Terre and her husband Jeff are members of
Double Oak Church. She is the owner of Opus Interiors.
Ralph and his wfie Anne, are members of the Church at Brook Hills. They are the owners of PrintsWell, Inc.
Alonza and his wife Vanessa are members of the Church at Brook Hills. He and his wife, Vanessa, are the founders of the
Biblical Marriage Institute.
Louis and his wife Sharon are members of Briarwood Presbyterian Church. He is the founder of Henderson and Myers, LLC
Phillip and his wife Jerre are members of Shades Mountain Baptist Church. He is employed by Regions Financial Services.
Phil and his wife Jane are members of Double Oak Church. He is a founding partner of Henderson and Walton Women's Center.
Bob has written numerous articles about cultural and spiritual trends; coauthored, The Truth Behind the Secret, (Harvest House); is a contributor to The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics (Harvest House) and The Complete Evangelism Guidebook, (Baker Books); and scripted the documentary, The Da Vinci Code Revealed. He has appeared as an expert commentator for print, radio, television and Internet media, locally, nationally and internationally; including appearances on: ABC's World News Tonight, ABC's Night Line, MSNBC with Brian Williams; CNN; NHK-TV, Tokyo; USA Today; Time, Newsweek, and Christianity Today.
Bob is a graduate of Jacksonville State University (B.S. in Secondary Education, emphasis in social studies and the arts) and Birmingham Theological Seminary (Masters in Religious Education).
Since 2002, Ron has been a trainer for the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative, serving as the Director of Training and Resources. In this capacity he has spoken in conferences throughout the country providing training for students, youth workers, and leaders in the urban community.
Ron is a graduate of the University of Montevallo (B.S. in Social Science) and Covenant College (Masters of Education). He is currently working on completing the Masters of Divinity Degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Sterling Edwards, Vice President
Sterling has been actively engaged in serving the community for over forty years. He has served as the Pastor of several Churches, including Senior Pastor of the 1,400 member South Highland Presbyterian Church. Though retired from the active pastorate, he continues to preach and to serve churches in an interim capacity.
Though Sterling retired from pastoring churches, he did not retire from serving the needs of others. He launched a new career at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as their first development officer and found a new way of serving the needs of his community and State. There he helped the University raise funds for much needed projects that would have a lasting impact on providing for the medical needs in Alabama and throughout the nation.
Sterling has also served as a member of the Birmingham Rotary Club, and was a member of the Statewide Health Coordinating Council (appointed by the Governor of Alabama) from 1977-79, and a member of the Cost Containment Task Force, Alabama Hospital Association; 1978-79
He is the author of: When Men Suffer, Buford L. Bowen: Broker Extraordinaire, Becky Bowen: Jacksonville Born & Bred, and Christian Theology Made Simple.
Sterling is a graduate of: University of Edinburgh, Scotland, Ph.D., Church History; 1960, Columbia Theological Seminary, GA, M.A. Degree, Cum Laude; 1952, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, A.B. Degree, Psychology and Education; 1948. He also received a Grant for Internship in Clinical Pastoral Care, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington, DC,; 1962.
Contact Sterling at:
sterling@crosswindsfoundation.org
Rick
Sutton, Creative
Director - Media
Rick oversees XN2, the
media production side of
Crosswinds. He began his
career in the media
production industry in
1985 at the Eternal Word
Television Network
(EWTN) where he rose to
the position programming
producer. After eleven
years at EWTN, Rick left
to form his own
independent production
company, Sutton Place
Productions.
Rick has also
served on staff at the
Church at Brook Hills
and with, Crosswinds
President, Bob Waldrep
at another organization
where they produced the
film documentary “The Da
Vinci Code Revealed”
which was a winner in
the category of best
film/video-Religion/Spirituality,
and for editing at the
14th Annual
Communicator Award of
Excellence, in 2008.
Rick is also an
accomplished musician
and has served several
churches as worship
leader.
Contact Rick at:
rick@suttonplace.me
Don Malin, Director of
Cross-Swords
Don has long had an interest in cultural issues, particularly as related to shifts in spirituality as seen in the growing fascination with occultism and beliefs and practices associated with metaphysics, or the New Age Movement. Much of his career has been spent in educating, training, and counseling others in a diversity of fields related to their cultural environs.
