LEADERSHIP

Pamela is a leader and a visionary following God’s call to inspire those affected by chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, and disability to discover hope, find purpose, embrace worth and encounter joy. She believes that every precious life affected by chronic illness is both vital and purposed.

Pamela is a wife of more than 30 years, mother of three married children and grandmother of five. Her work experience includes: banking, marketing, volunteer management, communications, and development of training programs. She has served in a variety of leadership positions and ministries.

Pamela is diagnosed with a host of invisible illnesses, including Ehlers-Danlos, dysautonomia, fibromyalgia and chronic migraines.

Cindee is wife of the man she loves most in this world, mama of five (ages 19-28), author, photographer, craver of quiet, lover of cotton, demin, Jesus, and tea. Her work experience includes: communications, marketing, and volunteer management for the Arthritis Foundation, copy-editing for Narada Productions, content writing and photography for several ministry organizations and publications, including: The High Calling, Outside the City Gate, and C’est la Vie, The Magazine, and she and her husband served as patient representatives on an international board of physicians and research scientists tasked with developing the Pediatric Consensus Statement on Orthostatic Intolerance Disorders.

Cindee and four of her five kids are diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos, dysautonomia, intractable migraine, and myriad co-existing conditions.

Mike retired from a 37-year career as CPA for Briggs & Stratton Corporation, where he developed the tax department, worked as assistant treasurer, chaired the company retirement plan committees and managed the plan investments. In addition, Mike is an ordained elder and has managed church finances at several churches. In 2006, he was on a team that assisted an inner city non-profit academy in developing its finance and strategy plans. Mike has been married to his wife Mary for 52 years. They have four adult children and six grandchildren, and have fostered more than 20 pre-adoption infants for Milwaukee County, before adopting their daughter Samantha, who has been on a ventilator for more than twenty-five years. Mike’s wife Mary has a chronic autoimmune disease. Daily, he experiences the role of caregiver, supporting and advocating for both his wife and daughter.

Julie is a mother, wife, ordained minister, and a founding board member. She and her husband have three adult children. Julie became personally aware of chronic pain when her daughter began experiencing constant and excruciating back pain, resulting in surgery. Yet the pain continued and other unexplained issues began – nausea, stomach pain, and inability to keep food down. During her senior year in high school, her daughter became gravely ill with gastroparesis and spent much of her senior year in and out of the hospital. The quest for relief and solutions, the ongoing struggle of chronic illness, and the anxiety that accompanies both has drawn Julie to seek to know and speak of God’s presence in and through the reality of chronic pain – both for the one experiencing it and for those who love them.

Laurie has a Master's Degree in Christian Counseling and is the author of Coping with ME/CFS. Many of her poems and articles have been published in print and online. She won the Open Medicine Foundation poetry contest in 2019. Laurie loves to use her gift of writing to encourage others.

Kara and her husband Conrad live in Calgary, Canada, where she was a teacher for 28 years. She loves the Word of God and encourages others through her devotional writing. Kara felt led to write a book of devotionals (Searching for Sea Glass) when her journey with chronic illnesses pressed her into God’s arms of love more deeply. She prays that her journey and refinement will encourage you in your walk with God.

A grandmother but young at heart, Gayl enjoys exploring creativity through writing, poetry, nature photography, art, crocheting, and piano. She loves coffee, tea, chocolate, and jeans. Gayl has been married to Steve for nearly 50 years, with 7 children and 14 grands (some have chronic illnesses, and one son is now with Jesus). Always learning and writing from her heart about life, her desire is to know God better, glorify Him, and encourage others. She blogs at Words, Photos and Art.

Dee is a faith-filled servant of God, with two beautiful teenage daughters who are the loves of her life. She struggles with paranoid schizophrenia and depression, and following a life-altering experienced, dedicated her life to serving God. After working as an accountant for many years, Dee now volunteers at a local nursing home, for Everybody Wins Iowa, and Chronic Joy®. She is also an assistant teacher in the Rite of Christian Initiation as Adults at her church. In her free time, Dee enjoys reading the Bible, historical fiction, and romance novels, walking, and sharing her heart on Facebook.