Jim serves as Director of Leader Care. He has served as a pastor in a number of churches in the state of Arizona over the last 30 years, mostly in the Phoenix area. Jim also served for six years in Tucson and Oracle churches. While the vast majority of his experience is in pastoral ministry, he likes to say he has done everything in the church except for leading women’s ministry.

Jim graduated from Grand Canyon University in 1993, then from Golden Gate with his MDiv. in 2010 and his DMin. in 2014.

While serving in Queen Valley, AZ, Jim became the associational director for the Valley Rim Association of Churches in 2012. He continues to serve with Valley Rim as their director and now also serves as a Leader Care Facilitator. Jim is adjunct faculty at Golden Gate, teaching history and coordinating the Leadership Practicum Program at the Arizona Campus.

Jim has been married to Letricia Martin for over 30 years. They are parents of one daughter, Maria.

Matt Gaston, ThG, provides services to pastors and their families across Northeastern Arizona. Matt is a graduate of Tennessee Temple University of Chattanooga with a Graduate of Theology degree. He has served as a senior pastor for 21 years in Florida, Montana and Arizona. He also served as Director of Missions for 13 years for the Desert Pines Baptist Association in Snowflake.

Matt understands the needs of pastors and their families and cares deeply for them personally as well as the churches to which they have been called. With over 40 years of local church ministry experience, Matt has a good handle on the physical, social and spiritual needs of pastors and church staff.

Roger serves as Vice President of New Life Counseling and Leader Care for Arizona Baptist Children’s Services, as well as the Leader Care Facilitator for the Southern Region. He is a graduate of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, (M.Div. and D.Min.) as well as Lincoln Christian University (M.A. in Professional Counseling.) Roger brings over 30 years of ministry experience to his role as facilitator having served churches in Ohio, Illinois and Arizona as either senior pastor, church staff minister, or church planter. He holds a Chaplaincy Endorsement from the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and is a Certified Pastoral Counselor by the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.

Don Vickers is the Leader Care Facilitator in the Southwest Region. Don began serving the local church in 1984 on staff as a youth pastor and held various positions in the church. In 2006, he became a Director of Missions for Yuma Southern Baptist Association in Yuma, Arizona.

Don graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and is determined to helping the local church fully engage their community with the Gospel. Don joined Arizona Baptist Children’s Services in 2015 to help pastors and church leaders as they guide the local church.

Rik Danielsen moved to Arizona from Iowa with his family when he was just two years old. He came to faith in Christ at the age of 18 but continued to struggle with substance abuse until 1971. After getting clean and sober through a Christian rehab center, God called him into ministry. In 1972, Rik joined Victory Baptist Church in Phoenix and surrendered to the ministry. Later the next year, he was ordained to the gospel ministry and began serving as the associate pastor.

He and his wife are graduates of Grand Canyon College. Rik holds a Master of Divinity from Golden Gate Baptist Theology Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity College and Seminary in Newburg, IN. Rik has served churches in California and Arizona continuously since 1978 and currently serves as the Director of Evangelism and Missions for Yavapai Baptist Association. He joined the Leader Care team in July 2015. Rik and his wife have two adult children and one grandson at this time.

Joshua Hodges is originally from Kentucky but moved to Arizona in 2013 to begin serving among Native American people. He is currently the pastor of Every Tribe & Nation Baptist Church, where he is working through a process of replanting. He is married to his beautiful wife Deidra. They've been married for nine years and have three amazing children.

He said, "I am very excited to be serving on the Leader Care team. I grew up as a preacher's kid, but in 1999 my family was torn apart. We could have used a ministry such as Leader Care, but I believe God is working in my life now to use those experiences to serve other pastors and ministry leaders."

Sandy is Leader Care Facilitator for the Phoenix area. Sandy was born and raised in Arizona. She came to faith in Christ as a teenager at FSBC, Morenci. She has worked for the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention for nearly 20 years, in the areas of information services and technology. She is a member of Downtown Phoenix Church. She currently lives in Mesa, and has two daughters.

Sandy graduated from Grand Canyon College in 1983. She holds an MDiv. and a DMin from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. She joined the Leader Care team in 2017, and wants to be an encouragement to church leaders and their families.

Steve has served at ABCS for 18 years, starting as the director of the first regional office in Tucson before becoming president in 2009. Prior to joining ABCS, Steve was on church staff for 14 years and a teacher for 8 years. He has a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from The University of Arizona. Steve and his wife Brenda have a son, daughter and four grandchildren. Steve is the son of a missionary who served American Indians in Arizona and other states.

Chris has been with ABCS since 2009, when God called him to leave a career in information technology to go into ministry. Chris grew up in Tucson and was very involved in missions throughout his youth, including Caring Ministries. He has Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Management Information Systems from The University of Arizona and still enjoys "geeking out" with information systems at ABCS. Chris and his wife Elsa have two daughters and a son.

Andrea joined ABCS in 2007 and currently leads the ABCS ministries that involve contracts with the state—Arms of Love Foster Care and Parent Aide—and the staff working in administrative support and human resources. Andrea was born and raised in Tucson. She received her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Westmont College in California, and her Master's Degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University in Washington, DC. She is passionate about helping children and families become more of who God created them to be, and loves talking to people in the community about how to get involved.

Michelle started with ABCS in July of 2012. Before joining ABCS, Michelle was president of Arizona Right to Life and owned her own consulting business specializing in nonprofit management. Prior to starting her own company, Michelle worked for several nonprofit organizations including the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry, American Diabetes Association and Muscular Dystrophy Association. Michelle is a graduate of The University of Arizona and a proud Wildcat! She is an Arizona native and deeply loves her home state.