Don's awareness of this cultural diversity was learned early on when he joined the United States Army, fresh out of High School. Today, he continues to serve in the Army National Guard, as a Chaplain, and began his second tour of duty in the Middle East in January, 2009. His experience there has given Don first hand insight into Eastern religions and their adherents.
More importantly, his
experiences in returning
from combat duty helped
him understand some of
the difficulties
associated with reentry
for both the veteran and
their family. This led
to the development of
CrossSwords.
Don has also served in a number of capacities in the Church and is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. His work experience includes: Periodicals Assistant and Public Service Assistant in the Reformed Theological Seminary library and the Belhaven College Library, teacher at Hillcrest and Covenant Christian Schools, and Global War on Terror Outreach Technician for the Department of Veterans Affairs. For a number of years, Don also led an active ministry in Mississippi providing training and writing about new religious movements.
Don is a graduate of New Mexico State University (B.A. in Philosophy); Birmingham Theological Seminary (Masters of Religious Education); Reformed Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity).
Email Don at:
don@crossswords.org
CrossTies Asia
Dwight Martin, Executive Director
Serving in Thailand, Dwight understands the cultural shifts brought about by Eastern Religions. Dwight was born in Thailand, the son of American missionaries there. After high school he moved to the United States to attend college eventually receiving an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix. Dwight spent over 25 years in the software and document imaging industry and was the co-founder of AQ2Technology (formally Aquracy Corporation).
Dwight began to sense God leading him to serve the Thai people as had his parents. In 2006, he and his wife, Mary Kay, moved back to the land of his birth and now make their home in Chiangmai, Thailand.
The main focus of his ministry is to be a resource to national believers in SE Asia so they can become more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. The ultimate goal is to mobilize nationals to spread the Gospel in their own countries and surrounding regions. Being fluent in both Thai and English allows Dwight the ability to effectively serve in this important work.
One way Dwight has been able to help the Thai Church is in using his technology skills and knowledge of the Thai language to develop a digital library containing over 4,000 resources which have been placed on a free website, ThaiCRC.com website. For those Thai Christians who don't have access to the internet they can purchase a flash drive containing the digital library and 18 other useful programs including an interactive Bible program (with 4 versions of the Thai Bible) and portable Skype.
Dwight’s ultimate desire is to make the ministry to Asia self-funded. With this objective he started a for-profit business doing business process outsourcing and other services, Pactec Asia. Not only does the business help fund the ministry but provides an opportunity to hire non-believers to work in a Christian environment with the goal that they would become believers.
Crosswinds Romania
European Outreach
Ieremia Rusu, Co-Director
Serving in Romania, Ieremia has observed the cultural shifts and dynamics of a changing Europe as reflected in his own story. Though raised in a Christian family, he was educated in the atheistic system established by the communist government. This was a system that led Romania and other Eastern Bloc countries to become secularized societies where the “established” Church was primarily cultural, if anything.
This educational training and societal environment would initially cause Ieremia to reject the faith of his parents. However, at the age of 16, he became convinced that it was the educators who were teaching the lie about God and that the truth was, in fact, found in the life and message of Jesus Christ. This truth profoundly impacted Ieremia’s life and future.
While working as a computer engineer, he began to study theology through the underground (Romania was still communist at that time) with seminary professors sent by the Eastern European Seminary of Vienna, Austria. During this time Ieremia was being prepared for an influential work that would come when Romania was no longer a communist State.
This work began in 1991, two years after the fall of communism, when Ieremia quit his job as a computer engineer in order to
help establish the Timotheus Bible Institute in Bucharest where he serves as the Dean of Education. In addition to his efforts at the Bible Institute, Ieremia also helped Radio Voice of the Gospel set up seven Christian radio stations in Romania.
Another important chapter in Ieremia’s ministry occurred in 1995, when he was sent by his denomination to the United States, to be trained in the area of cult awareness and countercult apologetics. For three months, he received intensive training in these areas, primarily under the instruction of Bob Waldrep, who was then serving with another ministry.
