, , s d - s - O n r - e - d 0 t - y n - s , e o w n d I a . - e o r , t e t t I - e n COVER STORY 25 May 2024 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition and female leader is this dance of being a mother, wife, daughter, sister, community leader. I’ve had to learn to give myself grace in keeping all the balls up in the air. In those moments where we have the superwoman cape on, sometimes you need to take that cape to form a blanket and wrap yourself in it. When the cape is really flying and you feel yourself gliding on air is when it all comes together - when my husband is at an Urban League Gala and I see him smiling because I've made some great comments, or I'm at my daughter's event or my son’s football game and they do something really great, and I’m able to be present. Those are the moments where we are uplifted. We have to learn to use that cape to fly and to comfort us all at the same time.” Stephanie Chen Board Member and Chief Culture Officer ChenMed Stephanie Chen is currently a Board Member at ChenMed, having served as General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer and as Chief Culture Officer. A graduate of Westminster Academy, she attended University of Florida for one year then married Chris Chen, at First Baptist Fort Lauderdale before transferring to Boston College where she graduated cum laude with a degree in economics. While her husband was training at Cornell University, Stephanie attended New York Law School on a Harlan Scholarship and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2008. Stephanie and her husband of 25 years, Dr. Chris Chen, the CEO of ChenMed, have four children and are actively involved in several charitable organizations. A premier physician-led, technology-enabled healthcare organization, ChenMed is a champion for equitable health outcomes, transforming the care of underserved seniors by providing a VIP-like, one-stop shop for seniors 65 and up. “When we started with ChenMed, there were about 40 employees. We joined his parents and helped it grow to over 130 centers across the country,” said Stephanie. “As we took on health plan providers and partners, we needed a compliance organization, so I helped build that. When I transitioned to chief culture officer, my job was to keep the amazing people that were attracted to ChenMed plugged in and energized, to keep them loving what they're doing. It was an amazing job!” Her role changed recently when they decided to trust a professional executive team to help take the company to the next level with the goal of reaching one million patients in the next 10 years. As a family business, however, she said they still feel like it is their “fifth child.” What is God’s calling for you? “He’s given me an ability to organize people, to get people energized and excited about what's coming and to see one vision or goal and how we all can contribute to achieve it. And as a woman of 2024 with a law degree, my number one thing is still to help my husband Chris be successful, happy, holy and healthy. I love doing that for him, and with him, I love witnessing to our kids and doing morning devotions.” Do you have a favorite charity? Stephanie said she is passionate about many charities, including 4KIDS, Sheridan House Family Ministries, First Priority, the local Church, Westminster Academy, Pine Crest School and Nicaraguan Medical Missions. Did you have a family Mission statement? “Yes, it has seven points: 1) We love and serve the one true God. 2) We love one another but start with family. 3) We work hard and persevere. 4) We appreciate the blessing of living, working and being together as a family. 5) We have an endless pursuit of learning. 6) We promote health and healthcare, and 7) We pass these down to future generations.” What Bible verse has encouraged you? When I'm sad or don't know what to pray or need comfort, I remember Psalm 139:5, “You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me” (NIV). What was your most challenging time as a mother? “My hardest part was the only time I realized I was in a bi-racial marriage. My husband is American born, but he's Chinese, and when it came to parenting a middle schooler, my husband was so strict on grades, required study hall for 2 1/2 hours every night, and the only acceptable grade is an A. This was not how I grew up, and I graduated with honors. So, his standard was a big source of contention. We went to Christian couple counseling when our oldest was in 8th grade and entering that rebellious phase. Finally, I came around to thinking that grades are a reflection of your effort, so with effort and practice you can get there. Now after family dinner at a set time every night we follow up with family study hall.” What was your most rewarding time as a mother? “The most rewarding time in my life was when my son as a freshman went to Pine Crest and his high school football coach told Chris and I that each player on the football team had to announce in front of 100 other guys what their goal for this season was, and our son stood up as a little 13-year-old and said he's dedicating this season to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Then when he went to Vanderbilt, he was walking with the Lord, attending RUF every Tuesday night for Bible study and every Sunday texting us sermon notes. There’s no greater joy than to see our children walking with the Lord. That's my full circle moment on just James, and I could go through each child sharing similar stories.” Melissa Elswick Communications Director and Sisterhood Visionary Crossway Church Melissa Elswick, Communications Director and Sisterhood Visionary, serves alongside her husband Dr. Jon Elswick, lead pastor of Crossway Church, which meets at Indian Ridge Middle School Auditorium in Davie. Married for 23 years, the couple has two sons and planted the church 14 years ago. Melissa earned a bachelor’s degree in ministry from Trinity International University and currently co-leads a newly established Women’s Soul Care Cohort for women in church leadership that is powered by Church United. “We’ve always been collaborative with other churches and try to push back against that competitiveness in our human heart,” said Melissa. “Church United is doing incredible things, but we've been dreaming about how to create a pathway to care for pastors’ wives and women in leadership on church staff. We’re in the pioneering phase, but we just accepted a $35,000 grant from StrikeForce 421 to create a pathway for women who may need counseling sessions paid for so they can talk to someone privately. Women are also supporting each other in Soul Care Groups for senior pastors’ wives, worship leaders and staff ministry leaders as a safe space outside your church where you can connect with other like-minded women in ministry. We also plan to have some practical trainings to resource women and possibly plan a women's leadership conference one day.” In addition to their work with Church United, the Elswicks are strong advocates for 4KIDS and established a culture favorable toward adoption and foster care at their church, so they often share their own story of adoption. Their two sons, Ethan, 14, and Joshua, 11, were both adopted from a Christian orphanage in Taiwan. Melissa explained, “Our first Easter Sunday at Crossway as a new baby church plant, my husband preached his first Easter sermon then we raced to Miami International and flew to Taiwan to adopt our first son.” Three years later, they received an international call out of the blue and learned the birth mother had given birth to a second son, so they quickly got their paperwork together and adopted Joshua. “I just get goosebumps thinking only God can pull two little boys from the island of Taiwan and plant them in our family,” said Melissa. What is God’s calling for you? “My calling is to follow Jesus with all that I have and to serve my husband and my children well. That’s my first calling, and I think pastors’ wives really struggle with that sometimes because it almost feels like our church is another kid. And we really do feel called to the local church and to South Florida.” Do you have a favorite charity? “We have three organizations we have partnered with for many years: 4KIDS of South Florida, Sheridan House Family Ministries and Every Mother’s Advocate. All three of those organizations are working towards unifying and healing families, children and single moms.” Did you have a family Mission statement? “We want to be a family that loves God, loves others and impacts our world, which is the same mission that we have for our church.” What Bible verse has encouraged you? Matthew 6:25-30, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?...” What was your most challenging time as a mother? “For me COVID flipped our world upside down. We were displaced as a church and lost our normal meeting place. We also faced the passing of my brother and the passing of my grandmother during COVID, so we had two significant family losses. It was probably the most challenging time in my life, but God brought us through it. Our hearts are still filled with grief, but the church is back and we’re gaining traction again.” What was your most rewarding time as a mother? “Having a portable church, our boys show up every Sunday early. My teenage son serves in kids ministry and they're willing to set up and tear down and be a part of the mission, so for me as a mom where we live in a world of entitlement to see our boys really be excited about what God is building at Crossway and want to be a part of it just makes my heart sing.” (Contunued on page 26) Christopher (James) Chen Jr, Rebecca Chen, Christopher Chen, Stephanie Chen, Natalie Chen, John Chen Joshua Elswick, Melissa Elswick, Ethan Elswick, Dr. Jon Elswick
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjE2MjU=