Join us at LittWorld 2024. You will learn from more than 40 Christian publishing professionals from all the world regions serving as speakers and workshop leaders, and be able to interact with them during meals and break times. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to gain fresh vision and skills for your writing and publishing ministry.
Here are some of the resource leaders you will meet in Puebla:
Terumi Echols
USA
Terumi Echols is president and publisher of InterVarsity Press (IVP) in suburban Chicago, USA. Her leadership at IVP has been characterized by a strong vision for sustained growth and a deep passion for the organization’s mission to create and publish resources that deepen lives in Christ to engage the university, the church, and the world through its publishing efforts. She also serves on the executive committee of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and the board of the National Association of Evangelicals. Terumi has been married to Darrell for 35 years. They have two adult children, two grandchildren, and two dogs.
Mark Carpenter
BRAZIL
Mark Carpenter is chairman and CEO of Mundo Cristão, a Christian book publishing house in Brazil specializing in Bible translation, development of local authors, and distribution through both Christian and general markets. Formerly an editor at Tyndale House (USA), Mark was the founding president of the Brazilian Association of Christian Publishers. He has served on MAI’s international board, including six years as board chair, and is a member of the editorial board of the Publishing Research Quarterly in New York. As a writer, editor and publisher, Mark has led numerous international training sessions on leadership, writing and the editorial process.
Sandra el Hajj Baz
LEBANON
Sandra is Publishing and Communications Manager of Dar Manhal al Hayat publishing house, a ministry of LSESD (now called Thimar), based in Beirut, Lebanon. She has a Ph.D. in Translation Studies, Language & Communication Sciences from the Lebanese University and 17 years of experience in translation and content writing.
Sandra created her music blog and online presence two years ago, “A Life of Praise,” where she shares her music videos and some personal spiritual reflections. She is passionate about internal eco-tourism, traveling, singing/leading worship, reading, and writing. Sandra is married with two children, Joud and Nour.
Cris Garrido
USA
Cris is Vice President and Publisher with HarperCollins Christian Publishing, where he oversees the largest Christian publishing operation in the Spanish language. He has been in Christian publishing for the past 10 years, serving in different capacities—though always focused on and prioritizing publishing indigenous voices from the Spanish-speaking world for a global audience. Prior to publishing, Cris worked in the non-profit sector leading international community development programs for various Christian organizations. He holds post-graduate qualifications in business, Christian education and publishing. Cris is married to Georgina and lives in the US with their children, Colette and Nicolás.
Sam Richardson
UK
Sam is CEO of SPCK, the UK’s largest Christian publisher with over 300 years of history—SPCK sent the first printing presses to India and the first printed books to Australia, opened the first British schools for poor children and published the first Braille books. Sam has also worked as Editorial Director at HarperCollins, overseeing religious and business books, and Publisher at Hodder & Stoughton, overseeing trade non-fiction publishing. He is a trustee of MAI-Europe, a keen marathon runner and a father of three boys.
Scott Mathews
USA
Scott is Chief Executive Officer of Tyndale House Publishers. A graduate of Wheaton College, Scott worked for Calamos Investments prior to his tenure at Tyndale. He joined Tyndale in 2017, serving in the role of Vice President of finance. He was then promoted into the role of Chief Financial Officer before becoming CEO in April 2021. Scott and his wife, Leslie, have four children and a very active life, enjoying family vacations, their kids’ sporting events and their dog, Tessa. Outside of work, Scott enjoys hiking and spending time with his family.
Keila Ochoa Harris
MEXICO
Keila has published more than 20 books in Spanish, including fiction and devotional books. She currently creates content for the educational market with Sistema Educativo LAM, and loves training teachers and writers.
A life-long reader, Keila also dreams of stimulating children and teens to become avid readers. She lives in the North of Mexico with her husband and two children.
Ardy Roberto
PHILIPPINES
Ardy is a “writer for the Lord” – creating evangelistic content ranging from the best-selling gospel tract Ang Buhay na Hindi Bitin (“Living the Full Life”) to the award-winning novel The Happy Entrepreneur. A retired entrepreneur and author of 11 books, he is also the founder of the mentoring program, Project Author, and a volunteer trainer/speaker for Haggai International and Media Associates International having conducted sessions on writing from places like Maui, Hawaii to Thimphu, Bhutan. Ardy is married to his former Project Author mentee, Miriam Quiambao (former Ms Universe 1st Runner Up, 1999) and together they raise their blended family of three boys, Joshua (16), Elijah (5) and Ezekiel (3), 7 dogs, 6 cats and 2 ducks while overseeing a house church in the island of Boracay in the Philippines.
Carlos Astorga
USA
Carlos is Editorial Director of Church Resources at Lifeway Global in the U.S. He was born in Mexico City and grew up in Monterrey. He has degrees in Computer Science and Historical Theology. He has served in pastoral, teaching and information technology roles for more than 30 years. In addition, he serves as a guest teacher for various mission organizations and is on the faculty of Denver Seminary’s IDEAL Institute, a lay-level ministerial program that offers classes in Bible and theology to Hispanics in the metro Denver area. Carlos lives in Mount Juliet, TN, with his wife, Miriam, and their three daughters: Elisa, Carolina and Sofia.
Afrika Mhlophe
SOUTH AFRICA
Afrika is a widely respected author and television personality in South Africa. He speaks and writes on racism, corruption and idolatry from a biblical perspective. He has published four books and speaks on Pressing Matters, a TV program on Faith Broadcast Network.