With this educational training, he returned to Romania to help establish a much needed ministry in apologetics and theological education. Since that time Ieremia continued to receive periodic training from Bob and has implemented this into his efforts in Romania. One area where he does this is the Timotheus Bible Institute where he has added, and teaches, courses in apologetics (including new errors and heresies), systematic theology, and the history and philosophy of the world religions.
Though his home is in Romania, Ieremia has traveled and spoken in several European Countries and in India. His travels help him to have a good understanding of the cultural trends not only impacting his own countries but those that surround him, as well.
Through the Bible Institute, the Church, and in his everyday life, Ieremia uses this knowledge to engage, and train others how to engage, the European culture with the truth of the gospel.
Ieremia and his wife, Lida, have two children.
Education
Bucharest Polytechnic University,
B.S. degree in electronics and computers
Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, M.A. in Biblical Studies
University of Bucharest,
Th.D, Theology
Email Ieremia at: ieremia@crosswindsfoundation.org
Ioan (Nelu) Filip, Co-Director
Ioan Filip was born into a Christian family in Romania, while it was under the rule of an oppressive communist regime. This required the Church to meet in secret and it meant that Nelu, from and early age, saw first hand the persecution Christians experienced under Communism.
It was in such an environment that Nelu became a follower of Christ in 1979. His love for the Lord and His Word eventually led him to become involved in a Bible education extension program. This interest and his studies would create the desire in him to help train others, which he began doing at a Bible School in Timisoara, Romania.
Always looking for new opportunities to learn, in 1995 Nelu offered to to take part in an intensive training program concerning new religious movements and cult apologetics being offered in Birmingham, Alabama. He was selected by his denomination to receive this training along with fellow Romanian minister Ieremia Rusu.
For two months Nelu received this training; primarily, under the instruction of Bob Waldrep, who was then serving with another ministry. Upon returning to Romania, he was able to incorporate this new knowledge into his teaching ministry and began offering instruction in cult apologetics and evangelism to Christians in Romania.
Today, he travels extensively throughout Romania, and other parts of Europe, as a teacher and conference speaker, while continuing to train students in his position as the president of the Bible School, Scoala Biblica Cristos Pentru Romania Timisoara. In addition to his teaching duties and travels, Nelu also serves as the pastor of a church in Timisoara, Poarta Cerului.
With so much to do, one might wonder why Nelu would also want to be associated with the work of the Crosswinds Foundation. Here is his reply, “I want to be part of the Crosswinds Foundation because here in Romania we are facing a lot of challenges coming from the modern culture against the Christian Faith and we need to find the right answers for the people we minister to. Crosswinds will help us to answer those questions and be a resource for those we are trying to reach”.
Education
Christ For the Nations Institute in Dallas Pentecostal Theological
Institute of the University of Bucharest, Theological Degree
Tibiscus University, Journalism Degree
Email Nelu at: nelu@crosswindsfoundation.org
Schedule a Speaker
If your church, professional society, school, civic group, or other organization wants to better understand the impact of the cultural trends you face, our staff is available to assist you with a wide range of resources and services, including:
- Consulting
- Guest Speaker
- Member and Leadership Training Seminars
- Conferences
- E-Letter Subscriptions
Tommy DeRamus, Chairman
Del Allen, Secretary/Teasurer.
Eugene Cuevas
Terre Currey
Ralph Dewberry
Tim Faulk
Richard Hutto
Alonza Jones
Louis Henderson
Phillip Smith
Dr. Phil Walton
Bob has been engaged in cultural apologetics, with an emphasis on new religious movements, since 1993. Through the years, he has observed and addressed cultural trends that have altered various elements of our society; especially, as pertains to matters of faith and spirituality. In early 2008, he founded the Crosswinds Foundation to be a resource for those individuals and organizations being impacted by new and different emerging cultural trends.
Ron has served in various leadership positions in the Church and public sector that have allowed him to gain a rather unique perspective of culture trends. His work with the Children's Aid Society, where he served as Program Coordinator and Out Reach Worker for the "Project Dads" program and, later, as the Principal and Executive Director of Restoration Academy (a private school serving the urban community) provided Ron insight into the dynamics that are shaping the youth culture and their parents and community leaders who work with them.
