Rander E. Draper

The Lord gives many gifts to His people and the greatest of these is love. Pastor Rander E. Draper possesses and dispenses love by the heaping handfuls. You need only to hear him sing about his first love to know how much he loves Jesus. And can he sing! But his love goes deeper than a song. It rolls up its sleeves and goes to work to make sure that people not only have their spiritual needs met, but their physical, material, family, and health needs met as well. Just as his parents gave him a good foundation, he has likewise given his church family, Maranatha Bible Church in Converse, Texas, a good foundation through sound doctrine. He states, “Sound doctrine is everything because it restrains sin and the work of Satan. It breaks the spirit of confusion; it stabilizes, strengthens, matures and liberates the saints from bondage.”

Steve Coker

Steve is in his seventh year of service as a Pastor in the San Antonio area. He leads monthly Renewal and Healing Services, is a trained Stephen Ministry Leader and the Chaplain of a local chapter of The Order of St. Luke the Physician. Passionate about pastoral care and preaching, Steve’s conversational style relates the Word of God to the human condition in a way all can understand. Steve is the founder of Light Shine Ministries, a non-profit human services organization and is the co-founder of Men of Light Conferences. You’ll recognize Steve’s passion for the Lord and for all men to know Jesus Christ!

Richard Britz

Richard G. Britz was reared on Jesus and John Wayne in the short grass country of West Texas. He is the quintessential action/ adventure guy, that has worked on a chemical weapons project on the most isolated atoll on planet Earth and served as a Team Doc on a Weapons of Mass Destruction hunting detail in Iraq. In his travels, he has seen the Southern Cross and North Star at the same time and sat in the lion’s den in Babylon. “I am my brother’s back” is not just a saying to him, it is his life.

Brad Tuggle

Brad Tuggle is the former Adult Ministries Pastor at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. He has a heart to see men assume their roles as God’s “designated hitters” in their families and the workplace. Brad’s 15 years of management experience in a Fortune 50 environment prior to entering vocational ministry gives him a unique perspective into the challenges facing men today. He has a heart for spiritual growth to communicate God’s truth in a relevant way. He now works with churches all over the country as head of Church Relations for Upper Room Technologies. He and Cheryl have been married 24 years, and they have two daughters.

Stuart Perryman

While a native San Antonian, Stuart’s call to ministry has taken him to another continent. In responding to Christ’s call, Stuart stepped out in faith with a missionary heart and traveled to two countries in Africa where he served at the Maranatha Christian Academy in Uganda and the Africa New Life Ministry in Rwanda. His passion for helping youth achieve their God-given potential is evidenced in his work where Stuart is the Youth Pastor at the Maranatha Bible Church since 1999, and ministered at the San Antonio Christian Schools, and the Judson Independent School District elementary and high schools as well as many local churches. Stuart has been blissfully married for 15 years to his lovely wife Bridgette and God has blessed that union with three beautiful daughters, Patrice, Alexandria, and Sydney.

John Valenzuela (Coach Val)

John Valenzuela (Coach Val) lives the credo of “make a positive impact in a young person’s life.” You find it in his home and at his job; it is his passion. Coach Val has been blessed to be in a position to have daily contact with young people; in the classroom for 23 years, on the basketball court as the boys’ head basketball coach at Madison High School in San Antonio, TX, and as the Pastor of CBC Latino–an English speaking worship with Latino flair.

Coach Val subscribes to the Biblical teaching of focusing our minds with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy and not on thoughts that are impure and wasteful which are rampant in everyday life. (Philippians 4:8) And nowhere does Coach Val exemplify these Christian traits any better than in his home where he and his with Rosanne have embraced God’s call and adopted six children; Yvonne 10, Moses 8, Meagan 8, Brian 8, Timothy 7, Sean 5.

Jim Rackley

Jim is an American Football Coach. He is the head football coach of Judson High School, one of the most storied football programs in the history of Texas High School Football. In seven years as the Rockets’ head coach, Rackley has amassed a record of 69-23, including an astounding 18-4 record in the state playoffs.

