2025 Featured Speakers
Fred Markert
Missionary Futurist & Global Kingdom Strategist
Fred Markert was a Marxist atheist living in Berlin, Germany in 1973 when he converted to Christ during the Jesus People movement that swept the world. Since then he has been a missionary futurist and global kingdom strategist serving with Youth With a Mission and now on the Missions Team at Church of the Highlands and Highlands College in Birmingham, AL. He has mobilized and trained church planting teams for unreached peoples, pioneering work in more than 150 countries across the Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist world.
General Session 2: God on the Move (Saturday 11:00 am)
For our second general session at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 11, we’ll feature three speakers instead of just one. Each will share for 15 minutes or less about a place where God is at work. We believe you’ll be inspired by all three, but you’re encouraged to choose one to hear more from during their afternoon seminars. And to make your decision even more exciting, there will be many other excellent seminars available as well.
Dave Hackett
AI and Faith
Dave Hackett is a Presbyterian minister and long time mission mobiliser with a passion for leveraging technology to advance global mission. Raised partly in Saudi Arabia, he taught at Han Nam University in South Korea as a missionary and later served as a mission pastor before spending twelve years as associate and executive director of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, coordinating outreach to unreached people groups. In 2003 he joined the founding board of VisionSynergy and became one of its primary network advisers, pioneering digital and collaborative mission strategies. Dave also served 19 years with VisionSynergy, developing technology enabled networks for ministry partnerships in the Middle East and North Africa. Today he brings this expertise to AI and Faith, where he serves as an advisor helping faith leaders navigate the ethical implications of artificial intelligence and harness emerging technologies for gospel mission.
Tyler Pease
Perspectives USA
Tyler serves with Perspectives USA as the Executive Mobilization Director for the western United States. He lives in Tacoma, WA with his wife, Karen, and daughter, Jillian. Prior to joining Perspectives USA, he spent 15 years in pastoral ministry and continues to serve his church as a lay pastor of global outreach. He is passionate about mobilizing the body of Christ, seeing churches send well, and the ongoing pastoral care of overseas workers. His family applies the values of Perspectives in their own city by welcoming international friends through ministries such as English classes and Discovery Bible Studies.
Rich Simms
Reach Ministries
Rich Simms is the founder and president of REACH Ministry, a Seattle based outreach that mobilizes Christians to serve the homeless and marginalized through compassion, prayer and the gospel. In early 2017 he heard God speak twice, “Feed the homeless,” and immediately stepped into neighborhoods overwhelmed by homelessness, addiction and darkness—a call he has faithfully answered for more than eight years. He teamed up with fellow believers James Wegmeyer and Kaylen McAlexander to create REACH, which meets both physical and spiritual needs through meals, clothing, prayer and invitations to a relationship with Jesus. Rich sees himself as an “ambassador of hope,” walking Seattle’s streets, building relationships and training volunteers to share Christ’s love; his ministry brings lasting hope through evangelism, discipleship, prayer and practical support for those facing addiction and homelessness. He believes transformation happens when churches unite, and REACH has planted Hope Is Alive Church—the first church in Seattle’s Pioneer Square—to disciple those coming off the streets.
General Session 3: David Hill (Saturday 4:30 pm)
David Hill
TryPraying
Father of four, somewhat self-effacing, slightly entrepreneurial with occasionally a good idea.
David studied math at Birmingham University where he became a Christian. He was one of the first Brits to join the staff of CRU and spent 23 years working with students and churches. His main thing has been to help churches engage in united prayer and evangelism. In the 80s and 90s he initiated a unity project for churches in towns and cities called There Is Hope. He helped develop the Jesus video project in the UK and produced a magazine edition of Luke’s gospel to accompany the project, with over a million copies used. He had the idea for trypraying – a seven day prayer guide for people who are not religious and don’t ‘do’ church but which leads a person to trust Christ. Trypraying is not only a personal evangelism resource but has become a church project and a multi-church project across towns and cities in several countries. This year there are over 1000 UK churches using it. The growth of trypraying, now with over one million booklets produced, translated and being used in 12 countries, has left him bewildered.
Projects aside, he longs for a move of the Holy Spirit that ushers thousands into the kingdom of God.
He is married with four adult children and has faced the challenge of a child becoming disabled through a long term, life-threatening condition. He is a Yorkshire man living and working in Edinburgh, Scotland for over 30 years. He is never happier than when Scotland or England are beating France at rugby (- not often these days).