FEBRUARY 26-27, 2025

What is MOVE Conference?

MOVE Conference is designed for anyone passionate about sharing the Gospel locally, nationally, and internationally. Pastors, church staff, students, and any leader who desires to learn, grow, and develop in the area of missions will benefit from MOVE.

Conference Schedule

We will have five dynamic main sessions with worship, speakers, and stories from special guests who live and serve around the world.

    Meet our 2025 Speakers

    Main Session Speakers

    Dr. Mary Ho

    Dr. Mary Ho

    International Executive Leader of All Nations

    Meet Mary
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    Dr. Mary Ho is the International Executive Leader of All Nations (http://allnations.international), a global Christian missions organization with workers making disciples and church planting in 45 countries. Dr. Ho is passionate about finishing the Great Commission in this generation by sharing the love of God among every people and in parts of the world where the name of Jesus Christ is little or not known. Dr. Ho received her Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University, VA, U.S.A. in 2016.

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    Meet Amir

    Hear stories about the persecuted church from a Muslim background believer.

    Davis Powell

    Davis Powell

    CEO & President of Seed Company

    Meet Davis
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    Davis has been involved in Bible translation for nine years and began working at Seed Company in 2015. He has served in a myriad of roles until becoming the Chief Executive Officer in March 2024. In December 2020, Davis accepted the role of Chief Advancement Officer, which later became referred to as Chief Experience Officer, to oversee Seed Company’s investor experience and global brand efforts. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Clemson University with a minor in business administration, as well as a Master of Arts in Christian leadership from Dallas Theological Seminary. Davis and his wife Kate live in Dallas, Texas, with their daughter and son. He enjoys spending time with his family, playing & watching soccer, and traveling.

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    Meet Heather

    Heather is an associate teaching professor at Penn State, speaker, and author. She designs advanced writing curriculum for the English department and loves helping students thrive professionally. She has written eight books, including the bestseller Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison, and an award-winning book on evangelism (cowritten with her husband, Ashley Holleman) called Sent: Living a Life That Invites Others to Jesus. Her latest book, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility (Fall 2022) helps fight the loneliness epidemic by inviting readers to enjoy better conversations.

    Heather also serves with Faculty Commons, the graduate student and professor ministry of Cru. She has two daughters and three cats, and she blogs daily at heatherholleman.com. Her podcast is “The Verb with Heather Holleman.” When she’s not writing or teaching, Heather is growing a plum orchard, looking for turtles in the woods, or gathering with friends for dinner and a movie.

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    Meet Edward

    Edward Paz planted The Movement Church in Oakland, California in 2013. After 8 years of proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and serving the city, Edward transitioned the leadership of the church to a new Senior Pastor, and took a role at Hope Church in Las Vegas as their Lead Pastor of Prayer and Teaching Ministries.

    Edward has been married to his wife Rebekah for 18 years. His passions include creating/cultivating a culture of corporate prayer within a church, training the next generation of preachers, and encouraging pastors to be spiritually and emotionally healthy.

    Edward also enjoys writing. He published “Only God – A Supernatural Church Planting Story” in 2020 and has written extensively at edwardpaz.com.

     

    Dr. Clay Smith

    Dr. Clay Smith

    Senior Pastor of Johnson Ferry

    Meet Clay
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    Clay Smith is the husband of his high school sweetheart, Terrica, and is the proud dad of three daughters. The Smiths moved to Atlanta in 2019, wherein Clay became the Senior Pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, a thriving, multigenerational church on the north side of the city. A native of Greenville, SC, Clay’s passion for ministry revolves around the Great Commission, with a focus on three major areas: evangelism, relational disciple-making, and text-driven preaching. Clay loves to help people understand the Word of God so that they might know the God of the Word. He received his undergraduate education at the University of South Carolina and is a two-time graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, holding a Ph.D. in biblical preaching. He has served the Southern Baptist Convention in various capacities, including his role as President of the Board of NC Baptists, as well as serving as a current trustee at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. When time allows, he loves to read, lift weights, fish, find the best cheeseburger in Atlanta, and hang out with his Boykin Spaniel, Waylon.

    Dr. Jamaal Williams

    Dr. Jamaal Williams

    Lead pastor of Sojourn Church Midtown

    Meet Dr. Jamaal
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    Dr. Jamaal Williams is the lead pastor of Sojourn Church Midtown in Louisville, Kentucky. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Jamaal graduated from Michigan State University and holds a Doctor of Educational Ministry (DEdMin) in Black Church Leadership from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also serves as an adjunct professor in Leadership and Discipleship. Additionally, Jamaal serves as the President of Harbor Network, a church-planting organization dedicated to launching, leading, and multiplying thriving churches.

