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Mary Southerland is The Stress-Buster, a leader at helping women manage stress and enjoy peace in their daily life. Mary Southerland is a dynamic communicator, delivering a powerful message that changes lives. She will make you laugh, cry and walk away thirsting for more! Through warmth, humor, transparency and solid biblical teaching, Mary leads women to discover the powerful truth of God’s word and motivates them to apply it in their daily lives. An international speaker, Mary has spoken to thousands of women across the United States, Latin America, New Zealand, India, Thailand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Women identify with Mary, because she survived the road of clinical depression, infertility, adoption, full-time ministry, and the daily stress of life. She has worked “in the trenches” with pastor’s wives and women’s ministry leaders. Through God’s power, Mary emerged with joy, strength, and victory. Her heart’s desire is to encourage women and support leaders by helping:

Create a culture of joy to face storms with strength.
Turn past failures into future success.
Handle difficult people with compassion.
Motivate women to sign up and serve in helping others.

Mary’s books include, Hope in the Midst of Depression, Sandpaper People, Escaping the Stress Trap, and Experiencing God’s Power in Your Ministry. She has also been a staff writer for Rick Warren’s Tool Box on Pastors.com as well as magazines such as ParentLife and Proverbs 31 Woman. Mary is the Co-founder of Girlfriends in God, a conference and devotion ministry for women, working with noted author, Sharon Jaynes and award winning composer, musician and author and worship leader, Gwen Smith to encourage and equip women for their life journey. Crosswalk.com , the largest Christian website in the world, and Bible Gateway host the daily devotions and have over 500,000 subscribers. As a frequent radio and TV guest, audiences appreciate Mary’s cheerful wisdom and expertise.

As the women’s ministry director of Flamingo Road Church, in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Mary began and led a community bible study, Women in Focus which grew to over 400 in attendance. Mary is now the Women’s Ministry Director at Westside Family Church in Lenexa, Kansas, that has a weekly attendance of over 5,000. Mary’s experience has helped leaders across America embrace challenges, such as facing transition and developing essential leadership qualities.

One of Mary’s greatest pleasures is serving beside her husband, Dan, who is a pastor and author of Transitioning: Leading Your Church Through Change. In September 2005, they helped start The Next-Level Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and now serve at Westside Family Church in Lenexa, Kansas, where her husband is the Lead Teaching Pastor. Mary relishes her ministry as a wife, a mother to their two children, Jered and Danna, and Mimi to her three grandchildren, Jaydan, Lelia and Justus.