We believe in a team approach to doing ministry, and thankfully, we are blessed to have one of the best teams around! Listed below are bios and pics for the amazing women who make the work and ministry of SAGE happen day in and day out, or click on a specific name to skip to an individual profile.
Executive & Administrative Staff:
Merritt Johnston, Executive Director
Kristi Hvidbjerg, Office Administrator
Event Team: Shelly Ballou, Rebecca Bradford, Meghan Charles-Goad, Heather Daniel, Amy Duncan, Sami Elder, Lori Flowers, Laura Hargrove, Meagan Harvey, Kristy Tyler, Evie Miller, Kelli Mrazek, Abby Neinast, Ree Reinhardt, Kayla Romero, Natalie Stary, Alyssa Weaver, Jenny Worsham
Merritt JohnstonPresident & Executive Director |
Merritt has been serving in full-time ministry since college when she co-founded SAGE Ministries. Over the past ten years, Merritt has traveled with SAGE across the United States leading conferences designed specifically for middle school and high school girls. When Merritt is not traveling with SAGE, she has served on staff at several churches, including four years as the Director of Women’s Ministries at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall. She currently serves as the Executive Director of SAGE as well as a Regional Representative for the Southern Baptists of Texas Women’s Ministry Team. Merritt resides in Brenham, Texas, with her husband, Jeremy, their son, Josiah, and two renegade dachshunds named Aidan and Adelaide.
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Shelly BallouEvent Team & Minister's Wives Specialist |
Shelly has been serving the Lord with her husband Walter since 1993, most currently at Green Acres Baptist Church where he is the student pastor. The area where the Lord is stirring her heart right now is in ministry to ministers’ wives. Recently she had an opportunity to speak at a retreat for military wives and enjoyed discovering the similarities between life in the military and life in the ministry. When she is not traveling with SAGE, Shelly is a homemaker and home educator for her two children, Taylor and Seth. |
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Rebecca BradfordEvent Team & Resource Development |
Rebecca has been traveling with SAGE Girls Ministry for the past ten years helping lead conferences for teen girls. She also trains girls’ ministers and volunteers to create girls’ ministries within the local church. For the past eight years, Rebecca has been the part-time Director of Girls Ministry at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. She is passionate about serving in the local church and helping guide teen girls to healthy, growing relationships with Christ. Rebecca’s husband serves along with her as the High School Pastor. Rebecca and her husband have the joy of raising two handsome boys named Jacob and Judson.
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Meghan Charles-GoadEvent Team & Marketing Specialist |
Meghan has been active in church ministry throughout college to present day. She is currently serving as the 6th–12th grade Girls Minister at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. Meghan also travels with SAGE Girls Ministry creating a buzz all around the United States about girls impacting their world with the love of Jesus Christ. She has enjoyed being able to minister to thousands of middle school and high school girls and their leaders. Meghan is also a newlywed who enjoys spending time with her husband, John, who serves with her within the Green Acres Student Ministry. |
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Amy DuncanEvent Team |
Amy is a young, vibrant single woman that loves life and what God has called her to do. She graduated from Baylor in May 2008. She had a great college experience and has been plunging full force into ministry where God has called her. She served in several ministry positions during her summers off from college, and it was through these experiences that she realized she has a HUGE heart for girls ministry. In the summer of 2008, Amy spent time in Guatemala serving the orphans and the least of these. It was here that her heart began passionately beating for young orphans and troubled teens all over the world. She is currently seeking her degree in law at Liberty University in order to be able to advocate for women all over the world that need someone to speak out for them. |
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Sami ElderEvent Team |
Sami has been joyfully serving on the SAGE Team for several years. She's had a heart for teenage girls ever since Christ stole her heart away for Him in 2005. Sami recently married a wonderful man of God, and she is currently working as a pediatric nurse at a hospital in Lubbock, TX. She says, "God has given me a heart to encourage and serve others. I absolutely love where I am, and I'm excited to keep growing in Christ. I am truly blessed to be able to serve alongside the other SAGE girls and to be involved in this ministry."
