Darryl Lamar Smith was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He graduated from Kirkman High School in1983 and served in the US Army for three years. God saved him in 1991; he was licensed to preach in 1992 and ordained in 1994. He has been on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ since 1996, working with high school students at Howard High School in Chattanooga. For six years, he served as Chattanooga’s City Director, and the Southeast Regional Director for three years. In the summer of 2006, Campus Crusade chose Darryl as the new National Director for Student Venture, the High School ministry of CCC. They moved to Campus Crusade’s headquarters in Orlando in May, 2007.
Darryl speaks to high school students, college students and adults across the country. Darryl is married to Gwen and has three children.
Afshin was born in Houston, Texas. He moved with his family to their native country of Iran when he was two years old. In the midst of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Afshin’s family moved back to Houston when he was six years old. In the second grade, he was given a Bible by a tutor who was teaching him the English language. He read that Bible 10 years later as a senior in high school and came to faith in Christ. His conversion to Christianity was only the beginning of his journey to understand what it would look like to follow Christ.
Currently, Afshin resides in Frisco, Texas, with his wife Meredith. He is the Lead Pastor of Providence Church in Frisco, TX. He is also the founder of Afshin Ziafat Ministries and travels nationally and internationally proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in churches, retreats, camps, conferences, and missions. Afshin speaks weekly at Vertical Bible Study at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He also partners with Elam Ministries and travels into the Middle East regularly to train Iranian pastors. Afshin’s passion is to teach the Word of God as the authority and guide for life, to preach Jesus Christ as the only Savior and Redeemer of mankind, and to proclaim the love of Christ as the greatest treasure and hope in life.
Video is available on Vimeo of Afshin speaking at Winter Conference 2011. He is also on Twitter.
Roger Hershey, known as “Hersh” more than Roger, graduated from Penn State in 1972. While in college, he was in the marching band for 2 years, a cheerleader for 2 years and was in the Chi Phi Fraternity. He also met Roxanne, his wife of 36 years, in college. They now have 4 kids – ages 20, 31, 34, and one in heaven. He has been on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for 37 years. Eight of those years have been with Student Venture, 17 on campus staff at Miami of Ohio, 5 serving with the Regional Team overseeing the campuses of OH, IN, IL & MI. He has spent the last 7 years back at his Alma Mater as campus staff at Penn State. He loves to play volleyball, racquetball, football and Risk. He is a diehard Penn State Nittany Lions fan and loves to hang with college students and have fun!
If you use The Compass as a discipleship tool, it’s likely you’ve already heard him speak about the right reasons, people, components, and content of discipleship.
Video is available on Vimeo of “Hersh” speaking at Winter Conference 2011. He also makes for great misquotes.
Claude Hickman is the Executive Director for The Traveling Team, a national missions mobilization movement. After marrying his wife Rebecca they embarked on journey together in 2000, traveling ten months of the year, speaking to over two-hundred and fifty thousand students at universities, conferences, and churches, casting vision for the evangelization of the world. Claude is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary where he has spoken many times at chapels as well as the author of Live Life On Purpose. He now lives with his family in Southern California, and continues to travel, speak and awaken believers to God’s global purposes.
Claude is on Twitter.
Aaron Ivey believes that all worship is a response to a creative and compelling God. Serving as one of the worship pastors at The Austin Stone, Aaron now views touring ministry as an extension of what goes on within a vibrant, healthy local church. With a passion for living out God’s word, compassion for God’s children, and a deep, abiding love of God, Aaron and his bandmates are challenging a generation of believers to take their experiences in corporate worship out into the world, to marry song with service.
Aaron and his band are on Twitter: @aaronivey, @jimmieingram, @stevenbush.
Judy Clark
Judy got involved in Cru as a student at TCU and after college joined staff for 16 years. She was on staff at Texas Tech, as far north as Minnesota and all the way over in Orlando. After 16 years she left to pursue work using her original degree—nursing. She then spent 11 years taking care of Moms and newborns and in 2011 was named one of the Great 100 nurses in the DFW area. She recently began working at TCU as an instructor in the skills and simulation lab.