Writer Bios

We couldn't offer The Well to our readers without the generous contributions of our writers. Read through their bios to learn from their stories and click through for links to the articles they have written. If you are interested in writing for The Well, explore our Writer's Guidelines.

 

Caroline Lancaster serves as InterVarsity’s Associate Director for Multiethnic Initiatives. She is a second-generation South Asian American that has lived in California, Singapore, Boston, and most recently, outside of Chicago. She left a career in marketing and design to become a campus minister with InterVarsity at Boston University. Caroline is a certified Cultural Intelligence Trainer and participated in Rev. Dr. Brenda-Salter McNeil’s Reconciliation Leaders Cohort. She has been married to her wonderful husband for nine years, and is a mother to two boys.

Phyllis J. Le Peau worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for over two decades in St. Louis and the Chicago metro area. She is also the author of several Bible study guides published by Zondervan and InterVarsity Press, including the LifeGuide Bible Studies Acts, Love, and Women of the New Testament. She and her husband, Andy, coauthored the LifeGuide Bible Study Grandparenting. They have four married children and thirteen grandchildren.

Bronwyn Lea graduated from law school and seminary in her native South Africa, before settling in sunny California where she worked in college ministry while her husband completed his PhD. She is passionate about raising her three little kids, and writing and teaching women to be fully-equipped and fully-loved disciples of Christ. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Christianity Today’s Her.meneutics, RELEVANT, Think Christian, and Start Marriage Right. She belongs to the Redbud Writers Guild. Find Bronwyn on Facebook or Twitter, or follow her blog at www.bronlea.com, where she writes about the holy and hilarious.

Helen Lee is the director of product innovation at InterVarsity Press. An award-winning writer, she has frequently covered issues of race, ethnicity, and identity in her articles and books which include The Missional Mom and Growing Healthy Asian American Churches. Helen is a frequent conference speaker, the co-founder of Ink Creative Collective and Best Christian Workplaces Institute, and the producer of several podcasts including Get in The Word with Truth’s Table.

Ada Limón is the author of, most recently, The Carrying, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Kingsley Tufts Award, and was named one of the Top Ten Poetry Books of 2015 by The New York Times. Her previous collections include Sharks in the Rivers, Lucky Wreck, and This Big Fake World. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and American Poetry Review, among others. She serves on the faculty of the Queens University of Charlotte Low Residency MFA program, and the 24Pearl Street online program for the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center. She also works as a freelance writer and lives in Lexington, Kentucky.

Lisa Liou works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship as team leader for Graduate & Faculty Ministries in Southern California. In June 2014, she will graduate with an MA in Theology with an emphasis in Biblical Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Outside the office or classroom she can be found coordinating schedules and transportation for her two children or volunteering at their school. She and her husband Jeff consider themselves Midwesterners at heart, but Southern California has wooed them with culture, cuisine, and the fact that you never need to check the forecast. 

Heidi Metcalf Little is a Fellow at the Hudson Institute where she researches, writes and speaks about philanthropy and the developing world. With a passion for issues of poverty and domestic as well as international policy, she also currently serves on the Board of Social Services for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Heidi is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. After many years of globe trotting and being single, she now has her hands full with a new house in a new town with a (relatively) new husband and a precious newborn baby boy.

Lily Liu gained most of her passion for language, culture, and world-changing through her involvement with the undergraduate and international student chapters of InterVarsity at The Ohio State University. She is currently a second year dental student at Harvard University, where she co-leads the Christian Medical & Dental Association. She blogs at savingfais.wordpress.com.

Hillary Lum is currently a geriatric and palliative medicine fellow in Denver, CO. She received a BA in Biology from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois and her MD/PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With her husband, Ryan, she volunteered at a faith-based HIV/AIDS hospital in Jos, Nigeria in 2006. She completed her Internal Medicine residency in Pittsburgh, PA. Her interests are in understanding the health care needs that affect older adults at the end of life. She plans to be involved in community-oriented health services research to understand health disparities for this vulnerable population. She loves living simply, in community, and in the city (near mountains).

Gillian Marchenko is an author, speaker, wife, mother, and advocate for individuals with special needs. Still Life: A Memoir of Living Fully with Depression is her second book. Her first memoir, Sun Shine Down (T. S. Poetry Press), chronicles her experience having a baby with Down syndrome while serving as a missionary overseas. She and her husband Sergei spent four years as church planters with the Evangelical Free Church of America in Kiev, Ukraine, and they now live with their four daughters in St. Louis, Missouri.

