Speaker Bios
ALAN ANDREWS
U.S. Director, The Navigators
Alan and his wife, Becky, have been on Navigator staff since 1970.
Since that time, they have been involved with Collegiate and Community
ministries in Illinois and directed the Canadian national work from
1976-1990.
They returned to the United States in 1990, and Alan
directed the ministries of the Established Countries of Asia. In 1995,
he became a National Field Leader with the U.S. National Leadership
Team. And in July, 1997, he was selected to lead the U.S. work of The
Navigators.
Alan and Becky have three daughters, Amy, Nancy,
and Sandy, and seven grandchildren. Alan’s hobbies include reading,
golf, and jogging.
BILL TELL
Vice President and Deputy U.S. Director, The Navigators
Bill and his wife, Sue, were married in 1972 and joined the staff of The Navigators that same year.
Bill led the Navigator ministry at the University of Illinois in Urbana
from 1972 to 1981. In 1982, he served as the Illinois state director
for The Navigators. Then, in 1988, Bill directed the Navigator
ministries for California and the Pacific Northwest. Bill assumed the
role of associate Collegiate Director for the ministry in 1991, and in
1998 joined the Collegiate National Leadership Team.
Bill
currently serves as a vice president and Deputy U.S. director of The
Navigators. The Tells live in Colorado Springs and are active members
of Village Seven Presbyterian Church, where Bill serves as an elder,
and both of them teach various Bible studies and classes.
Living in Colorado, the Tells have experienced withdrawal symptoms from
not being able to find a beach, but Bill and Sue love the outdoors—the
more remote and primitive the better. Summer might find them camping in
the Rockies or canoeing on the Canadian border. They are also avid
Chicago Cub fans. Bill and Sue have two sons, Dave and Jeff, and one
grandson.
CHRIS CALIGIURI, DJ
Chris Caligiuri is a 31-year-old dude that grew up on the east side of
Des Moines, Iowa, and attended Redeemer Lutheran Church. Upon
graduating from the University of Northern Iowa in 1998, with a degree
in Communications, he was asked to come on staff with the Collegiate
ministry there, and remained on the campus for three years. Then God
called him to Washington DC to do inner-city ministry; he has been in
DC since Sept 2001.
His heart is in the hood. He
loves the hood. Jesus loves the hood! The hood’s got
everyone – murderers, drug dealers/users, thieves, alcoholics, sex
offenders, ex-convicts, prostitutes, and crew’s (like gangs).
Chris is trying to leave the mark of Christ in the hood for
generations.
Throughout college and ministry, he has
DJ’d Nav college retreats, weddings, holiday dances, barbeques,
inner-city schools, birthday parties, FCA events/camps, and a Louis
Palau crusade. He loves music and seeing people getting out and
cuttin’ it up.
EDDIE BROUSSARD
Vice President of Diversity, The Navigators
Eddie’s exposure to The Navigators at Texas A&M in 1974 resulted in
the recommitment of his life to follow Christ and to receive ongoing
training in Christian discipleship and leadership. After his graduation
in 1978, Eddie joined the staff of The Navigators and moved to the
University of Illinois for staff training.
Eddie’s varied
ministry responsibilities have included leading The Navigator ministry
at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama (1982-1984) and at Memphis State
University in Tennessee (1984-1989) as well as serving as pastor of
discipleship in two churches from 1984 to 1993. Eddie graduated from
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1992. From 1993-1997 Eddie
directed In-Country Training for the CoMission movement in the former
Soviet Union.
Eddie currently serves as Vice-President of Diversity for the U.S. Navigators, giving leadership and support
to the United Ethnic Ministries Group. He also resources and partners
with The Navigators missions/ministries to help them become more
effective in impacting the ethnically diverse peoples around them.
Eddie and his wife, Barbie, live in Colorado Springs, where they enjoy hiking in the beautiful Colorado mountains.
MIKE TRENEER
International President, The Navigators
Mike Treneer, son of an Anglican pastor, came to faith in Christ
through the Navigator student ministry in England. After graduating
from Loughborough University as a chemical engineer, Mike worked for
Shell and continued his involvement in a Navigator student work in
Manchester.
He and his wife, Chris, joined the staff of The
Navigators in 1971. They led a fruitful student ministry in Southampton
for 4 years, also leading a young staff team comprised of an American
missionary couple, a Syrian staff couple, and a British woman staff
worker.
From the mid-seventies, Mike led the team which
pioneered the Navigator ministry in Nigeria. However, a Muslim-led
military coup, and consequent difficulties in obtaining resident visas,
prevented the Treneers from living in Nigeria. Mike led the ministry
from 1974-1982 by commuting from London. While based in the UK during
this period, Mike also acted as the secretary to the Great Britain
leadership team and led the ministry in London. He and Chris developed
a fruitful local ministry among people in their neighborhood in
Southwest London.
In 1980, the leadership of the Navigator work
in Ghana was added to Mike’s responsibilities. In 1981 Mike was
appointed the Navigator Director for Africa. Mike delegated the
leadership of the Ghana work to an American missionary couple in 1982
and handed the leadership of the country ministry in Nigeria to a
Nigerian team in 1984.
For 16 years, Mike and Chris lived in
Nairobi, Kenya, with their three children. Mike developed a strategy
for the development of the Navigator work in sub-Saharan Africa, and
traveled extensively throughout the continent developing African
leaders, teaching the Bible, shepherding missionaries, and coaching the
pioneering of Navigator ministries in 20 countries. From the early 90s,
Mike began to develop a team to lead the work in Africa. In June 1998,
Mike passed the leadership of the Navigator work to this African team
and returned to the UK. During their years in Nairobi, Mike and Chris
continued to have fruitful personal ministries among teenagers and
business people, and were also deeply involved in the life of Nairobi
Baptist Church where Mike was an elder and chairman of the preaching
team.
