Our Staff
Verse By Verse Ministry of San Antonio is blessed to have the talents and gifts of many hard-working volunteers. Each volunteer plays an important role in conducting the work of this ministry, including in developing and distributing our teaching. All share a common love for the Lord and for God's word. A few of our key volunteers and writers are highlighted below, while many others serve with their time and talents anonymously.
Ministry leadership is provided by our Board of Directors.
Volunteer Staff & Writers
Melissa Church
Contributing Author
Melissa is a contributing author for VBVM. To begin Melissa’s faith story at the beginning would be entirely impossible, but to say that salvation came through adversity would be a good way to sum it up.
When Melissa’s only child, Wil (with one l) was diagnosed with cancer at age three, she “bargained" with God that she would do anything He asked of her if He would save her son. God took her up on that offer, and brought about a series of amazing circumstances which culminated in her salvation a year later. Her years in service to her Lord have been a wild, tumultuous, wonderful ride, including her most recent work with Verse by Verse Ministry of San Antonio.
Because her walk with God began late in life, Melissa understands the frustrations of learning to use the Bible in a practical way. Her own desire to dig for life-transforming truth led her to Precept Ministries, where she was trained as a Precept Upon Precept group leader. Melissa draws heavily on that training in preparing written material to support Verse by Verse Ministry. Her hope is always to demonstrate that God’s word is relevant and usable, and that life-changing truth is available to anyone who seeks it.
Melissa has a BA in University Studies with an English/Journalism emphasis from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where she met her husband Chris. She volunteers in the library at her son’s school, operates the mobile library for her church out of her guest-room closet, writes book reviews for the church newsletter…there might be a pattern forming here. She is also an active small group leader and an occasional speaker/teacher. Currently, Melissa and her family call Northwest Arkansas home.
She can be reached through the Contact Us page on this site.
Pastor Fede Acuña
Pastor, Olivo Verde Church, San Ramón, Costa Rica
Translation/Authoring of Spanish Language Content
Pastor Acuña leads a small but dedicated team of translators who create Spanish language versions of our teaching. He is a man who loves the Lord and loves to teach God's word, and his partnership with Verse By Verse Ministry has been a blessing to many people in Latin America.
He can be reached through the Contact Us page on this site.
Tonya Penfield
Instructor
Tonya Penfield is from San Antonio, Texas. She married her best friend, Jeff, who is an independent distributor of surgical instruments and equipment. Tonya and Jeff have been married since 1985 and are blessed with three children.
Their eldest, Blake, will be married to his high school sweetheart in 2009 and attending Baylor Law School. Travis, a Junior at Texas A&M, is studying Finance and serves as summer basketball coach at Kanakuk Christian Camp in Branson, Missouri. Chelsea is a Senior at San Antonio Christian Schools where she shares her contagious spirit as Varsity Cheerleader.
Tonya and Jeff teach Sunday School at Wayside Chapel in San Antonio. Her passion is for people and her spiritual gifts are teaching, encouragement, and intercession. Tonya's experience includes professional training, and she has served as guest speaker for leadership conferences, church events, and non-profit organizations. In the words of beloved Christian author, Max Lucado, Tonya "loves people just the way they are, but too much to let them stay that way!"
She can be reached through the Contact Us page on this site.
Brady Stephenson
Contributing Author
Brady Stephenson is a columnist for Verse By Verse Ministry, bringing an unique perspective on Jewish tradition, teaching and language to his writing on Scripture. Brady is saved by grace through faith and has been blessed beyond measure by his God and Savior. In 1996, shortly after the miracle of the birth of his daughter, Brady set sail on a "ship of faith" and began the journey of a life in Christ. He served as deacon and teacher at Harvest Fellowship Community Church (a non-denominational church) in San Antonio and led the church's college-aged Bible study group for a number of years.
The wind of the Spirit propelled and directed Brady's ship of faith for almost a decade before leaving him seemingly adrift and stranded in a sea of decisions regarding family, work, and ministry. With the faithful support of his bride, Amy, Brady cried out to the Lord in the words of King David from Psalm 51:10-12: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." Together they prayed for direction and strength for days... weeks... months... a year...
At the end of a year, God answered with a mighty breath of His Spirit and directed Brady's ship of faith with renewed vigor into a sea of study of the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith. It was at this time that Brady became aware of the Hebrew name of Jesus: Yeshua, the Hebrew word that means "salvation". Since then, Brady has become an ardent student of the earliest teachings of the Christian faith and daily seeks to walk in the footsteps of His Savior. Brady founded the Psalm 119:18.org ministry to share what he has learned (and continues to learn) from his voyage.
Brady's love for God's word's has led him to adopt a Jewish tradition in his writing. Since the Ten Commandments prohibited taking the Lord's name in vain, Brady avoids any possibility his writing might treat God's name or title as commonplace rather than holy. Therefore as a reminder that God's name should never be diminished in any way, Brady avoids spelling out God's name or title. Instead, Brady has adopted the traditional Jewish practice of removing vowels from any reference to His name (e.g., "G-d").
He can be reached through the Contact Us page on this site.