Susan L. Maros (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is an affiliate assistant professor of Christian leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, where she has also served as a doctoral supervisor, and an adjunct professor at the King's University, Southlake, Texas. She is a past president of the Academy of Religious Leadership.

Aleah Marsden is a writer, speaker, and social media and communications director who is passionate about seeing women walk into all the plans God has for them. Her writing can be found in publications like Christianity Today and Books & Culture, as well as a handful of devotionals in the NIV Bible for Women: Fresh Insights for Thriving in Today’s World (Zondervan, 2015). Connect with her at AleahMarsden.com, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

 

Karen Wright Marsh is executive director and cofounder of Theological Horizons, a university ministry that has advanced theological scholarship at the intersection of faith, thought, and life since 1991. Karen directs daily programs, writes resources and curriculum, teaches weekly classes, mentors students, leads the staff, and speaks at retreats, churches, and campus ministries. She holds degrees in philosophy and linguistics from Wheaton College and the University of Virginia. Karen lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband, Charles Marsh.

 

Joanne M. Marshall is a former high school teacher and a current associate professor of educational administration at Iowa State University. Her long-term research agenda is driven by the question of how people's internal values and beliefs relate to their public school roles, particularly in the areas of religion/spirituality, moral and ethical leadership, philanthropy, social justice pedagogy, and work-life balance. She holds an Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and has published articles in The Journal of School Leadership, Equity and Excellence in Education, Educational Administration Quarterly, The School Administrator, and Phi Delta Kappan. She is the lead editor of Juggling Flaming Chainsaws: Faculty in Educational Leadership Try to Balance Work and Family and editor of the Work-Life Balance book series from Information Age Publishing. More information is available at her website.

Melodie Marske has served on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship since 1988, beginning as a part-time administrator and part-time Campus Staff Minister. After serving undergrad students at the University of Michigan for several years, she began working with graduate students at the University of Michigan. She received her MA in Biblical Studies at Trinity School for Ministry in Pittsburgh in 2003. Melodie became a Team Leader for Graduate & Faculty Ministries in 2005, then an Area Ministry Director in 2007. In July 2014, she began serving as the GFM Midwest Regional Director. 

Melodie is an avid runner, usually running half marathons each spring and fall. She enjoys time outdoors, visiting campus coffee shops, and reading both fiction and theology. Legolas & Gimli, her two cats, keep her entertained at home and are always glad to welcome guests.

Maureen Mathew serves as the Area Director of Central Texas. Originally from LA, she left her family and friends as an act of obedience to God’s call to full time ministry. In her fifteen years on staff, she has had a diverse range of experiences working with college students, speaking, teaching, and training. She never imagined staff as a vocation, especially as a South Asian woman, but believes her yes has impacted not only her but her family and friends too!

In her free time, she loves to eat good food, drink boba, stand up paddle, and watch rom coms. She loves facetiming her nephew and traveling with family and friends.

D.L. Mayfield lives and writes on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon with her husband and two small children. Her first book of essays, Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith was released by HarperOne in 2016. Her second book, The Myth of the American Dream: Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety, and Power will be released in April 2020. Her writing has appeared in a variety of places, including McSweeneys, Christianity Today, Sojourners, The Washington Post, Image Journal, Vox, and The Rumpus, among many others. She is trying very hard to be a good neighbor.

Camille McCall is an aspiring author who enjoys writing inspirational pieces, screenplays, and poetry. She obtained her BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2012 from Michigan State University and has since returned to pursue a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering. She is currently working on her first book eager to encourage women struggling with relationships, faith, and self-esteem through her own life experiences. Camille loves anything outdoors, but also appreciates curling up for a good movie, or gathering with friends for great outings and engaging discussions.  

Jenny McGill (PhD, King's College London) is a dean at Indiana Wesleyan University and adjunct faculty member at Dallas Theological Seminary. A Fulbright recipient, she has worked as an international educator and intercultural consultant with clients and students from over sixty nations. Connect with her at jennymcgill.com and @drjennymcgill.  

Rebecca McLaughlin holds a PhD from Cambridge University as well as a theology degree from Oak Hill Seminary. Formerly vice president of content at The Veritas Forum, Rebecca is now co-founder of Vocable Communications. Her first book, Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Worldview, will be published by Crossway in 2019. Follow her on Twitter or at rebeccamclaughlin.org.

 

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