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Lori FlowersEvent Team/Registration Coordinator |
Lori surrendered her heart and life to full time ministry while in college. When she married Norman in 1988, she began a wonderful journey of serving alongside her husband, a minister to students. They have been involved in student ministry in Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia on the local, state and national level. Lori currently lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, where she serves as the middle school girls' ministry coordinator at her local church. Lori became involved with SAGE on a volunteer level which opened the door for her to become the Registration Coordinator for SAGE events. She is eager to minister to moms of teen girls since she is the mother of three girls, two of which are teenagers. Lori has been blessed with four wonderful children, Sheri, Kaci, Nathan and Whitni, and is encouraged and supported by the love of her husband and children. |
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Laura HargroveEvent Team & Esther Project Director |
Laura has been traveling with SAGE for nearly ten years, serving most of that time as a part of the worship band. When not traveling with SAGE, she serves the students of UMHB as a professor in the biology department and a lab coordinator in the chemistry department. She is married to Bob, who works as a jeweler, and they reside in Temple, Texas. |
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Meagan HarveyEsther Project Team Member |
Meagan has been actively a part of various ministries since she was in high school. Through her college years at Biola University, the Lord began to use her in ministry with girls who were in college and high school. It was there that she began to love developing relationships and having conversations with girls that would be entirely centered on the truth of who God is and how His word directly applies to our lives. Meagan loves that God has currently called her to minister to girls from 7th-12th grade at Lakeside Baptist Church in Canton, Texas. While doing this, she is also working on her Masters in Leadership and Counseling through Liberty Theological Seminary. She will complete this degree in May 2010, to which she says, "Woo hoo!" |
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Kelli MrazekEvent Team |
In 2000, Kelli’s life was changed forever when a friend invited her to church, and she invited the Lord to come into her life. She finally found the one thing she was looking for. Kelli has a passion for ministering to teenage girls. For the last 7 years, she has had the opportunity to develop relationships with junior high and high school girls. She continues to pray that God will continue to use her wherever He sees fit. |
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Kristi HvidbjergOffice Administrator |
Kristi has worked in all aspects of a non-profit organization, from program implementation to fundraising and administration. She joined SAGE in 2009 as the Office Administrator. She comments, "God has orchestrated His plan so wonderfully for me to be part of SAGE. My desire is to honor His faithfulness by using my skills to move SAGE forward for His glory." In addition to SAGE, she is the PTO President at her daughter's school and facilitates a women's Bible study at her church. She lives outside of Burton, Texas, on a windy hilltop with her husband Søren, their daughter Samantha, and their rambunctious dogs, Casey and Charlotte. |
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Kristy TylerEvent Team & Resource Director |
Kristy has been involved in girls ministry since college. She has traveled extensively with SAGE over the past 10 years and enjoys teaching girls the truth found in scripture in practical ways. She has a Master’s Degree in Psychology and Counseling and is licensed as a Professional Counselor in the State of Texas. Kristy lives in Waco, Texas, with her four-legged children (two dogs and two cats). |
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Evie MillerEvent Team/Worship Leader |
When Evie was eight years old, she made the most wonderful and significant decision of her life. She accepted the Lord Jesus as her personal Savior, and invited Him into her heart. Since that time, they have journeyed together through both blessed and difficult times. God is still working on her, and teaching her how to become more Christ-like. For the past ten years, she has had the amazing opportunity to share her passion for worship and girl’s ministry through SAGE. She also serves as a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse at her community hospital in Houston. Each day brings a new challenge to share the love of Christ with co-workers, patients, and their families. Evie and her husband, Kevin, are blessed to serve the community of East Houston and their church body. God has also blessed them with two beautiful children: Lexi Grace and Zane Blaze. |
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Abby NeinastEsther Project Team Member |
After a feeling called into youth ministry at the age of 18, the Lord began to grow a passion in Abby to minister specifically to girls and the struggles they face. Through interning with a church during her college years, she was able to serve middle and high school girls and help them learn their identity in the Lord. It was during this time that she attended a SAGE Conference and learned of the ministry's heart. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve on a team so passionate about sharing the Word of God. Currently Abby is a college recruiter for Hardin-Simmons University and will graduate with her Master of Arts in Family Ministry in May 2010. She and her husband, Cody, live in Abilene where he serves as a youth minister. |
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Heather DanielEvent Team |
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Kayla RomeroEsther Project Team Member |
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Ree ReinhardtEsther Project Team Member |
Ree grew up in Tifton, Georgia, and graduated from the University of Georgia. After college, Ree received a Masters of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Two of her favorite things are Bulldogs and Beignets. In both Georgia and Louisiana, she served in youth ministry positions ranging from volunteer youth worker to youth intern to youth minister. In 2006, she moved to Texas to work as the Girls Minister at First Baptist Church of McKinney, Texas, and so began her career as a Texan. Currently, she works with McKinney Sports Connection as their Director of Operations. Her first year to work with SAGE is the 2009-2010 conference season, and Ree loves getting a chance to minister to teenagers through SAGE events. |
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Natalie StaryEvent Team |
Natalie has been serving in Student Ministry for the past 10 years. She has served in the local church, for a state convention, and has been involved in mission trips all over the world for the past 5 years. Natalie has a huge heart to make the name of Jesus famous to this generation of students. She is also a newlywed and enjoys spending time with her husband, Tim, who serves as a student minister in Brownwood, Texas. |
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Alyssa WeaverEvent Team |
Alyssa is a recent college graduate of Dallas Baptist University. After spending her last year working in a coffee shop, she realized the avenue it opened for building relationships. Due to her passions for ministry, ladies and coffee, Alyssa took a volunteer position in Valley Brook, Oklahoma, where she will serve coffee with a loving smile to those in the community. Her special focus is on building relationships with the strippers that abound there. "As a part of SAGE, one of the biggest things I have learned is that I will not have something in common with every girl, but the love that the Lord allows in me is universally captivating and that bridges any differences. I plan on resting in that philosophy while in Oklahoma." |
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Jenny WorshamEvent Team & Finance Director |
Jenny Worsham has been traveling with SAGE Ministries for ten years and also serves as the Finance Director and Accountant for the ministry. Jenny is a Certified Public Accountant and a Tax Manager at an accounting firm in downtown Dallas but loves teaching and serving teenage girls in her spare time. Jenny has been married to her husband Trent for seven years and enjoys serving beside him at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, where he is a Student Pastor. Jenny and Trent reside in Rowlett, Texas, with their Shih-tzu named Sadie and are expecting their first child, Noah, in December 2009. |
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