Roberta Updegraff is the author of six Church Choir ...



Bio Roberta Updegraff

Roberta Updegraff is the author of six Church Choir Mysteries with Guideposts Books, and she was featured in their compilation Prayers for Every Need.

Roberta’s optimism spills over into all she does. She is a writer, speaker, teacher and mission mobilizer. Most importantly she is a Christian wife and mother. She communicates with wit and poignant personal observations about her life and faith experiences. She writes regularly for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Mission Mosaic and her photographs have been featured on the cover.

Her work has appeared in both Christian and general market publications, including Moody and Focus on the Family. She has written for Washington Times’ World & I magazine and numerous trade journals. Her slice-of-life essays inspire hope, and have appeared in Heart Stirring Stories of Love and A Cup of Inspiration.

She is currently a member of board and the president of St. Davids Christian Writer’s Association and Conference. She is director for the West Branch Christian Writer’s one-day conference. She is member of Chi Libris, a web ring for well-published Christian fiction writers.

She serves on Committee on Service for the Presbytery of Northumberland and is active in her local church as Sunday School teacher and mission mobilizer.

Born in Syracuse, New York, Roberta’s childhood as a military brat was spent in Madrid, Spain as well as Air Force bases in the United States. She married her high-school sweetheart Mark. They have three children, the youngest still in college. Roberta is a substitute teacher for Williamsport Area School District, a job that complements her passion for writing since she travels internationally to cover stories for the Presbyterian Church USA.

Roberta and her husband Mark responded to the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 by volunteering with a presbytery work team in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. It was love at first sight. The Updegraffs’ have embraced this poor but proud Latin American country as their second home.

They have helped launch six women’s’ sewing cooperatives. Filling two school buses with sewing machines, fabric and notions, Mark drove them to Honduras and donated them to a local ecumenical ministry working in self-development. Roberta presently leads short-term mission teams to Honduras, where she has adopted in her heart the children of Hogar Renacer, an orphanage in Cofradia.

Roberta imbues her writing and storytelling with a passion for God’s mission. She is frequently invited to speak at women’s events and church functions. She relates with humor, candor and humility her struggle as a Christian and her conviction joy is the journey of life for those who obey—joy that surpasses heartache and disappointment to glorify God.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download