    Jamaal co-authors the award-winning book "In Church As It Is in Heaven" with Timothy Paul Jones and is a contributing author to "Ministers of Reconciliation: Preaching on Race and the Gospel," published by Lexham Press. He has written numerous articles on church leadership and discipleship. Jamaal has been married to Amberly for 15 years, and they have five children together. Outside of ministry and family, he enjoys following the '90s Chicago Bulls, embracing slow days, pursuing a more joyful life, and cultivating greater intimacy with Jesus.’

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    Meet Amir

    Hear stories about the persecuted church from a Muslim background believer.

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    Meet Heather

    Heather is an associate teaching professor at Penn State, speaker, and author. She designs advanced writing curriculum for the English department and loves helping students thrive professionally. She has written eight books, including the bestseller Seated with Christ: Living Freely in a Culture of Comparison, and an award-winning book on evangelism (cowritten with her husband, Ashley Holleman) called Sent: Living a Life That Invites Others to Jesus. Her latest book, The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in an Age of Isolation and Incivility (Fall 2022) helps fight the loneliness epidemic by inviting readers to enjoy better conversations.

    Heather also serves with Faculty Commons, the graduate student and professor ministry of Cru. She has two daughters and three cats, and she blogs daily at heatherholleman.com. Her podcast is “The Verb with Heather Holleman.” When she’s not writing or teaching, Heather is growing a plum orchard, looking for turtles in the woods, or gathering with friends for dinner and a movie.

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    Meet Edward

    Edward Paz planted The Movement Church in Oakland, California in 2013. After 8 years of proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and serving the city, Edward transitioned the leadership of the church to a new Senior Pastor, and took a role at Hope Church in Las Vegas as their Lead Pastor of Prayer and Teaching Ministries.

    Edward has been married to his wife Rebekah for 18 years. His passions include creating/cultivating a culture of corporate prayer within a church, training the next generation of preachers, and encouraging pastors to be spiritually and emotionally healthy.

    Edward also enjoys writing. He published “Only God – A Supernatural Church Planting Story” in 2020 and has written extensively at edwardpaz.com.

     

    Breakout Session Speakers

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    Meet Steve
    Sarah Farley Beall

    Sarah Farley Beall

    Next Gen Strategist for Georgia at IMB

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    Sarah grew up as a missionary kid with the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board and has served all around the world. Her love for students stems from her time as a campus minister on multiple campuses and serving in various ministry positions in the SBC. She is currently the Next Gen Strategist for Georgia and Camp Specialist for the IMB. She is an enneagram 7 who loves her family, dog, coffee, and SEC football.

    @farleyonthego | @imbnextgen

    Chris Fisher

    Chris Fisher

    VP of Operations at Cafe 1040

    Meet Chris
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    Chris Fisher is the VP of Operations at Cafe 1040. He has served in the missions community for 9 years, focusing on organizational strategy and execution. He is passionate about supporting those on the frontlines of ministry. Chris consults with short- and long-term sending organizations to help them prepare for and respond to crisis events. He lives in Marietta, GA, with his wife, Taylor, and four children.

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    Meet James
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    Meet Clay
    Steve Moore

    Steve Moore

    President of Hold the Rope, Nexleader

    Meet Steve
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    Steve Moore is the president of Nexleader and Hold the Rope. At Nexleader, Steve leads a growing network of over 260 coaches who use the Identity Profile Self-Awareness Tool to help people discover, optimize, and unleash the kingdom resources God put inside them. At Hold the Rope, he leads a startup initiative focused on helping Jesus followers understand how God is at work around the world, the scope of the task that remains, and how anyone can be involved.

    From 2006 to 2015, Steve served as the president and CEO of Missio Nexus, the largest network of Great Commission-oriented evangelicals in North America, representing churches, organizations, and training institutions that send approximately 20,000 missionaries serving in nearly every country.

    He is the author of five books, most recently, The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible.

    Steve and his wife Sherry have four adult children and live near Atlanta, Georgia.

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    Meet Steve
    Larry Ragan

    Larry Ragan

    Founder of CULTURELink, Inc.

