Jan Coates

“It’s not what happens to you—
it’s what you DO with what happens.” –Jan Coates

From here to there and back again, Jan has seen just about as much heartache and heartbreak as you can imagine. But now she realizes it was all part of His master plan.

What God has done in Jan’s life is what qualifies her to write and speak in a way that has amazed tens of thousands of audience members and readers around the country. She is living testimony that God is a God who loves, forgives, redeems, and restores.

Her articles have appeared in Today’s Christian Woman, Faith & Friends, War Cry, The Boston Globe, Significant Living, The Kansas City Star, Bryan/College Station Eagle, INC Magazine, and Holiness Today. She is a contributing writer for Crosswalk.com, and numerous Ezines. She has several Christian published books and is currently working on two books for release 2009.

Jan’s speaking and writing are a direct result of God’s chosen path for her. She is a full-time Christian speaker, ministering to thousands of individuals. A feature guest on numerous TV/radio programs, including:

Jan knows firsthand the pain of hiding from God because of feelings of unworthiness and shame. By God’s grace, she overcame childhood abuse, dysfunctional family relations, divorce, the loss of her only biological child, depression, cancer, and much more. Jan knows about hanging on to a bare thread of hope and overcoming, in spite of all odds and worldly conditions.

Consumed with shame and guilt from childhood abuse, Jan turned her back on her Christian faith during her teen years. She filled her life with self-destruction to mask her pain. By the time she was 19, she was divorced with a young son.

In 1982 a drunk driver killed that son, Jan’s only birth child. This tragedy left her emotionally paralyzed and numb. Her knees buckled and she collapsed on the floor, face down. “No, God, not Chris,” she cried out. “Please, God, I need you.” For the first time in seventeen years she communicated with God.

Jan rededicated her life to Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday 1983. Now, as an international speaker, lay counselor, author, and consultant, Jan ministers to countless individuals about how they too can be set free.

Jan Coates is living proof that through Jesus, painful pasts can be put behind and victims can become victors who then become “difference makers” — passionate advocates with a Kingdom purpose — that God can use.

Whatever the audience — big city, low country, urban, or upscale — Jan connects with people in a deeply personal way. Whether it’s doing a keynote for the Salvation Army in front of hundreds of people or speaking in a small conference room for a dozen or more, audience members walk away inspired, changed, and personally moved by Jan’s touching and universal story.

Jan and her family are born-again believers in Jesus Christ, and are active members of Christ United Methodist Church. They reside in College Station, Texas.

Kay DeKalb Smith

 “Souls smile. Hearts laugh. Scripture Sings.” –Kay DeKalb Smith

At 17 years of age, as Miss Alabama Teenager, Kay DeKalb Smith found herself on a Billy Graham Crusade platform giving her testimony and singing. Since then, this dedicated Christian woman has devoted her life and talents to creatively sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Her stage abilities were honed as a musical performer in I Hear America Singing at the amusement park, Opryland USA. She has appeared in TV commercials, done voice-over work on many recordings, has been a cover feature in HomeLife Magazine three times, made numerous TV appearances, and her video's have aired nationally on FamilyNet.

Described by many as the "Carol Burnett of Christian Entertainment," this red-headed ball of enthusiasm from Nashville, Tennessee will simultaneously tickle your funny bone while immersing your heart and mind in the important claims of the gospel. Teaching from the book by Robert Morgan, The Red Sea Rules, Kay takes you through the 10 God-Given Strategies for Difficult Times. She has been called a "consummate communicator" using props, songs, and stories to creatively share Biblical truth. Be prepared with a box of tissues as you cry from hilarious family antics, "Lord, Change My Spouse," to the Biblical application of "Proverbs 31 Incorporated," and to heavenly matters, "From Here to Eternity."

Kay began as a singer and has developed her speaking/teaching skills throughout the years. Always funny, this lady who "dares to go where no other crazy woman will go," skillfully uses her sense of humor to penetrate the heart. She is famous for having you laugh one moment and crying the next.

Her family has generously supported her lifelong call to ministry. Ed is a devoted husband, businessman, and constant encourager. Daughters, Evin (newly married to Luke) and Allie, sometimes join Mom for Mother/Daughter events. The whole Smith family is committed to Christ and committed to helping Mom accomplish all that God wants her to do.

The Smiths take an active role in their local church, The Peoples Church. They are committed to Servant Leadership and participate in every way possible: teaching, serving, and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.