Conference
Kingdom Justice Summit
March 1, 2019
This pre-conference evening featured a panel discussion with 2019 Kingdom Justice Summit keynote speakers Kevin Palau, Sandra Maria Van Opstal, and Tasha Morrison.
Kevin Palau is president and CEO of the Luis Palau Association. Kevin joined the Palau Team in 1985 and began directing the day-to-day operation of the ministry in the late 1990s. Under his leadership, LPA has partnered with tens of thousands of local churches to produce large Christian gatherings in cities around the globe, including major evangelistic campaigns in Washington DC; New York City; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
In 2008, Kevin pioneered the Festival 2.0 model that includes a citywide service initiative preceding the festival event. Designed for long-term sustainability well after the festival, this service initiative also gave birth to Palau’s City Gospel Movement effort which is now focused on celebrating, accelerating, and inspiring hundreds of Gospel Movements in cities around the world. Kevin’s unique passion, and the focus of the City Gospel Movements Team, is to inspire leaders to keep evangelism as a central focus in their ongoing gospel movement.
Kevin also helped develop Palau’s Next Generation Alliance, which exists to serve up-and-coming evangelists through mentoring and equipping. The experience and resources that have grown out of decades of work with other evangelists have also helped birth a new movement, working with organizations around the world to create a global network of evangelists.
Kevin holds a degree in religious studies from Wheaton College. He lives in Beaverton, Oregon near LPA’s headquarters with his wife, Michelle. They have three grown children.
Sandra Van Opstal, a second-generation Latina, is the Executive Pastor at Grace and Peace Community on the west-side of Chicago. She is a liturgist and activist who is passionate about re-imagining worship that mobilizes for reconciliation and justice.
In her fifteen years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Sandra mobilized thousands of college students for God’s mission of reconciliation and justice in the world. Sandra served as Director of Worship for the Urbana Missions Conference, Chicago Urban Program Director, Latino National Leadership Team (LaFe), and Northwestern University Team leader (Multiethnic fellowship).
Sandra’s influence has also reached many others through her leadership and preaching on topics such of justice, poverty, racism, racial identity, reconciliation, and global mission. She has been featured at Wheaton College, North Park University, The Justice Conference, Evangelical Covenant conferences, Willow Creek Association conferences, and various churches. Sandra serves as a board member for Evangelicals for Justice and the Christian Community Development Association. Sandra is also the Worship Director for the Lausanne Younger Leaders Gathering in Jarkarta, Summer 2016.
In addition to her ministry experience, Sandra holds a Masters of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois and has been published in multiple journals. She has authored Small Group Leader’s Handbook, God’s Graffiti Devotional, The Mission of Worship and The Next Worship.
Tasha Morrison is a bridge-builder, reconciler and a compelling voice in the fight for racial justice. Ebony Magazine recognized her as one of their 2017 Power 100 for her work as a community crusader and in the fall of 2018 she was named one of 115 Changemakers by Facebook who will work with their Community Leadership Program to bring the world together.
Tasha has taken her message to audiences across the country at events that include: IF: Gathering, Justice Conference, Youth Specialties, Catalyst, Q, Barna’s State of Pastors Conference, Orange Conference, MOPS International and many others.
A native of North Carolina, Tasha earned degrees in human development and business leadership. After excelling in corporate positions, she began working on staff at churches in Georgia and Texas. At the heart of this incredible woman is encouraging racial reconciliation among all ethnicities, to promote racial unity around the world, and to develop others to do the same.
To this end, in 2016 Tasha founded Be the Bridge to inspire and equip ambassadors of racial reconciliation. Her team has developed curriculum, discussion cards, and other resources. It is her desire to build a community of people who share a common goal of creating healthy dialogue about race. In addition to equipping more than 600 groups around the country, Be the Bridge hosts a closed, moderated online community of bridge-builders on Facebook with more than 15,000 members. The group has been a forum for learning, as members from different ethnicities practice the BTB values of grace, humility, truth-telling, respect, repentance, reconciliation.
Be the Bridge builds partnerships with organizations who have a similar heart for diversity, racial justice, restoration and reconciliation. This collaboration includes speaking, training and consulting work with churches, para-churches, and ministry leaders in their work of reconciliation within their organizations.
When not captivating audiences with her dynamic presentations and conscious-raising workshops, Tasha can be found drinking tea, laughing with friends and watching Christmas movies year-round.
