com and ChurchSafety.com. Also an author, Marian has written extensively for magazines, including the former Today's Christian Woman and Marriage Partnership. Former owner of two sandwich shops and a scrapbook store, Marian continues to love meeting people for lunch and telling others' life stories.

When she's not writing or editing, Marian loves to listen for God while she jogs and spend time with her family, which includes her husband, Dan, four sons, one grandson, a Golden named Maggie, and an extended family that has grown too large to count. You can follow Marian on Twitter @MarianLiautaud.

Caryn Rivadeneira
Gifted for Leadership managing editor

Caryn Rivadeneira is a writer, editor, and speaker. She is author of Mama's Got a Fake I.D.: How to Reveal the Real You Behind All That Mom. Caryn has worked in Christian publishing for more than 12 years, during which time she has written numerous magazine articles and edited several books on both marriage and family issues. Her tenure includes three stints at Christianity Today International, where she has served as managing editor of Marriage Partnership and Christian Parenting Today magazines, and today as managing editor of Gifted For Leadership.

Caryn lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Rafael, and their three kids, one rottweiler, one bunny, and two goldfish. www.carynrivadeneira.com and The Mommy Revolution.

Rachel Jay
Contributing editor for Kyria blog

Rachel Jay is the Online Assistant Editor for the Ministry Team of the Leadership Media Group at Christianity Today International. She is primarily responsible for producing most of the e-newsletters for the Leadership Media Group. When she's not formatting images and deciphering HTML code, she assists with editorial work for our sister sites BuildingChurchLeaders.com and RoundTripMissions.com.

Before coming to CTI, Rachel spent two and half years as an assistant editor at an independent book publisher in the Chicago suburbs. It was there that she discovered her love of serial commas and proofreading. Rachel received a bachelor's degree in Communications from Judson University.

Sarah Scherf
Contributing editor for Kyria blog

Sarah Scherf loves crafting, whether with textiles, music, or words. Having graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in English Literature, she served 73,000 cups of coffee before taking her position as editorial coordinator for Christianity Today International's Preaching Today. Sarah's deepest aspiration is to be a strong communicator, a good friend, and an ever-growing worshipper of Jesus.

Sarah lives with her husband, Chris, and puppy, Zoey, in Glen Ellyn, IL. The Scherfs can often be found walking on, jogging on, biking on, or even just standing on the nature path behind their home.

Kelli B. Trujillo
Kyria downloads managing editor

Kelli B. Trujillo is a writer and editor, a mom of three, a morning coffee-drinker, and an avid reader. She is the author of Faith-Filled Moments: Helping Kids See God in Everyday Life and The Busy Mom's Guide to Spiritual Survival. Kelli is also managing editor of Kyria's downloads. Along with these roles, Kelli is as an adult ministry leader at her church in Indianapolis.

Before launching her freelance writing/editing business, Kelli worked for several years as a senior editor in the Christian publishing industry. She is a graduate of Valparaiso University with honors both in English and Humanities, and has completed some graduate-level study in the areas of spiritual formation (Denver Seminary) and English literature (Butler University). She blogs at www.kellitrujillo.com.

LaTonya Taylor
Contributing editor for Kyria

LaTonya Taylor lives, works, caffeinates, studies and writes in Chicagoland. Formerly an editor of Ignite Your Faith, Christian College Guide, InTeen and Young Adult Today magazines, her other writing credits include Christianity Today, Today's Christian, and Today's Christian Woman magazines. Now, though, she spends most of her writing energy on grad school papers. LaTonya is a haphazard hobbyist who has the crooked stained-glass projects, poorly crocheted yarn creations, oddly shaped cake pans and neglected blog to prove it. Her two strangest jobs were asking intrusive questions for telephone surveys and editing a romance novel right after a breakup, both of whichshe found to be excellent training for rolling withlife's punches. She is a proud aunt of several, and also occasionally dog-sits a quirky Yorkshire terrier named Charlie.

Patricia Raybon, MA
Kyria editorial advisor

Patricia Raybon is an award-winning author and journalist whose personal essays on faith, family and race relations have been published in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, USA Weekend, Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, the Charles Stanley Ministries In Touch Magazine, InTouch.Org and featured on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition. Patricia is author of two memoirs, My First White Friend, a winner of the Christopher Award, and I Told the Mountain to Move, a 2006 Book of the Year Finalist in Christianity Today Magazine's Book Awards Competition.

