...connecting women to reflect God's love
...connecting women to reflect God's love
Board Members
Karna Berg
Karna joined our board in May 2018. She became a new creation in Christ as a young college student in 1979. Attending wonderful Bible-teaching churches and meeting wonderful friends, who served as examples and mentors, enabled her steady growth in Christ. Active devotion to Christ’s body has provided many opportunities to serve, ranging from a full summer missions trip to the Philippines to numerous local church and community ministries. Participating in several MVWC Bible Studies has served to keep her heart engaged, challenged and tender to God’s heart for rescuing the perishing, strengthening the weak and standing with and holding up the arms of those who lead the way. Karna and her husband, Mark, are the parents of four children and serve as elders at Adair Community Church. She is active in MVWC Bible studies, Community Prayer and Bible Study Fellowship. Professionally, Karna is a licensed Physical Therapy Assistant. By his grace, she serves to support the mission of Mid-Valley Women of Christ which inspires love and promotes unity for God’s glory.
Karen Callis
Karen has been participating in and co-leading MVWC studies for the past 7 years. She is currently on staff with Corvallis Evangelical Church as their Director of Equipping - helping people to understand how God has gifted & wired them, and helping them find places to serve in the church and in the community. Her heart's desire is to see women thrive and not just survive. She loves to help women know and understand the Bible for themselves. She has been married to Jeff for 35 years, and they have 4 grown children, two granddaughters and three grandsons. She also does the bookkeeping for their business, Corvallis Plumbing Inc. She loves decorating, painting, scrapbooking, reading and remodeling.
Alicia Marks
Alicia Marks joined our board of directors at the end of 2016. She is a published author and Bible teacher. She is the founder and director of Come Thirsty Ministry. A ministry that provides world-class Bible study materials to help women grow spiritually and fulfill their own calling. To this end, Come Thirsty provides adoption scholarships, scholarships for church-led short-term mission trips, and a free Through the Bible study every year. Alicia also wrote, Elijah: Bold Obedience and a Still, Small Voice (a six-week video-driven study) and The Matriarch’s: Women Who Birthed a Nation. She raises a menagerie of kids and livestock on a farm near Amity, Oregon.
Karen Monk
Karen joined our board in August 2017 with a strong background in computers, having earned an Associates Degree in Electronic Engineering from Chemeketa Community College. She holds a Certificate in Computer Networking from Linn Benton Community College as well. An active volunteer for many years in the Keizer area, Karen served as the Assistants Group Lead for EVAK through Keizer Emergency Management and was on the Keizer CERT (community emergency response team) through FEMA. She is currently in her 3rd year volunteering as an electrical mentor for the Albany high school robotics team, SWARM. An active learner of new things, Karen has enjoyed classes at LBCC in Hebrew and violin. Currently, she also assists the Women’s Ministries team in planning and facilitating women’s events at Valley Christian Center. She and her husband Darrell are both natives of Salem, who now reside in Albany. Karen is the mother of one son and is experiencing much joy in raising her grandson. The Lord has placed a deep desire in Karen’s heart to help women know and be known by other women at a deeper level. Participating in Community Bible Studies, helping the women of her church, and serving on the MVWC board has brought forth the realization of her calling to reach women.
Bonnie Shown
Bonnie has enjoyed attending the MVWC Community-wide Bible Studies since 2014 and has been a Bible Study Coordinator at her church for the past five studies. In January 2020, she joined the MVWC board after she felt God was calling her to help connect the Willamette Valley women and help them build and strengthen their relationships with Jesus. Bonnie is a member of Grace Point Church in Albany, the same church she attended in middle school and high school. Bonnie loves to serve her church by singing on the worship team, being active with Ladies Ministries, helping with media, Sunday school, or wherever she can lend a hand. She has been married to her husband, Aaron, since 2012 and has an adult stepson, Ben. Since 2007 Bonnie has been a Kindergarten teacher in Albany. In her spare time, she loves to travel, sing, read, bake, and spend time with friends, family, and her dogs.
Lynne Wicker
Approximately 3 years ago, Lynne felt God calling her to minister to women regardless of the season of their life. To put it simply, God told her to love women where they are, right now. Her obedience led her to be one of the founding members of the women’s ministry leadership team at Dallas Foursquare Church. In the fall of 2015, Lynne led her first community-wide bible study and knew she was right where God wanted her to be. She feels truly blessed by this journey that God is leading her on and is anxiously waiting to see what He has in store for her in the future. Lynne and her husband, Kevin, live in Dallas, OR with their teenage daughter, Samantha. They also have 2 grown sons, Kasey and Garrett. She loves cooking, reading and going home to Mississippi every chance she gets.