Afrika serves as a board chairperson of Gateway News, an online Christian news portal, and writes regularly for the publication. His vision is to see more Christians produce inspiring and compelling content that addresses the challenges the church in Africa faces today.
Michael Collie
AUSTRALIA
Michael is National Director of Sparklit Australia, an organization which seeks to nurture emerging indigenous Christian publishers in difficult places. Michael trained as a graphic designer and was a founding director of Wild, Australia’s premier adventure and wilderness magazine whose team has also fought for environmental conservation for the last 40 years. He and his wife, Elspeth, worked for 16 years with Christian book publisher Certeza Argentina. Michael loves books, mountaineering and birdwatching.
Sally Isáis
MEXICO
Sally is Director of MILAMEX, a Mexican evangelical parachurch organization with over 60 years of history. A Wheaton College graduate, she is a writer and editor, and alongside her team seeks to train other Christian writers. Her prayer and purpose can be found in Psalm 102:18: “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the Lord.” Sally leads ASAF, an evangelistic interdenominational choir, and is a worship leader in her local congregation. She has served in transcultural ministries for over four decades.
Joshua Tallent
USA
Joshua is Director of Sales and Education at Firebrand Technologies, where his focus is on helping publishers learn about, and find solutions to, their workflow and metadata problems. With a background in e-book development, metadata and other publishing technologies, Joshua is an acclaimed teacher and guide on the role of data in publishing. He serves as Chair of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) Board of Directors and hosts the BookSmarts Podcast, which features practical discussions and interviews about publishing data and technologies. In his spare time, Joshua enjoys teaching Bible studies, playing complex board games and fiddling with his home automation system.
Edgar Trono
PHILIPPINES
Edgar is CEO of OMF Literature, which publishes and distributes Christ-centered, biblically sound, and culturally relevant resources for the equipping and spiritual growth of Filipinos. He also serves in men’s ministry with Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and as a board member of several Christian organizations. Prior to his current role with OMF Literature, Edgar was a Director for Global Initiatives at the BSF headquarters in the US, a Trustee of Our Daily Bread in the Philippines, and a banker. He has more than 30 years of banking experience, including senior positions in public sector portfolio management. Edgar is married to Betty, who serves with him in ministry, and they are blessed with two children and two grandchildren.
Jeanette Windle
USA
Jeanette is an award-winning novelist, investigative journalist, editor and collaborative writer. She grew up in the Amazon’s guerrilla hot zones, has lived in six countries and traveled in more than 30. Those experiences have birthed 24 fiction and non-fiction titles, including the bestselling Veiled Freedom (2010 ECPA Christian Book Award/Christy Award finalist) and Freedom’s Stand (2012 ECPA Christian Book Award/Carol Award finalist), as well as “as told to” titles such as Forgiven: The Amish Schoolhouse Shooting, a Mother’s Love and a Story of Remarkable Grace (2016 ECPA Christian Book Award/Christian Retailing Best Awards finalist) and All Saints, also a Sony Affirm movie. Jeanette is CEO of J. M. Windle Editorial Services.
Carlos and Cynthia Rodiles
MEXICO
Carlos and Cynthia serve with MILAMEX, running a ministry center that includes a guest house for backpackers and people seeking to know more about Jesus. This center aims to give young adults and ministry leaders space to explore and pursue their calling in God’s mission. Their team coaches and empowers Latin Americans in strategy building, communications and networking to have a greater impact on their communities. Carlos and Cynthia will be the worship leaders for LittWorld 2024.
Janet Wilson
UK
Janet is founder of Dernier Publishing and Write For A Reason, a training resource for aspiring writers of stories for young people that includes a podcast, courses and membership group. An author as well as a publisher, Janet established Dernier to produce novels for children, teens and young adults written from a Christian perspective. She is the author of The Treasure Hunt, Mystery in the Snow, Suspicious Deliveries, Revenge of the Flying Carpet, and Year 0033 under the name J.M. Evans. Dernier Publishing has a growing list of titles with several authors. Janet also serves as Chair of MAI-Europe and runs a monthly Online Writers Friendship Group. Janet is married to Andrew and lives on the edge of London, where she “goes out and about, plotting new adventures.”
David Galeano
COLOMBIA
David is Marketing Director of Editorial Portavoz. He has 15 years of experience in marketing, 11 of which are in the Christian book industry, including roles with CLC Colombia and Editorial CLC. He holds marketing and management degrees from Universidad Piloto de Colombia, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada de Colombia and Sterling Business College in Perth, Australia. David has been a speaker, panelist and trainer on branding and marketing at international publishing conferences such as the ECPA’s International Christian Publishers Conference and FILBo (International Book Fair of Bogotá), as well as at various events across North America, Latin America and Australia.
Joan Campbell
SOUTH AFRICA
As a pilgrim and storyteller, Joan seeks to follow Jesus wholeheartedly, using writing to process and share her journey. She is a contributing devotional writer for Scripture Union South Africa’s Closer to God and the author of seven books. Chains of Gwyndorr, the first book of her fantasy trilogy, won the 2017 Illumination award for Young Adult Fiction. She has also published three collections of short stories, reflections, prayers and art, one of which has been translated into French. Her most recently completed book is a historical fiction novel set in the time of King David. Joan is an MAI-Africa trustee and lives in Johannesburg with her husband, Roy, and their two daughters. Besides her involvement in the training ministry of MAI, she also builds community, equips and encourages writers online in her communications and social media role.
