The Fireside Podcast

Andrea is a stay-at-home mom and freelance writer. She graduated with an Associate's Degree from Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri, where she currently resides. When she is not chasing her two boys, she can be found reading or writing with a cup of coffee nearby, or binge watching Netflix with her husband, Malachi.

Isaac Schade serves at Ozark Christian College as Faculty, the Chapel Minister, and the Director of Frontline. His wife, Maggie, a proud Texan, is the Community Impact Minister at nearby Christ's Church of Oronogo. Isaac and Maggie have one son, Paxton, and are in the process of adopting. Isaac is a rabid North Carolina Tar Heels basketball fan, thoroughly enjoys watching movies and TV, and loves things from his hometown of Atlanta, like Coke, Chick-fil-A, and the Atlanta Braves.

Jordan Starkweather is a Joplin, Missouri native passionate about Jesus, teenagers, art, media, design, marketing, and his incredible wife Mitzi. Previously a youth minister for 7 years, currently Jordan is one half of Mitzi Starkweather Photography, but continues to mentor and teach students in the Joplin area. He can often be found reading 1930s pulp fiction, petting dogs at parties, collecting old video games, ranting about fonts, and getting into trouble on social media. Find out more about what he and Mitzi do at mitzistarkweather.com

Jordan is a community artist and art instructor in Joplin, MO, adding the job description of 'mom' to her resume next month. Check out Jordan's artwork here: https://jomurdock1.wixsite.com/artwork You can also follow her on Instagram to keep up to date with her most current creations: https://www.instagram.com/jomurder/

Katie has been married to Josh for 12 years. They have 4 kiddos. Kinley is 10, Hunter is 8, Will is 5 and Campbell is 2. She works a few hours a week as a Physician Assistant in an orthopedic surgery office and she stays home with the munchkins the rest of the time.

Lito Solorio was born in California and started Preaching at 16 years old. He has served in several megachurches from California to Memphis, TN. Currently, Lito serves as the Lead Pastor at Countryside Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas. Lito is married to Tiffany and together they have four amazing kids.

Edie Doane grew up on a row crop and cow-calf farm in North Central Kansas. She traded the farm for the suburbs of Philadelphia while she received her Bachelor's degree in Organizational Communication from Eastern University, then spent several years working for a nonprofit in the Washington, D.C. area. Now, she's back in Kansas as she works with young people in agriculture and pursues a Master's degree in Ministry Entrepreneurship and Innovation from Tabor College. Edie is passionate about helping youth and young adults develop personally, professionally, and spiritually. She loves experiencing new cultures, coming up with big ideas, going to the movies, and hosting people around her dining room table.

Heath Hollensbe is a follower of Jesus who is learning to love his neighbor as himself. Heath was born and raised in San Diego. However, at the age of 22, he and his friend Erik moved to Nashville with an offer of a recording deal. Unfortunately, he was not willing to sell his soul to the Contemporary Christian Music gods, and left it all.... Leaving him disillusioned with the church, Christians, and any form of industrialized Christian paraphernalia and propaganda. That lead him to leaving the "traditional American church" for a season as he processed what really following Jesus means (and if it is necessary with the corporate structure that most churches are currently modeling.) Through that he is learning a lot. That plus his passion for writing leads him to lots of blogging. Heath's heart is especially towards artists and creatives (who he believes, with ample evidence, have been neglected by the church.) While many folks who became disillusioned with the church become critical and angry, Heath has a passion for the church and desires to love her by serving her with his gifts and talents. He hates exercise, but is a season ticket holder of the Seattle Sounders FC. Unfortunately, due to his travel schedule, he often misses games and spends a majority of his time teary-eyed in hotel rooms about that situation. Heath also has never turned down the offer of a margarita. He prefers them over water. He is also passionate about bartending and vintage European spirits. Heath started the ElysianSociety.com (a site for creatives and artists in the church) rarely blogs at HeathHollensbe.com and co-hosts a weekly podcast that you can find at www. 123lifeschool.com/podcast He is married to a woman who is so far out of his league that it is literally comical (Kathleen), and they have 5 children together (4 currently living). This crazy bunch lives outside of the most beautiful city in the USA (but not the world), Seattle, WA

His full name is Mark Neuenschwander- if you can get the pronunciation right, he will give you a hug the next time he sees you. It will be a firm, pleasant hug, but not overly long or uncomfortable. Mark is a commercial/editorial photographer residing in Joplin, MO, and the owner and operator of 9art Photography. He has a lovely wife of 12 years who also does many creative things, and they raise a couple of miniature versions of themselves who are very full of personality and ridiculousness. He enjoys living in a small city thinking of becoming a big one, and contributing to local culture in whatever ways he can. Working with artists is his passion outside of his craft. He spends a lot of time studying the creative brain, mentoring, creating art community and figuring out how to help others (and himself) work more efficiently. He is a regular at the local coffee shop, a huge movie nerd (Christopher Nolan, Edgar Wright, and the Coen Brothers are a few of his favorite directors), a vinyl collector, and a guy that gets seriously excited about really good beer, coffee, and cheese... marknphoto.com 9artphoto.com

Malachi lives in Joplin, MO with his wife and two young boys. He is a recent graduate of Ozark Christian College, having completed degree programs in Old Testament Theology and Psychology. He currently serves on faculty at College Heights Christian School as a Middle School Bible Teacher. He enjoys good coffee, long stretches of peace & quiet, and canceled plans.

