Full Members

Sarah Ankenman, President
Menifee, California

Sarah is a current student at Veritas Evangelical Seminary. She received her Bachelors in Biblical Studies at Calvary Chapel Bible College and is pursuing a second at Grand Canyon University. She is a freelance screenwriter as well as an author. Current projects: Whirlwind film, The Unseen Element “blook”, and Cruel and Beautiful. Her hobbies include reading books on ancient Babylonian cultures and the Dead Sea Scrolls, scrapbooking, shopping, watching movies, writing, and curling up with a great novel. She currently speaks on The Apologetics of Creationism to youth groups and in local high schools. Her goals are a Ph.D. in Biblical Archaeology and launching Double Edged Films, a non-profit production company for independent Christian films.

Marilyn Joy Tyner, Chairperson
San Juan Capistrano, California

Marilyn is the founder and author of True Way Tracts, writing and publishing apologetics tracts, gospel tracts, prison tracts, life issues tracts, teen tracts, and marriage tracts. She received her M.A. degree in Christian Apologetics from Simon Greenleaf University, her B.A. degree in English Literature from California State University Fullerton and a second B.A. degree in Biblical Studies from Calvary Chapel Bible College in Murrieta, California. She is also a member of Stonecroft Ministries as a speaker for Christian Women’s Connections at evangelistic luncheons. Marilyn has also written two apologetics courses for the Calvary Chapel Bible College in Austria: Street Apologetics and Cults and World Religions. She is married to Thomas, and has two grown sons, Donovan and Tony. Her interests include speaking at women’s groups on evangelism and apologetics, marriage building and restoration, sharing Jesus in today’s mixed-up world, and Christianity vs. other religions. She also enjoys teaching women’s Bible studies and apologetics classes and writing worship songs. www.truewaytracts.com

Alison Thomas
Houston, Texas

Alison is currently finishing her first year of law school. She was a member of the speaking team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries from 2005 to 2009. She received her B.A. in English from the University of Florida; and her M.A. in Christian Apologetics from Southern Evangelical Seminary. Alison worked mainly with youth and was invited to speak at churches, schools, and retreats worldwide. She addressed various apologetic themes, including understanding the Christian worldview, dealing with doubt, and applying spiritual disciplines. She has ministered all over the world, including the UAE, Indonesia, Tajikistan, and Cambodia. Her vision is to combine sensible Biblical teaching with compassionate, practical service. She contributed to the book Beyond Opinion: Living The Faith We Defend, in a section on youth Apologetics. One of her interests is conversational apologetics. In her free time, she enjoys pilates, scuba diving, and cooking.

Mary Nixon
Anaheim Hills, California

Mary earned a B.A. in Biology from San Jose State University and an M.S. in Microbiology from California State University, Long Beach . She studied Biblical Greek and Hebrew for over 5 years, and has studied the Bible in an expositional manner for over 25 years. Over the years she has taught women and children’s Bible studies and has published a number of articles in Christian magazines including The War Cry, The Lookout, Purpose, The Godly Business Woman and Creation Illustrated. She also served as a contributing author in Marita Latauer’s book, But Lord I was Happy Shallow. Currently a research scientist in a reference laboratory, she has published a number of articles in peer-reviewed science journals in topics relating to clinical laboratory research. Mary also serves as a speaker for Stonecroft Ministries at outreach luncheons, and has also been enlisted to speak at her local church for various women’s functions. Mary currently lives with her husband John and their Doberman in Anaheim Hills , California. She also loves orchids and (clean) stand-up comedy. She currently writes monthly devotionals for her church’s newsletter. A number of her pieces can be viewed at her website: www.marynixon.net.

Judy Salisbury, Trainer
Vancouver, Washington

Judy founded Logos Presentations in 1994, and since then she has been equipping the Christian community with appropriate communication, presentation, and evangelism skills. Through her speaking, writing, unique training materials, and as co-host of the radio program, Issues & Answers, she helps believers to share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ more effectively and to address the moral and ethical issues of our time with passion and persuasion. She is the author of the book, A Christian Woman’s Guide to Reasons for Faith (foreword by Dr. Norman Geisler) and is a contributing author for Is Your Church Ready? (co-edited by Dr. Norman Geisler and Ravi Zacharias). She is a certified lay counselor through The American Association of Christian Counselors and is a speaker at a variety of forums, such as Focus on the Family, The Christian Coalition, Southern Evangelical Seminary’s National Apologetics Conference, EMNR’s National Apologetics Conference and various Christian fellowships across the United States. Judy married Jeff Salisbury in 1989 and surrendered her life to Christ two years later. Since the birth of their daughter, Nicole, and son, Mikael, Judy enjoys life as a homemaker and home-schooling mom. Also, Judy is an Emergency Medical Technician and a volunteer member, along with her husband, on their local fire department. www.logospresentations.com

