At The Table: The Podcast of the SBC Women's Leadership Network SBC Women

Women In Church Planting | Singleness & Leadership | Developing As A Leader.

Join NAMB Regional Equipper, Tiffany Smith, as she shares her heart for missions and the unique role women play in church planting.


Tiffany Smith is a Texas girl currently living in Atlanta who has a love for living the “SENT Life” – here or there. She has a passion to multiply disciples and churches toward movemental growth. Tiffany has a particular heart & passion for developing the next generation of leaders toward powerfully living life on mission. She currently serves with the North American Mission Board as a Regional Equipper for Canada. You can connect with her on twitter (@tiffanydsmith), Facebook (tiffanydsmith) or through her blog, Missional Mayhem – missionalmayhem.com

In this episode of At The Table Lesley Hildreth joins us to discuss discipleship and the local church. She helps cover topics from how to start and implement a culture of discipleship and how to develop leaders to reach more women in your church.

Lesley is the Women's Discipleship Director for the Summit Church in Durham, North Carolina. She is responsible for the discipleship of over 6,000 women spread over ten campuses and spends the majority of her time developing and equipping leaders who share the task of making disciples. Before this role, Lesley was the Assistant Director of Women's Life at Southeastern Seminary where she received her MA in Christian Studies. She also served eight years with her family with the International Mission Board in Western Europe and Central Asia. She has a passion to see all women participating in God's mission, using their gifts to serve the church, further his kingdom, and bring God glory. She is married and has two adult children and two grandsons.

Challenging. Convicting. Inspiring. Our conversation with mission veteran Ruth Ripken will leave you more passionate about the Gospel & encouraged that even in our hardest seasons Jesus is absolutely worth it.

Ruth and her husband, Nik are mission veterans of 35 years with the
International Mission Board, SBC, having served in Malawi, South Africa,
Kenya, Somalia, Germany, Ethiopia and the Middle East. Currently they are
directing and serving with Nik Ripken Ministries (NRM).

Ruth has a BA and Masters in Education and she taught school while Nik
pastored before they went overseas.
Along with her husband, they have done extensive research among believers
living in the midst of persecution in over 70 countries. This research has
been shared in numerous articles and three books, The Insanity of God: A
True Story of Faith Resurrected and The Insanity of Obedience: Walking
With Jesus in Tough Places. They spend their time sharing the truths they
have learned from these believers in persecution with churches, schools, and
mission organizations.

One of Ruth’s greatest joys is spending time with Muslim women, listening
to their story and seeing how God can break into their lives. Another
blessing is helping women across the US connect and fall in love with the
nations in their midst.
Nik and Ruth are the parents of three sons, two wonderful daughter-in-loves
and an amazing grandson.

Find out more about the Ripkens at www.nikripken.com

Women's Minsitry leader, Brenda Croston joins us to talk about how hard seasons & losses in our stories can be the springboard and key moments God uses in our ministry. We also celebrate the culture of the African American church and how they uniquely reflect the image of God to our world.

Brenda M. Croston is privileged to enjoy life with Mark. Together they have four adult children and two beautiful granddaughters. Her passion is writing, speaking, and sharing with women. You can find her doing that on Instagram @brendacroston. You can also visit simpletruthpublishing.weebly.com to get and stay connected.

Clinical Psychologist and leader Sarah Rainer joins us on the show today to talk about the increased presence of mental health issues in this pandemic season.

Sarah shares practical indicators and steps on how to deal with issues like anxiety and depression as well as when to seek professional help. She also shares how to come alongside children in this season and how to guide and lead them through their own struggles of anxiety.

Sarah Rainer earned both her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology. In her years of practice, she specialized in child and adolescent psychology. In 2018, Sarah left the field of psychology in order to pursue ministry opportunities. Consulting and providing education to the church about mental health issues are still passions for her. Sarah currently serves on the women's discipleship leadership team at her church, and is pursuing a theological certificate from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sarah and her husband, Art, have been married for 14 years, and have three fun and rambunctious boys.

Listen in on the story of a church planters wife from NY as she shares her story of how they have served and taken the Gospel to their community in the midst of Covid. She also shares how to engage and invest in women before they even enter your church building.

You can connect with Melinda on Twitter @Mpacheco217.

Melinda Pacheco is the wife of Edwin and mother to Isabella (14yrs old) and Heather (9yrs old). Alongside her husband, she has helped plant Redemption Church in the heart of one of NYC's most challenging communities called Red Hook. It is home to the second largest low-income housing development in the city. Since moving into the community, Melinda has made it her mission to connect with women who are in need of Life-on-Life discipleship. Many of these women are single moms with multiple children and in poverty. Yet, this reality has given her a passion to see their lives changed Holistically. Her goal is to disciple women to experience the fullness of God's goodness, not knowing Him only as Savior, but also as Father, Friend, Provider, Comforter and Defender.