Formerly Sunday magazine editor at The Denver Post and a features writer at the Rocky Mountain News, Patricia taught 15 years on the journalism faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder and promoted to professor emerita. She has appeared on NBC's Today Show, PBS' Tavis Smiley Show, NPR's Talk of the Nation, NPR's Weekend Edition, Pacifica Radio, the Moody Network, ABC Radio Network, and scores of other radio and television broadcasts to discuss matters of faith, family and racial reconciliation.

A lifelong resident of Colorado, Patricia and her husband of 33 years, Dan—an educator and camera buff—have two "fabulous" grown daughters, one "awesome" son-in-law and three "amazing" grandchildren. Patricia blogs on faith and writing at her Writing With God website: www.patriciaraybon.com

Anita Lustrea
Kyria advisor

Authentic. That's the word heard over and over when women describe Anita. She is a popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, and an amazing communicator as co-host of the award winning Midday Connection radio broadcast. Her deep desire is to communicate freedom to women and help them nurture and care for their soul.

Anita is the co-author of Come to Our Table: A Midday Connection Cookbook and Daily Seeds from Women Who Walk in Faith, a Devotional for women.

Anita and her husband, Mike Murphy, a pastor, along with her teenage son John live in the Chicago suburbs. When she's not traveling or speaking, you can find her reading and drinking a venti hot tea at her local Starbucks.

Melinda Schmidt
Kyria advisor

Melinda Schmidt is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and holds a B.S in Broadcasting and Bible from Calvary Bible College. She has served with Moody Radio since 1980 in various hosting capacities and currently co-hosts Midday Connection, a daily talk show focused on women and heard in over 250 markets around the country. The program was the National Religious Broadcaster's "Talk Show of the Year - long format" in 2008. Melinda contributed to Midday Connection's one-year devotional "Daily Seeds-from women who walk in faith." Married to David with two young adult children, Melinda lives outside Chicago, loves reading, developing her creative interests, and hopes to be a life-long learner!

Frederica Mathewes-Green
Kyria advisor

Frederica Mathewes-Green is a wide-ranging author, whose work has appeared in such diverse publications as the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times, First Things, Books & Culture, Sojourners, Touchstone, and the Wall Street Journal. She writes regularly for the multifaith web magazine Beliefnet.com, and writes movie reviews for National Review Online and Christianity Today Movies.

She has published 9 books, including Facing East: A Pilgrim's Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy (HarperCollins, 1997) and The Illumined Heart: The Ancient Christian Path of Transformation (Paraclete, 2001). In the past, her commentaries have been heard on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Her essays were selected for Best Christian Writing in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, and Best Spiritual Writing in 1998 and 2007. She has published over 600 articles.

She has been interviewed on PrimeTime Live, the Diane Rehm Show, the 700 Club, PBS, CNN, NBC, Fox News, and by Time, Newsweek, the New Republic, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the New York Times. She lives with her husband, the Rev. Gregory Mathewes-Green, in Baltimore, MD, where he is pastor and she is "Khouria" ("Mother") of the parish they founded, Holy Cross Orthodox Church. Their three children are grown and married, and they have 10 grandchildren.

Rev. Eve Nunez
Kyria advisor

Rev. Eve Nunez is an ordained minister and child advocate who serves as the vice president of networking and spokesperson for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. She is passionate about educating people about border security, immigration, and other relevant issues in an effort to encourage Latinos to engage in government and community relations.

Eve is also the founder of KTVP-LP Channel 22 Alma Vision Phoenix, a low power TV station covering the entire Phoenix metropolitan area with religious, educational, community, and health programming. She hosted a weekly talk show, Primeras Damas (First Ladies), which focused on women's perspectives of such topics as health and education.

Most recently, Eve has taken on the role of founder and president of Help 4 Kidz, a non-profit organization that provides counseling, tutoring, school supplies, after-school programs, job training and placement, food services, and emergency relief for thousands of children and youth in the greater Phoenix area. This is a special foundation she started in memory of her son, Frankie, who died from a terminal brain tumor.

Eve resides in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband of 27 years, Joe, and her daughter, Hannah.