Life Launch Speakers

11:00 am: Kyle Stielow – Leadership Starts with Everyday Choices

Leadership doesn’t start with a rank or a title – it starts with everyday choices. This session helps teens explore how leadership begins through values like integrity, responsibility, and respect. Students will learn how habits, attitudes, and teamwork shape who they are as leaders, long before they step into formal roles. The class also shows how Civil Air Patrol builds on these foundations through its Core Values and Wingman concept, giving teens real opportunities to practice leadership, support others, and grow with confidence, both in CAP and in everyday life.

12:10 pm: Chuck Black – Crafting Believable Worlds for Fiction Writers

Creating a good story that inspires readers is challenging. Plot and character development, dialogue, action, and detail are all critical elements, but the world in which all of this takes place is the foundation for every great book. Learn the fundamentals of crafting believable worlds for your next fictional work. Chuck shares his tips and techniques to help you create a canvas upon which your story of inspiration can be written.

1:00 pm: Life Launch Luncheon

• $15 per ticket.
• Both parents and teens are welcome to purchase tickets.
• Sponsored by Unbound.

2:30 pm: Michael Smith – Hybrid College Degrees

From his experience as a missionary builder, Michael will explain how hands-on service gifts are vital to the ministry that God has mandated to His Church. First Peter 4:10-11 helps us understand that all Christians are valuable in accomplishing God’s purpose. Many Christian colleges are training young people to serve God with music, teaching, preaching, or evangelism, but few are teaching industrial arts as a means to serve and please God. We will look at a few examples of what these dual majors look like, as well as some “outside-the-box” ideas based on individual skills, abilities, or disabilities.

2:30 pm: Jonathan Brush – A New Economy

The world is changing in some very surprising ways, and it’s changing fast. The skills, training, and preparation needed to find work and create value in this new economy are very different from what was required before. And that’s a very good thing. For those who are willing to think differently and train differently, there are amazing opportunities over the very near horizon.

2:30 pm: Will White – Missions and Mission Aviation Explained: A Q&A with Mission Aviation Fellowship

Curious about missions, mission aviation, or Mission Aviation Fellowship? This interactive Q&A session creates space to ask honest questions about what the missions field really looks like today, how aviation supports the Great Commission, and how individuals and families can discern God’s calling. Whether you’re just exploring or seriously considering missions, come ready to listen, learn, and engage.

3:40 pm: Phillip Telfer – Seven Things Every Teen Should Know

What does Scripture actually tell us about Jesus during His teenage years – and how should that shape the way parents disciple their children and teens understand their own formation? In this session, Phillip Telfer explores seven often-overlooked Biblical insights that describe how Jesus grew in wisdom, maturity, favor, and more. Grounded in Scripture rather than cultural trends, this talk offers parents a Christ-centered framework for guiding adolescents, while also helping teens see God’s purpose for their growth, responsibility, and faith. It presents a hopeful, biblical vision for navigating the teen years in a distracted and confusing age.  

3:40 pm: Michael Smith – Trades Training in a Healthy Biblical Environment

In today’s culture, education in the industrial arts — such as construction, welding, automotive work, agriculture, cosmetology, and other skilled trades — is often shaped by secular philosophies that conflict with biblical values. Blue-collar work is frequently misrepresented as crude, immoral, or “less important” than white-collar professions. Yet Scripture makes it clear that faith in God transcends titles, income, and workplaces. Every vocation is an opportunity to honor the Lord and reflect Christ with excellence and integrity. In this workshop, Mike will challenge families to rethink how we view the trades and those who serve in them. He will emphasize the importance of Christian environments for educating our children, the vital role of believers in skilled trades, and the growing need for Christian colleges that faithfully integrate industrial arts training with solid biblical instruction.

Please refer to the main schedule for location

11:00 am: Dr. Ronald Bell – Career and Calling

Let’s explore God’s heart and direction for the questions around career and calling, such as: What am I good at? What career should I pursue? Am I where God has purposed me to be? How should I view the need for finances and provision? God loves us and has great plans. As a part of Generation Z, you have many unique challenges, yet also great unique callings.

12:10 pm: Steve Riddell – The Entrepreneurial Mindset

Entrepreneurship begins long before a product, logo, or launch plan; it starts with how you think. This session focuses on building the foundational mindset that fuels successful builders in every season of life. We’ll explore essential traits such as curiosity, which helps you learn faster, ask better questions, and recognize opportunities others miss; problem-solving, which trains you to look for a way forward instead of getting stuck; ownership, taking responsibility for outcomes rather than blaming circumstances; grit, remaining steady when progress is slow or setbacks arise; and choosing initiative over permission, moving forward without waiting to feel fully ready or approved. You’ll leave with practical, actionable ways to intentionally train these traits and apply them immediately at home, at work, and in business.

2:30 pm: Nicki Truesdell – How to be an Online Influencer

With the internet, self-employment has so many possibilities, and the world needs more Christians speaking truth! Entrepreneurship is a viable path for many people, and there are multiple ways to achieve it. Nicki will share her experience with various media, including YouTube, blogging, social media, podcasting, affiliate marketing, and even self-publishing books. Students will be introduced to a variety of free tools to get started in all of these. They will be encouraged to consider what kind of content they could share, how to build a brand, how to be consistent, and how to be a positive influence while earning an income.

3:40 pm: Daniel Craig – The Forgotten Secret to a Good, Long Life

Walk into any bookstore in America, go to the self-help section, and see how many books claim, in some fashion, to provide “The REAL Secret to a Good, Long Life.” Quite a few, right? But just how many do you think will tell you that the secret is to “honor your father and mother, that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth”? Probably not very many. Presented by a fella who has to work hard at honoring his parents — just like anyone else — this practical session will get down and dirty with what it really means to honor your parents, and why it’s so important. (Hint: it’s the first commandment with a promise…) You won’t hear this talk at your typical motivational seminar.

3:40 pm: Rory Groves – Durable Trades for a Durable Future

Jobs in the building trades are projected to increase faster than jobs in every other sector in America over the next decade. Over the same time period, many white-collar jobs requiring four-year college degrees will cease to exist. Why is this? This talk exposes the “Vital Lie” in our society that manual labor is only for low-paid or uneducated dropouts. In fact, the research proves that trades are among the highest-paid, longest-lasting, and most resilient of careers.

Please refer to the main schedule for location