His teams have reached the playoffs in five of his seven years at the helm. In 2002, he led Judson to its sixth state championship. His 2004 team reached the state semi-finals and his 2005 and 2007 teams reached the state finals. In all, Judson has advanced to the state finals a record-tying eleven times in the last 26 years, winning six state championships.  Listen to Coach Rackley interview on KSAT Instant Replay.

Sonny Melendrez

Sonny is in the business of making people happy. He has delivered his dynamic message of kindness at over 5,000 events around the world in the last 30 years. Twice named Billboard Magazine’s National Radio Personality of the Year, he was recently inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame, is included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as one of the Top 100 Radio Personalities of All-Time and received a Grammy nomination for creating the children’s version of the song, We Are The World, benefitting starving children in Africa and now, earthquake victims in Haiti.

His faith in God continues lead him down a path of giving back through benevolent projects and daily inspiration on, SonnyRadio.com, his site dedicated to “feeling better about being alive”. The City of San Antonio named The Sonny Melendrez Community Center on the West Side to honor his commitment to youth and countless causes benefitting the less fortunate. It is estimated that he has been directly responsible for helping charities raise over 100 million dollars in money, goods, and services during his career.

Ken Freeman

With the ability to connect to people of any age group, culture, or background, evangelist Ken Freeman lives with a passion to bring people to know Christ and to make a deeper, more intimate, commitment to Him.

Ken has been blessed with a beautiful wife, Debbie, two beautiful children, and six beautiful grandchildren. He has a passion for his ministry and he’s had an enormous amount of opportunities to do what he loves most, lead people to Christ. All of this being said, it’s important to note, Ken’s life has not always been this way.

The son of an alcoholic mother and an absentee father, Ken’s life was filled with abuse and neglect. Often times he and his sister would be left for days while his mother satisfied her addiction to alcohol and possible other drugs. Other times she’d leave them with a boyfriend who would physically and sexually abuse them. There were times he thought about suicide. Other times he thought about murder. His life seemed out of control. Ken spent his life running, trying to survive. He was bitter, hurt, and alone.

Jimmy Parks, Jr

With over 25 years of criminal trial experience, is one of the most prolific trial attorneys in South Texas. He is widely respected as an authority and frequent lecturer on criminal trial strategy. In addition, Jimmy is used regularly as a legal analyst on KTSA, ESPN and was the co-host of the radio and TV show ‘Legally Brunette’. He has appeared on ‘Good Morning America’, ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’, ‘America’s Most Wanted’ and ‘Lou Dobbs’. Jimmy is active in many youth organizations in the San Antonio area and teaches in several church classroom settings.”

Danny Padron

Danny graduated as the Class President of the first senior class of John Jay High School, THE CLASS OF ’69. Danny was also John Jay’s first starting quarterback – #12! Danny went on to be a long-time coach in the San Antonio area. Coach Padron was an assistant football coach at Clark in the mid to late 80′s and an assistant football coach at Judson during part of their remarkable reign as the premier program in the state. He also did his time in the classroom, teaching higher level mathematics courses. Former Judson students proclaims that Coach Padron was the BEST TEACHER they ever had. Currently, Coach Padron is the head football coach at TLU and is regarded as one of the top football coaches in the area.

Pastor Robert Emmitt

With a mission to reach, teach, and help people in Jesus’ name, Pastor Robert Emmitt and 100 believers met in a small meeting room in San Antonio in 1990. As a result, Community Bible Church was born. CBC now welcomes 11,000 worshippers each weekend, has established 10 satellite locations, sponsors hundreds of small groups, and supports ministry initiatives across the globe.

Robert is living life to the fullest, and his experiences include skydiving, construction, 18-wheelers and race cars, and even a jaunt as a rodeo clown.

 Jon Sheptock

Special Guest Appearance

Rather than discovering his calling as an artist, Jon Sheptock’s calling literally discovered him. Born with severe birth defects that left him with no arms and one leg significantly shorter than the other, he was only 3 when he learned that he possessed a remarkable gift – a singing voice that was undeniably God-given.

Through a series of miracles that punctuate his incredible story, and the faith of his extraordinary adoptive family, Jon’s testimony is brimming with courage, perseverance, and an indomitable spirit of hope. He now sings and shares his inspiring story across America, demonstrating the truth of Romans 8:28, ‘…that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose…”