Main Speakers

Vermon Pierre (@pastorvp) is the Lead Pastor of Roosevelt Church in Phoenix. Vermon is a graduate of Princeton University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the first generation of his family born in the United States. Both of his parents were born in Haiti. Vermon and his wife, Dennae, are the parents of three wonderful children (the two oldest adopted through foster care). They are also foster parents and provide short term, emergency respite care for foster children.

[*Vermon is speaking in place of Dr. Russell Moore who is unable to attend due to a family matter. See update on our Facebook page.]


Jason Kovacs (@jasonkovacs) his co-founder of Together for Adoption and Director of Ministry Development for The ABBA Fund. He also serves on staff as Pastor of Care and Counseling at the Austin Stone Community Church in Austin, TX where he and his wife live with their five children (four adopted and one biological child). It is Jason’s passion to see the church gripped with the adoptive heart of God and practically living out the Gospel through adoption and orphan care. He is a contributing author of Reclaiming Adoption: Missional Living Through the Rediscovery of Abba Father.

Breakout Presenters

Safe Families for Children (@safefamilieschi) offers sanctuary to thousands of children, minimizing the risk for abuse or neglect and giving parents the time and tools they need to help their families thrive. The ultimate goal is to strengthen and support parents so they can become Safe Families for their own children.

Bethany Christian Services (@bethany) is a global nonprofit organization caring for orphans and vulnerable children on five continents. Bethany is recognized as a prominent leader in social services worldwide, and is the largest adoption agency in the U.S.  Bethany envisions a world where every child has a loving family.

John Fuder (@heart4thecity) is a professor of Urban Studies at Moody Theological Seminary and co-author of Heart for the Community.  He spent twelve years with City Team Ministries in San Jose, California, and two years with Impact Ministries in Chicago.  For his doctoral research he worked with people on Skid Row in Los Angeles.  Dr. Fuder lives in Chicago’s Edgewater community with his wife, Nel, and their three children.  He is also author A Heart for the City and Training Students for Urban Ministry.

Scott Grzesiak is the Executive Director of GRIP Youth Outreach. He has worked directly with youth for over a decade, starting as a camp counselor in 1999 and serving in several capacities for Sunshine Gospel Ministries within the Cabrini Green housing project. He co-lead the creation of SLAM, a high-energy, engaging sports and team-building outreach program for at-risk teens — walking “life-on-life” with teens as a coach mentor and later taking the role as the Mentorship Director – recruiting and training up more adult mentors. In 2004 Scott launched GRIP Outreach For Youth as an independent non-profit working with fatherless youth in Chicago.

Todd Augustine is Pastor of Congregational life at College Church in Wheaton IL, overseeing assimilation, pastoral care and helping hands program. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Seminary and is currently pursuing his D.Min from Westminster Theological Seminary. Prior to becoming a pastor, Todd spent 20 years in the hotel industry and two years in Christian publishing. He and his wife Cindy have two daughters and a newly adopted son.

Oscar Leiva (@oscarleivahtc) is Lead Pastor at Holy Trinity Church – West Side and the Director of Movement Ministries.  Oscar was born in El Salvador and moved to the United States at a very young age. He holds a BA from Moody Bible Institute in Pastoral Studies and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Moody Graduate School in 2006. God has graciously given Oscar and his wife, Megan, three young children and a dog.

Clive Craigen (@urban_prof) is Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at Moody Bible Institute.  He has an MA in Inner City Studies from Northeastern Illinois University. Clive is very interested in church planting, leadership development and helping understand the context and dynamics of urban life and ministry.  He and his wife Randi have four children, two of whom are adopted.

The ABBA Fund (@abbafund) provides interest-free covenant loans to Christian couples who are called by God to expand their families through adoption and who need help with the cash flow crunch posed by adoption expenses. The vision for The ABBA Fund is that it becomes a “self perpetuating” fund which continually “recycles” its funds to help one adopting family after another. The ABBA Fund also assist churches in establishing and administering church adoption funds.

GRIP Outreach for Youth, founded in 2004, addresses the needs of fatherless teenagers in Chicago — introducing a father-figure and the hope of Jesus Christ into the lives of hundreds of at-risk teens who desperately needed someone to love them and walk life alongside them.