Mark Garnett and his wife, Kathleen, recently moved to Joplin, Missouri. Mark has a Bachelors degree with an emphasis in both Spanish and Sociology, and is currently pursuing teaching certification from Missouri Southern State University. He enjoys reading books, writing stories, traveling the world, seeing movies, making videos, and squeezing every drop out of Christmas to be had. This year, Mark published his first book, "From Scattered Ashes", which chronicles his experiences living and teaching in Honduras for six months. "From Scattered Ashes" is available on Amazon (http://a.co/bIAvdtv) and digitally on Kindle.

Matt Stafford is the director of the Worship Arts Department at Ozark Christian College. A faculty member for thirteen years, Matt currently teaches in the area of creative and technical arts, music, worship leadership and the book of Psalms. Matt’s education includes a Bachelor of Theology in Old Testament from Ozark Christian College and an M.A. in TESOL and Linguistics from Ball State University. He and his wife Joy have two college-age sons, Aaron and Ethan, and a dog named Cooper.

Travis is a graduate student and Online Studies advisor at Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, where he and his wife Lauren love to explore the city, entertain friends, watch superhero movies, and serve their church family. Travis hosts Tool Talk, a biblical studies podcast from exegeticaltools.com, hopes to pursue a doctorate, and is excited to continue serving the Church.

Jackie Rizo is a freelance writer by night and homeschool mom by day. In 2003, she graduated from Ozark Christian College with her bachelor's degree in Christian Education. She has spent the past 17 years serving the church alongside her husband, Sergio Rizo. They have four children ages 7-13 and an 80lb Giant Schnauzer puppy. She transparently shares her life and love for Jesus through her passions of journaling and storytelling. Her heartbreaking story of loss was featured on USA Today. The Rizo Family currently resides in Joplin, MO.

Travis Hurley serves as the Director of Advancement for Watered Gardens, a Gospel Rescue Mission in Joplin, Missouri. He is also the director for the national initiative Dream of Destiny (http://www.dreamofdestiny.com), because he is convinced that visible unity – unity that the world can see crossing ethnic, socioeconomic, generational and denominational lines – is a convincing testimony to the power of the Gospel of Jesus to reconcile people to Him and to each other. A graduate of Ozark Christian College and Cincinnati Christian University, Travis has been working in multi-ethnic ministry for over 15 years. In January, 2018, he will receive his doctorate of ministry in multi-ethnic ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and he continues to teach and consult on issues of unity and diversity in the body of Christ. Travis and his wife Dena have been married for nearly 23 years. They have four children, two sons-in-law, and two grandsons they spoil as often as they can.

Houston is the founder and director of Fireside Community. Houston, his wife, and their funny looking dog live in Madison, Wisconsin. He graduated from Ozark Christian College with a bachelors in psychology and counseling and is studying nonprofit leadership through Cairn University. He enjoys reading, writing, and is happiest at the theaters. You can find out more about his work at thefiresidecommunity.com

Rick has worked with youth and young adults for over 30 years. He is 1992 Graduate of MB Biblical Seminary and a 2006 graduate of George Fox University where he earned a DMin in Leadership in the Emerging Culture. He has served as youth pastor in three congregations, as a summer camp director, college instructor, missionary, the Assistant to the National Director for Youth for Christ – Britain, Leadership Development Director - Youth for Christ Pacific Northwest Region, and seminary faculty member, Director of Ministry Quest, and Dean of Students – MB Biblical Seminary. He also served as Lead Pastor of Bethany Church in Northeast Fresno from 2008-2012. He co-authored, the book Consuming Youth published by Zondervan/YS Academic Currently Rick serves as Director of Theological Education at Tabor College in Wichita, Kansas. Rick and his wife Karen have been married 31 years and have two children, Grace and Toby. They live in Wichita, Kansas. Twitter: @rbb2nd Blog: [email protected] About Me: https://about.me/rick.bartlett

Jeremiah Jones is the worship coordinator at Cedar Ridge Christian Church in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, private music instructor, and the co-host of The Fireside Podcast. He recently graduated from Ozark Christian College, where he majored in Music and Worship. He is currently taking Masters courses at Tabor College Online - Wichita in Ministry Entrepreneurship and Innovation (MEI). He feels that it is pivotal in today's world to be able to interpret culture and present The Gospel in creative ways, and this degree is helping him to do both of these. In his spare time, you will catch him spending time with his family, writing and rehearsing music, playing board games or Nintendo, reading, writing, playing disc golf, or producing content for The Fireside Community. Ask him about his story. He loves to share what God has done in his life.

[FSP 18] Matt Stafford - Engaging the Psalms by The Fireside Community