Mike was appointed an International Vice President of
The Navigators in June 1998. After a year in England, during which Mike
traveled to attend the International Executive Team (IET) meetings,
they moved to the Navigator headquarters in Colorado Springs. In 1999,
Mike became the IET point person for the Navigator ministries in
Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltics—in addition to
visiting ministries and speaking at conferences in Asia and the U.S. In
2001, the IET asked Mike and Chris, while continuing their other
responsibilities, to lead the European Navigator work and to build a
new European regional team. This they did for three years. In August of
2004, Mike was unanimously chosen by an international council to
succeed Jerry White as president of The Navigators, effective January
1, 2005.
In addition to his love of family and friends, Mike’s
main forms of relaxation are listening to an eclectic collection of
music, reading, watching old movies, and sports. His greatest sense of
accomplishment comes from using his gifts in teaching and preaching,
opening the Bible with large and small groups as well as with
individuals.
REV. DR. BRENDA SALTER MCNEIL
Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a powerful, prophetic preacher and a
thought-leader in the field of racial and ethnic reconciliation.
She has over 20 years of experience and speaks at conferences, on
college and university campuses, and in churches around the world. Her
mission is to inspire every mind and ignite every heart. Brenda earned
her Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, a Masters of Divinity
from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry from
formerly named Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (now Palmer
Theological Seminary). She served on the staff of InterVarsity
Christian Fellowship, a national evangelical organization that supports
Christian outreach to students on college and university campuses, as
the Regional Coordinator of Multiethnic Training.
In 1995, in
response to her growing passion for authentic racial healing, Dr.
Salter McNeil founded Overflow Ministries, Inc., a nonprofit,
faith-based organization devoted to the ministry of racial and ethnic
reconciliation. She continues this work through Salter McNeil &
Associates, LLC, a racial and ethnic reconciliation speaking, training,
consulting, and leadership-development firm based in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Salter McNeil is also the coauthor of the book
The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change
(InterVarsity Press, 2005). Through her speaking, teaching, and
writing, Dr. Brenda boldly declares a vision that unites, transforms,
and brings healing to people from every tribe and every nation.
Together with her husband, Dr. J. Derek McNeil, and their two children,
Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil stands at the forefront of an international
movement to advance God’s kingdom through the ministry of racial and
ethnic reconciliation.
Books:
—"The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change,"
co-authored with Rick Richardson, Associate Director of Evangelism for
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (InterVarsity Press, January, 2005)
— "My Friend Sam: The Battle for Self-Esteem,” pp. 15-29, Chapter 1 in
Women’s Liberation Jesus Style: Messages of Spirituality and Wisdom, Stephanie Bibb, Editor, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL 1998, 2002
Articles: —"Who Me? A Call to Socially Relevant Leadership," pp.72-77,
The African American Pulpit, Volume 6, Number 3/Summer 2003
—"Raising Children in a Multiethnic World,"
Christian Parenting Today, March 2002
—"A More Excellent Way: Race and Gender Reconciliation Through Christ," pp.20-23
Christian Ethics Today: A Journal of Christian Ethics, Vol. 6, Number 5, October 2000
—"A More Excellent Way: Race and Gender Reconciliation Through Christ," pp. 7-11, 16,
PRISM, Volume 7, Number 3, May/June 2000
—"The Black Church in America: A Global Perspective,"
International Urban Associates Newsletter, Chicago, IL. Spring 1994
Work History: —Overflow Ministries, President and CEO, 1995-2004
—Campus Minister, Urban Project Director and Regional Coordinator of
Multiethnic Training for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Pasadena,
California and Chicago, Illinois 1987-2000
—Assistant to the Chaplain, Occidental College, Eagle Rock, California, 1984-1987
GILBERT ESQUIVEL
Nickname: "Gil"
Birthplace: Parma, Idaho
Hometown: Pacoima, CA
Resides: Los Angeles, CA
Website:
eastsidecomedy.com
Gilbert Esquivel’s comedy career was launched one night at the Improv
when the feature act made the mistake of singling him out as he arrived
late to the show. The stand-up got more than he bargained for as
Gilbert brought down the house, and was invited on-stage to tell a
joke. The rest, as they say, is history.
From there he went on
to win his first comedy competition at the Ice House in Pasadena, and
since then has performed at the nation’s most prestigious comedy
venues, on radio and television, and now in motion pictures.
Gilbert has graced the stages of the Improv, the Laugh Factory, the
Apollo Theater, Bally’s and Caesar’s Palace. He has performed at major
universities such as Arizona State, UCLA, San Diego State, and USC.
He has been featured in radio, as a regular with Rick Dees and as a
host of his own morning show. He has done warm-up for such television
shows as “Star Search”, ”The Jamie Kennedy Experiment”, “American
Idol”, and “Dancing With The Stars”. He has performed stand-up on such
television shows as “Comic View”, “The Tom Joyner Show”, “Jamie Foxx’s
Laffapalooza”, and “Que Locos”. And he will soon be seen in Nancy
Meyers’ film “Holiday”, currently in production.
Gilbert has
made it his mission to make people laugh and to make a difference, and
so he also performs and speaks at churches such as Cavalry Chapel and
the Crenshaw Christian Center, and at prisons such as New York’s
Riker’s Island and the Mississippi State Prison.
Gilbert resides in Los Angeles where he is blissfully married and the proud father of two magnificent daughters.
