Meet Arise AZ 2025 Main Session Speakers
Catherine Renfro
Main Session Speaker
Catherine Renfro has been a Main Session Speaker for Arise for 5 of our 6 years! She is the National Director of Women's Evangelism at the North American Mission Board. She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and graduated from Southeastern Seminary with a Master’s Degree in Christian Education and Biblical Counseling. She is the author of "Hope, Hurt and Healing: Experiencing Jesus in the Wake of Suicide." She has a passion for seeing lost people come to know Jesus and for saved people to live out their purpose of making Jesus known. Catherine is married to Chris Renfro and they have 3 children, Isaac, Ava, and Elijah.
Rezwana Derbyshire
Main Session Speaker
Originally born to Bangladeshi, Muslim parents, Rezwana Derbyshire is a passionate follower of Jesus. After a long season of waiting for God’s timing she is now eagerly sharing her gifts as a singer, songwriter, and author to make God’s name known in all the earth.
Rezwana is married to her husband Gary, who is a senior pastor at a church in Phoenix, Arizona, where they live, make music, and minister with their four spirited children. She is also an avid tea drinker (with milk and sugar, please!), and proud participant in daily carpool karaoke with her kids.
Cherie Wagner
Main Session Speaker
Cherie’s life-long passion is two-fold: knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known. Founder of Neue Thing Ministries and author of Found On My Knees, Awake O Sleeper, Rest, and Hope: Tethered to an Unwavering God, Cherie writes Bible studies and books that will encourage, equip, and empower women with the Word of God. Cherie, her husband Jeremy, and their son Redford live in Mesa, Arizona. Born and raised in Chicago and transplanted to the desert of Arizona, Cherie is a city girl at heart with a wild love for the mountains, a coffee connoisseur, a lover of knowledge, and forever a student of God’s Word. Connect with Cherie at neuething.org.
Laurie Davies
Main Session Speaker
An author, speaker, and former women’s ministry director, Laurie has a passion for helping women let go of the emotional baggage that God didn’t ask them to carry. She just finished writing her first book, which will be released with Moody Publishers in March 2026. Laurie’s writing has been featured in Guideposts, and, most recently, Praying Through Loneliness, a 90-day devotional from Thomas Nelson.
Laurie drinks hot coffee on 115-degree days, she has no idea what all the remotes in her family room do, and she is an extra extrovert, so, of course, she hopes to meet you. She lives in the Phoenix area and has been married to Greg Davies for 29 years. They have one adult son, Morgan, who lives nearby. Connect with Laurie at lauriedavies.com.