Tabitha Constant, Secretary
Murrieta, California

Tabitha received a B.S. in Business Management from the University of Montana. Currently, she is attending Calvary Bible College part-time to engage in Apologetics studies. In addition to working as an administrative assistant, she is looking forward to serving in a small church plant called ten27 that meets on Sunday nights. Prior to living in CA she was heavily involved in a church plant for about a year and a half, directing all of the community service events as well as planning outreach nights for the church members to invite non-believers to. She is excited about studying Apologetics as it is one of her intellectual pursuits as well as the study of Mormonism.

Dwayna Litz
Atlanta, Georgia

Dwayna grew up singing hymns in churches and crusades as a soloist for revival meetings affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and recorded three albums by age 16 of Gospel music. She is president and founder of Lighting The Way Worldwide, an aggregate of street ministries of apologetics, which began at Grace Community Church where John MacArthur is pastor. It is front line evangelism to the lost with locations in California, Colorado, New York, TX, and TN. International locations of partnerships with churches for evangelism tables include Israel, the UK, and the Philippines. Dwayna is a contributor for Christian Research Net and is a columnist for Christian Worldview Network, Walter Martin Ministries, and California Christian News. Research and ministry updates can be found on her blog daily at www.lightingtheway.blogspot.com. She finds her First Love in her Savior and telling others about Him, giving a reason for the hope that lies within her as she lives for Heaven to see Jesus face to face. Lighting the Way Worldwide is unique in that all locations of evangelism are based on apologetics with materials for evolutionists, atheists, New Agers, Buddhists, Hindus, witches, people struggling with homosexuality, gothic teens, and Catholics. LTW Worldwide is based out of Atlanta, GA, with plans for beginning a new table outreach there in 2009. Scotland and San Diego, CA, are planned locations to begin in 2010. Dwayna keeps abreast of updates from all evangelistic locations of apologetics, sings and speaks at women’s conferences in churches, shares her testimony in prisons, and is preparing to lead a new table outreach of evangelism and apologetics in Atlanta. She hopes to begin writing a book of her testimony in 2010. As part of God’s pruning process, Dwayna had production deals with Arista and Warner Brothers as a singer and used to write songs professionally in Nashville in the genre of country music. All along God had something better and more exciting than fame; a life hidden in Christ for God’s glory, set apart from the world in the deep pleasure of knowing Him as her Everything. www.lightingthewayworldwide.org

Marcia Brim
Camino, California

Marcia is the writer and architect of BrimWood Press which publishes history, worldview, and theology products. She also teaches worldview seminars to children (10-13) and their parents; is a conference speaker at homeschool conventions; develops seminars on teaching theology to children ages 10-13 and teacher-training for upper elementary/ Jr. High classroom instruction in worldview. She received her B.S. in Theology from Multnomah University, Portland, Oregon, and has published works such as Christian Theology and Ancient Polytheism: A Comparative Study for Youth, Conversations from the Garden: Forty Days to Build a Biblical Worldview, A Young Historians Introduction to Worldview, and What Every Child Needs to Know about Western Civilization. Her goals include completing a set of four volumes of theological instruction for students ages 10-13 that compare Christianity to Polytheism, Judaism, Islam, Naturalism and Pantheism and enrolling in an online seminary course to obtain an Master of Divinity of Theology to facilitate collegiate-level teaching. She enjoys teaching 10 to 13 year-olds and engaging their newly acquired logic skills to enable them to compare and contrast their beliefs to non-Christian beliefs and ferreting out Sunday school notions of God and helping them mature in their understanding of the character and nature of God and the meaning and importance of man’s special creation. She is married to Geoff, and is the mother of three teenagers: Rachael, Ryan and Justin. www.brimwoodpress.com or www.toolsforyounghistorians.com.

Andrea Justice Lee
Menifee, California

Andrea studied at California State University, San Marcos, where she received her Bachelors degree in Literature, Writing, and Film. Currently she is teaching high school level English and theater arts, and is completing her masters in Education and Technology at Azusa Pacific University. Andrea is a writer and filmmaker as well as the co-founder of Double Edged Films. She is dedicated to artistic projects that point the way to God and touch the lives of others, especially the youth of America. In her spare time she enjoys acting, listening to music, watching films, reading, and spending time with her husband Jeremiah and Meila and Viggo, their two crazy chihuahuas.