    Meet Larry
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    CULTURELink‘s founder, Larry Ragan, has served in forty-six nations, both long-term and short-term. After completing studies in Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech and earning M.A.'s in Cross-Cultural Ministries and Christian Education at Dallas Theological Seminary, Larry served as the World Missions Pastor in two Atlanta area churches, as a long-term missionary in Budapest, Hungary, and as a Teaching Pastor for eleven years in Kennesaw, Georgia.

    In 2010, Larry founded CULTURELink, whose mission is to make disciples of those who make disciples of all nations. His team has equipped over 3000 short-term team leaders who, in turn, have trained, discipled, and mobilized thousands of servants into over 140 nations.

    Larry and his wife, Karen, now spend 50% of each year overseas in the toughest-closed-to-Christianity regions of the world. While there, they conduct spiritual life conferences, retreats, and national pastoral training. Holding certifications in life coaching, counseling, and trauma care, Larry provides global worker counseling to those serving in this area. In addition, he is an itinerant speaker, an instructor for the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement courses, and is available to serve as a keynote speaker.

    When in the USA, the Ragans live in Marietta, Georgia. Their son, Luke, lives and serves full-time in North Africa and the Middle East. Their daughter, Cameron, is on the staff of The Navigators, discipling college students who are maneuvering today’s social and cultural challenges.

    Michele Rickett

    Michele Rickett

    Founder & CEO of She is Safe

    Meet Larry
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    For 23 years, Michele has served as CEO of She Is Safe, a GA-based international ministry that exalts Christ by freeing and equipping women and girls across the least-reached world from human trafficking, equipping them to build strong lives of dignity and faith in Christ.

    Michele is an InterVarsity Press author of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Reader’s Choice Award - voted as one of the Top 10 Must Read Books on Faith and Justice.

    Michele is an inviting and passionate expert on the topics of human trafficking and holistic ministry. She is a frequent radio guest on Moody Radio and is a Perspectives Course instructor.

    Michele’s life mission grew out of seeing the sale of girls while she lived and worked in East Africa. She focuses on She is Safe’s staff and 330 overseas coworkers on rescue, restoration, and prevention of slavery among those most likely to be sold in high-risk communities in 11 countries: in red-light districts, refugee camps, border towns, and communities that practice human trafficking as part of their economy.

    Her passion is to raise up more people near and far to combat human trafficking with Christ at the center.

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    Meet James
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    Meet Clay
    Nathan Sloan

    Nathan Sloan

    Executive Director of Upstream Collective

    Meet Nathan
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    Nathan Sloan is the executive director of Upstream Sending, the sending ministry of the Upstream Collective. He is a pastor at Sojourn Church Midtown in Louisville, Kentucky, and the author of You Are Sent and Multisite Missions Leadership. Nathan holds a doctorate of missiology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is married with two wonderful kids.

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    Meet Steve
    Julius Tennal II

    Julius Tennal II

    Director of International Missions at Summit Church

    Meet Julius
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    Julius has been married to his high school sweetheart, Brittany, for 10 1/2 years, and they have three sons: Azariah (4), Josiah (2), and Zechariah (1). Julius has served in vocational ministry for 12 years, including youth ministry, college ministry, and 3 years as a missionary in South Africa. He now serves as the Pastor of International Missions with the Summit Church in North Carolina. He loves playing basketball, writing poetry, going on safaris, and traveling around the world to speak. Julius is passionate about inspiring the next generation to participate with God in his global mission.

    Anne

    Anne

    Special Guest with IMB

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    Meet James
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    Meet Clay

    *More speakers will be announced soon!

    breakout sessions

    MINISTERING THROUGH CRISIS

    We are living in troubled times with one major world crisis after another. Whether it be natural disaster or political turmoil, this track is designed to provide practical tools in continuing gospel ministry in the face of risk and suffering.

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    Mission Emergency: How to Manage a Crisis on a Short-Term Mission Trip

    Led By: Chris Fisher

    You're on a short-term mission trip, and something goes wrong. It's a crisis! What do you do? Who do you call? What did you prepare? How do you avoid making a BIG mistake that could put future trips in jeopardy? Come discuss best practices in managing a crisis situation before, during, and after an event to help your ministry thrive.

    MOBILIZING THE NEXT GENERATION

    Mission leaders need great wisdom in how to communicate effectively to the next generation. This track will focus both on understanding and engaging the lost while also mobilizing believers.

