Welcome New Board Members!
Wilderness Trek is excited to announce that three new members have been added to our Board of Directors. This volunteer board serves a crucial role in guiding the vision and direction of Wilderness Trek and supporting the staff that provide the transformational experiences of our ministry. We ask you to join us in welcoming and praying for these folks as they begin to serve the ministry.
Kelley Denby
Kelley Denby joins the WT board with 20 years of sales and fundraising experience and currently serves as Executive Director of Prospect Development for the University of Texas at Austin–even though she’s a proud Aggie (class of ’03).
She and her Longhorn husband of 15 years, Kris, have owned and operated their woodworking business Hemlock & Heather since 2012 and reside in Austin, Texas but dream of moving to the country with their daughter.
Kris’s son lives and works in Austin as well and is finishing up his degree this fall. Kelley has assisted WT with their fundraising objectives in an unofficial capacity since 2020 and looks forward to supporting the board and Executive Director in an official capacity now in her board seat.
Bart Croasmun
Bart Croasmun is originally from West Virginia but has been in West Tennessee (Paris) for the past 17 years. He is the father of 3 children, Hannah (1994-2003), Jake (27), and Maebry (9), and married to Carrie for 19 years. The family has a hobby farm where they enjoy horses, a donkey, a cow, dogs, cats, and many many chickens.
He is the youth minister at Sulphur Well where his exposure to Trek is rooted. A member of the church encouraged Bart to try Trek with their high school youth group, and in 2017 they took their first adventure and haven’t looked back.
Trek has become one of the pinnacle life adventures for their teens who get to come on one of the trips. When they look back on their time in high school, they remember three things: when they got their driver’s license, first boyfriend/girlfriend, and when they went on Trek.
For Bart, Trek was a time of withdrawal with God where he sat and listened to HIM and found clarity for the direction his life needed to go in moving into full time ministry. Trek has been the place where the enchantment of faith has been rediscovered. He is grateful for this opportunity to take his gifts and help this outdoor ministry reach more souls in potentially life changing ways.
Brent Southard
Brent Southard serves as one of the lead pastors at The Well Church in Argyle, TX. The Lord saved Brent at an early age and called him to ministry right out of high school.
Brent and his wife, Stephanie, have 4 amazing kids (15, 13, 13, 7). They have been serving in local church ministry for over 20 years in many different capacities.
Brent has earned an Advanced M.Div from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry (ABD) from Fuller Theological Seminary. Brent is a licensed SYMBIS facilitator and a certified ACSI Bible instructor.
Brent’s favorite summer trip as a student was going on Trek and leading trips for his youth ministry.