Jill Martin Rische
St. Paul, Minnesota

Jill is the eldest daughter of Dr. Walter Martin, the Original Bible Answer Man and founder of Christian Research Institute.  She is the co-author of The Kingdom of the Occult and Through the Windows of Heaven, and Managing Editor for Dr. Walter Martin’s 45 year bestseller, The Kingdom of the Cults. A noted researcher, speaker, and guest on radio programs across the United States and Canada, Jill is also a regular on KKLA’s Frank Pastore Show (Los Angeles).  She received her B.A. in Old Testament Literature from Oral Roberts University and is currently an M.A. candidate (Humanities) at California State University. Jill is co-director, along with her husband Kevin, of Walter Martin Ministries and producer of Essential Christianity, a radio program featuring Dr. Walter Martin. Jill’s blog and research materials, along with a free Walter Martin Listening Library, are available at waltermartin.com.

Delia Ursulescu
Lynchburg, Virginia

Delia received her B.A. in Christian Education from National Bible College and Seminary in Fort Washington, Maryland. She is now pursuing her M.A. in Global Apologetics at Liberty University.  In the near future, she would like to pursue a Ph.D. in either Philosophy or Apologetics. Her goal is to eventually teach in the States and also overseas. She loves apologetics and her desire is to be used by God to help others find the Truth. In her spare time, Delia likes to study World Religions and Philosophy.

Sarah Flashing
Harvard, Illinois

Sarah Flashing is the Director of The Center for Women of Faith in Culture and the author of a widely read blog called Flash Point. In addition she also contributes to Evangel (www.firstthings.com/evangel) and to the women’s Gifted for Leadership blog at Christianity Today (www.giftedforleadership.com). Her current project is a book entitled “Living Worthy of the Call.” This is a guide for women’s ministry leaders on discipleship, showing them the importance of integrating theology, apologetics, and ethics into the world of women’s ministry, utilizing Ephesians as a framework for application. She is also an Associate Fellow for The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (www.cbhd.org). Sarah received her B.A. in Christian Ministry at Trinity International University and her M.A. Christian Thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She is also ISWA’s website developer. You can read her blogs at www.flashpointfiles.blogspot.com and her articles at www.womenfaithculture.org.

Letitia Wong
St. Louis, Missouri

Letitia received her BS in Health Sciences with a Minor in Religious Studies from Purdue University in 1997. She went on to complete her Medical Technology certification at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She has had over 15 years of ministry experience including serving as student Evangelism Coordinator for Purdue University’s undergraduate chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and as ministry coordinator and teacher at Arizona State University’s chapter of Campus Ambassadors. In 2009, she attended CrossExamined Instructor Academy at Southern Evangelical Seminary in preparation for public speaking in apologetics. Since 2003, she has attended The Journey Church in St. Louis, MO.

Rosalinda Ocegueda
Orange, California

Rosalinda received her Bachelor’s degree in Human Services and a Masters degree in Social Work. She now works full-time as a Social Worker. She attends classes at Calvary Chapel Bible College and is excited to start Christ in the Old Testament soon. Rosalinda enjoys attending presentations by Creation Scientists, baking cookies, sewing, and reading; mostly non-fiction books that help increase her faith in the Lord such as biographies and autobiographies, but she has recently discovered that she enjoys Francine Rivers’ books as well. She has gone on a few short-term missions trips to Costa Rica and Romania, and hopes that if the Lord wills, she can go on more where she can combine her love of visiting new places and learning about new cultures as well as her desire to serve the Lord.

Patty Hunter
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Patty is currently attending online classes at Berklee College of Music. She is a writer of Gospel Lyrics, over ninety of which can be read at her blog at pattysgospellyrics.blogspot.com. Her husband Bob, worked for Christian Research Institute for over thirteen years, which is known for the Bible Answer Man radio talk show. She currently works with Lutherans for Life: a pro-life organization in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Rowena Forfar
Nottingham, England

Rowena received a BA degree in American Literature from the University of Sussex and spent a year at UCLA as an exchange student. She also has a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, a Diploma in Acting and has taught History and English in a Secondary School and at a Junior College. She is currently employed as a Learning Mentor/Writer and member of the Chaplaincy Team in a large, co-educational Christian school. She enjoys reading Dr. John MacArthur and is interested in researching the Emerging Church, New Age Spirituality, and Contemplative Prayer and the negative effects they are having on the English church and school system. She has two children, a daughter, Alice who is at University studying Geography and a son Leo, who is at school studying “A” Levels in English, History, Politics and Philosophy, Ethics and Religion.