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    Mobilizing Post COVID Gen Z & Alpha

    Led By: Sarah Farley Beall

    56% of the world is 30 and under, which means we live in a young, lost world. IMB and Barna partnered on a recent research project that looked at the future of missions and the implications of the perspective of Gen Z. As the largest sender of students, IMB is here to train, equip, and mobilize you as leaders to build pipelines and help impact the future of missions. We want your churches to develop a culture of sending that creates children who can’t wait to join the youth group, youth who want to engage with missions and volunteer in church, and high schoolers who stay involved in church as they transition to college and were discipled to make choices that create opportunities and not barriers for their future. This seminar will give you a perspective and plan to develop a pipeline that will create disciples who make disciples and consistently send students to your church to help impact the world now and in their future careers.

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    Fanning Gen Z into Flame

    Led By: Julius Tennal II

    It is often easier to see the dangers of Gen Z's fire than it is to see the opportunities, but if we properly tend to them, they will shine light into darkness and chase away deathly coldness with the life-giving warmth of the gospel of Christ. In this session, I'll share how we're fanning the next generation into flame at the Summit Church so that they burn with a passion to participate with God in his global mission.

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    Reaching the Next Generation

    Led By: Steve Moore

    The challenge with reaching the next generation isn't that we have the wrong answers. It's that we are answering the wrong questions. In this session, we'll focus on what the next generation is asking and how we should respond.

    MISSIONS & TECHNOLOGY

    Although rapidly changing technology presents believers with many dangers, how can mission practitioners effectively utilize technology for Kingdom purposes? This track provides practical know-how in several fields.

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    Redeem Screens (Make Him Famous)

    Led By: Anne

    Nearly every aspect of life is influenced by the digital world. We are called to contextualize the good news of Jesus to the world around us, and the world around us is digital. As we carefully consider the components of the M-task, it is essential to step into this digital world full of lostness and bring hope and light. We’ll look at creating best practices for digital engagement, including different roles your team can play, emerging platforms, and what a beginning to mature-engagement can look like.

    MOVING BEYOND FAILURE

    This track will provide honest, real-world insight into mistakes mission experts have made and how they learned and grew through them.

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    Discovering the Crucial Elements Needed to Prevent Short-term Missions Failures

    Led By: Larry Ragan

    In this global climate, when short-term missions (STM) are not always looked on favorably, it is more important than ever to properly train, equip, and disciple teams to be global servants in order to prevent failure. During this session, Larry will help you establish an STM philosophy on which all teams should be built. Studying real experiences and learning from mistakes, you will discover the key elements necessary to include in your STM team training. In addition, time will be provided for you to ask and discuss the challenges you face with your STM teams and programs.

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    Sending Church Failure: Real Stories of Mistakes, Failures, Loss, and Ways to Keep Moving Forward

    Led By: Nathan Sloan

    Being a sending church is all the rage—and it should be! But along with the beauty of sending missionaries comes the pain of loss, struggle, grief, and failure. Join Nathan Sloan, a seasoned missions pastor and agency leader, as he unpacks stories of sending failures and what they mean for us today.

    PRICING

    Special Offers

    We offer special rates for groups of 10 or more — this discount will automatically apply when you register.

    We also offer special rates for college/seminary students and church planters! If you fall into one of these categories, please contact us at [email protected] to register.

    Frequently Asked Questions

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    Who should attend?

    MOVE Conference is designed for anyone who is passionate about sharing the gospel locally, nationally, and internationally. Pastors, church staff, college students, and any leader who desires to learn, grow, and develop in the area of missions will benefit from MOVE Conference.

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    How do I pay my conference fee?

    Payments are made through credit or debit cards during the registration process.

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    Can I cancel my registration?

    We understand that plans sometimes change. While we cannot guarantee a refund, we will do our best to work with specific situations. All registrations are transferable to another individual. Please contact [email protected] for any questions about registration.

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    What is included in my registration fee?

    Registration for this in-person conference includes access to all main and breakout sessions, MOVE swag, four (4) meals, and digital access to all sessions for 90 days after the conference.

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    If I attend Johnson Ferry, what part of the conference can I attend?

    There are several ways you can be a part of the MOVE Conference. You can register for the full mission leaders conference or be a part of the JF family events. Contact [email protected] for more information.

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    How is the MOVE Conference connected to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church?

    The MOVE Conference is an exciting part of Johnson Ferry’s annual MOVE missions week.

    Didn’t See Your Question?

    Please contact us at [email protected]; we would be glad to help answer all your questions.