Marty was born in Hickory, N.C. and graduated from Gardner Webb University and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Melissa Vaughanm is from Durham, NC and also attended GWU, where Marty and her met before marrying in 1984. Melissa transferred and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, then later obtained her Masters in Biblical Counseling at SEBTS. They were appointed as church planters with the International Mission Board in 1988. They served for 27 years with the International Mission Board. They planted 4 churches in Bolivia and trained nationals to plant churches as well as helped develop over 200 partnerships with SBC churches and unreached areas of Latin America.

Marty and Melissa are blessed with two sons, two beautiful South American daughters-in-laws, and 4 amazing grandchildren. They have lived in Costa Rica, Bolivia and Mexico. Both Melissa and Marty have a passion for missions and training people to reach the nations. The couple currently lives in Hillsborough, N.C. and Marty serves as the Director of Missions for Yates Baptist Association in Durham, NC. Melissa serves as a bilingual Biblical Counselor.

This sister praise team duo has been involved in praise and worship for many years in various churches
from Michigan, where they were raised, to North Carolina where they now reside.

Darlene is a talented pianist and vocalist who graduated from Welch Bible College with a
triple major in Music, Bible and Christian Education. She is currently on staff at Newbridge Baptist
Church as the pianist/accompanist for the choir, congregation and praise team.

Brenda is a graduate from Columbia International University where she studied and majored in Bible
and Christian Education. She and her husband served Newbridge Baptist Church as Co-Youth Directors
for 14 years. She then became the Worship/Choir director and served in that position for over 9 years.
She currently serves as the Praise Team Leader.

Mike & Tammy have been married for 20 years now. They have one son, Zach, who is a senior in high school. They are both very active in their homeschool association and within their church family. Mike currently serves as Pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Ellenboro, NC. He’s been in pastoral ministry for 18 years in both West Virginia and North Carolina. They both have a passion to see families thrive and live in the manner God has for them. They desire to see people grow in their relatoinship with God and with each other.

Todd grew up in church as a child but drifted away at around the age of 13 after his parents’ divorce. Later, while serving in the U. S. Coast Guard, he and his wife Stephanie returned to church where they became faithful members, serving in various capacities. Although he was a faithful church member, it wasn’t until age 35 that Todd realized he had never truly surrendered his life to Jesus. At that point the Lord both saved him and called him to full-time vocational ministry.

He immediately began attending Liberty University until shortly after his retirement from the Coast Guard when he received his Bachelor of Science in Christian Ministry in 2016. Todd came to serve as Pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in October 2018 and is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Religion/Expository Preaching from the Rawlings School of Divinity at Liberty University. Prior to coming to Beulah he served as the Pastor of Missions and Discipleship at Temple Baptist Church in his hometown of Simpsonville, S.C. Todd has been married to his wife Stephanie since 1999 and they are the proud parents of two children, Bryce and Kiersten.

Greg and Cathy Carroll have been married for 25 years and have 5 children and 4 grandchildren. Greg is an avid SCUBA diver and instructor. Always striving to have God be the author of their finances, the Carroll’s have enjoyed being a student and facilitator of the Dave Ramsey financial peace classes since 2007. They are members of Mountainview Church in Murphy, NC  where Greg serves as an elder and Cathy assists with the finances and budgets. 

They’re excited to join this year’s Marriage Matters Conference in order to help married couples navigate an area where many couples struggle to communicate well.