Tiffany Beck
Starkville, Mississippi

Tiffany graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelors degree in Animal & Dairy Sciences. She is still at MSU pursuing a Doctorate degree in Veterinary Medicine. She has been a staff member at Summit Ministries for three years running, leads a small weekly Bible/Apologetics study, is an Officer in the Christian Veterinary Fellowship chapter at MSU-College of Veterinary Medicine, and has been a participant in a short term veterinary mission to Honduras and is interested in additional trips. She enjoys reading a variety of books from Ted Dekker, Ray Bradbury, and J.R.R. Tolkien to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, and Augustine. She is interested in scientific Apologetics (specifically intelligent design/creationism), teaching and training applied Apologetics to youth and young adults, and Veterinary missions. http://becklegacy.wordpress.com

Ruth Preston
West Sussex, U.K.

Ruth received a History & Art Combined Honors Bachelors degree from the University of Reading, U.K. and is looking to study the history of Apologetics between Islam and Christianity at Masters and hopefully Doctorate level. Ruth leads a theology/apologetic study group for women at her local church, and writes for an apologetic blog called Reason (http://reason.cck.org.uk/). She also periodically appears on a panel called Reason, live at her local church where she and a few others answer questions on Christianity from the audience. Her goal is to read as much as she can on Christian and Islamic theology, Apologetics, and Church history before going back to University. She is very excited about joining ISWA and started the women’s Apologetic Bible study at her church because she felt a need for women to develop their understanding of theology and current academic Apologetics, and to equip themselves to defend the faith and honor Christ. One of her goals is to develop her knowledge and ability to communicate in writing. She hopes she will be able to produce articles that can contribute to websites such as ISWA and learn a lot from other women in ISWA, in order to gain a better understanding of how to defend and proclaim the gospel.

Jana Harmon
Marietta, Georgia

Jana received her MA in Christian Apologetics from Biola University in 2007. She also holds a MS in Communication Disorders from the University of Texas and is currently the Women’s Director at the C.S. Lewis Institute in Atlanta, GA. She is a leader for the Starting Point Ministry, which is a 10 week small group environment for those who are seeking to know more about the Christian faith and a safe place for them to ask tough questions; and she teaches apologetics at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, oil painting/portraiture, gardening, traveling, reading, and art. www.cslewisinstitute.org

Patty Tunnicliffe
Santa Barbara, California

A graduate of Westmont College, Patty Tunnicliffe taught American and European history in public schools for many years. Her time in education was followed by a successful business career in the field of real estate. In 2005 she graduated from Southern Evangelical Seminary with an M.A. in Apologetics. Since graduating from Seminary, Patty has taught many classes in the field of Apologetics, including the following: Evidences for the Existence of God, The Reliability of the New Testament Documents, The Case for Miracles, Is Jesus God and Did He Rise from the Dead?, Cults Today, World Religions, the Influence of Eastern Religions, The Spiritual World View of Oprah Winfrey, Ethics, The Occult, the New Age Movement and Wicca, Do Christians have a Mind (Thinking Clearly and Logically about Truth and Our Times), and Standing for God in Our Times. Her expertise is in the area of Islam. She teaches a complete course on Islam as well as shorter classes designed to help men and women understand the differences between Islam and Christianity, between Muhammad and Jesus, between the Qur’an and the Bible, and between the God of the Bible and Allah. Additional topics focus on Israel and Biblical prophecy. Patty has also taught various Bible Study classes, writing her own materials for courses in the Occult and the Doctrinal Essentials of Christianity. Patty is a popular speaker at conferences worldwide.

Student Members

Melanie Engelke
Garden Grove, California

Melanie is currently a Junior at Vanguard University of Southern California, where she is completing a BA in Biblical studies with a minor in Anthropology. Her particular interests are focused around Biblical cultures and languages, Archeology, and Old Testament Theology. Her hobbies include reading about apologetics, post-modern theories, philosophy, volunteering as a suicide hotline counselor, volunteering at museums, and working wherever needed at her church, and designing and conducting field practicum research for Vanguard university. She looks forward to interacting and working with the members of ISWA to create an even larger and more effective community of intelligent and active women for Christ’s kingdom.

Bios forthcoming
Valerie Potter-Garrett
Kimberly Cranton

ISWA Participants
Rebecca So-Wu
Vivian Vieira de Souza Borges
Valerie Giugliano