Facilitators

The Deep Community Experience is facilitated by a growing group of individuals who have found each other on their journeys toward fuller wholeness and connection with God and others. We are church-planters, mission leaders, parents, pastors, professionals…and we have been called to strengthen, encourage and comfort the Body of Christ as fellow journeymen. 

Keith Keller

Keith has served on church staff and in missions with his wife, Rachel, and their 3 sons for several years. Missions brought him face to face with his own brokenness and addictions that started him on a journey of honesty and connectedness with others. “I still struggle. My heart is a mix between a desire for connectedness and a deep dive into numbing self-protection. This is my offer to other leaders; a story still in process and a heart still being transformed to enjoy the Father the way Jesus does.”

Carmen Phillips

Carmen has served in various capacities in missions and loves the fact that she has had the opportunity to raise and educate 4 amazing children in some of the most unique settings around the globe. She loves adventure, and one of the most adventurous pursuits of her life is the exploration of her own heart. Her stories are real and vulnerable and she loves to share about the work of God in her heart. ​

Dale Phillips

Dale has served in various international leadership roles for the past 20 years in the corporate and non-profit sectors. His story is filled with joy and pain, but interwoven throughout is the constant thread of the grace of God. "It is a privilege to walk alongside ministry leaders in their own personal transformation process, seeing God use my story to create a safe place for others in ministry.

Esther Weston

Esther Weston, MA, LPC is a therapist serving in her own private practice. She has the best friends in the world but three people have unrivaled priority in her heart: her husband of 28 years, Matt who makes her laugh and her two young adult children:  Andrew and Jenna.  Adopted at age 4 into a large ministry family, she developed a heart for ministry and those in leadership.  Understanding how exposing rather than concealing her own brokenness and its origins in her experiences has led to surprising healing and freedom which she longs to share with others.  She considers it one of the greatest and most humbling privileges of life to enter the sacred stories of others and observe first hand the transformative redemption that comes from their courage to engage their own heartache.
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Laura Hobbs

Laura served internationally for 6 years as an elementary MK educator and continued teaching once she returned state-side. She now resides in MN with her husband and two energetic young boys. A lot of life is filled with the awe of experiencing things through a new set of eyes. She delights in the opportunities she's had to come alongside others in formal and informal mentoring roles. "Though I am still beginning to learn to run, I am excited to come alongside others as they do the same. It is my deep hope that together we might more fully become who God made us to be."

Gary Wittevrongel (Founding Advisor)

Gary has been directly involved in missions since 1985 in the Middle East through 2009 in Eastern Europe. He loves family, sabbath times, music, good stories and deep conversation. Over these years, areas of focus have been the Muslim world, church planting, team development, ​and personal, emotional & spiritual health. When talking about what he does, he often tells of a question he was asked by a young national believer… “What do you do here?” I told her it was easier to describe my effect than what I do. She asked, “Then what is your effect?” I responded, “When I spend time with believers, they rise up and take their place in the Kingdom of God. Then, they outdo me in everything! That’s my effect.” With a smile she said, “That’s a good effect!”

Sandy Wittevrongel (Founding Advisor)

Sandy has two married daughters, and two grandsons. She lived for nine years in the Middle East, raising children and involved with the team ministry and 6 years in Eastern Europe while her daughters were in college. She loves time with family, cooking, art, reading and leisurely walks in beautiful places. “My journey with God has involved an acknowledgement that painful experiences in my past have impacted my present responses and relationships. As well as a process of moving from self-protective, rigid, performance-based Christianity to an ​ever-increasing relationship of trust and love with the Trinity and others. My desire is to come alongside others and help them live more fully in the freedom and wholeness that Christ died to give them.”

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