Afshin Ziafat
Lead Pastor
Born in Houston, Afshin moved with his family to their native country of Iran when he was two years old. In the midst of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, Afshin’s family moved back to Houston at age six. In the second grade, he was given a Bible by a tutor who was teaching him the English language. He read that Bible 10 years later as a senior in high school and came to faith in Christ.
Ultimately, his family would disown him because of his faith in Christ, and He began to understand the call of Christ on each of our lives—to follow Him regardless of the cost. In so doing, Afshin found that the reward was greater than the cost, demonstrating the truth of Matthew 16:25 - "that whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ will find it."
Afshin received his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Texas at Austin. He went on to receive his Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages degree from Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. In 2008, he married the love of his life, Meredith.
For the last 10 years, he has traveled around the world proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in churches, conferences, and missions. Afshin speaks at Vertical Bible Study at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He also partners with Elam Ministries and travels into the Middle East regularly to train Iranian pastors.
Listen to Afshin's Testimony.
Mike Hall
Lead Pastor of Ministry Development
Mike graduated from Baylor University and received his Master’s of Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He was on staff with Young Life for 10 years where he started new areas in East Texas and in the suburbs of Dallas.
Mike also spent two years on staff with Halftime and Leadership Network where he partnered with parachurch ministries domestically and internationally to help successful business leaders give of their time, talent, and treasure. Mike is a “serial entrepreneur” having started and sold several businesses along the way. He has been married to his beautiful wife Heather for 13 years and has four children.
Matt Boswell
Worship Pastor
A native Texan, Matt has been leading churches in worship since he was 15. After being involved in multiple successful church plants and releasing a few albums, he's excited to be at Providence.
Matt's passion is to see the church engaged in worship that is gospel-centered. He believes it's that right understanding of Jesus' work on the cross that leads us to practice worship individually, in our homes, and in our congregations.
He is head over heels in love with his bride, Jamie, and their life is very full with their three small children.
Jordan Stone
Associate Pastor
By God’s grace Jordan was born into a family with parents that loved the Savior deeply and sought to share that knowledge with their six children – of which he is the only boy. Jordan first professed Jesus as Lord when he was six years old at VBS. Although he has no recollection of that moment, his mom recalls that the change was immediately evident.
The next fourteen or fifteen years of Jordan’s life were spent primarily on the soccer field as he played for various clubs. He was even afforded the opportunity to play in a few world championships. At the age of seventeen he signed a contract to play professionally in the MLS and thought he had finally “made it.” But the Lord had other plans, as he retired at the age of 20 and six months later was working in the student ministry of FBC Prosper.
After three joyful years of serving the middle school and high school students of Prosper, Jordan joined the staff at Providence in May 2008 as Missions Pastor and now serves as Associate Pastor. He is married to the most beautiful NICU nurse in the world, Emily, and they are the proud parents of Hudson Mark with another child due in late 2011. Jordan is currently completing graduate work at Reformed Theological Seminary.
Emily Glenn
Care Coordinator
Emily and her husband Weyland moved to the Frisco area in 2008 with their two happy children, Tausten and Harper. After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Baylor University, Emily worked alongside her husband as the Women’s Director for K-Life, a discipleship youth ministry. It was during that time that God began to give her a heart for relational ministry.
In 2005 Emily completed a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. Through different work experiences including the Rape Crisis and Victim Services department at The Women’s Center, God has graciously cultivated within her a Christ-like care for the hurting and broken. Emily is passionate about seeing the local church counsel the Word well to one another as we share life.
Krystal Mullins
Preschool & Children's Minister
Krystal moved to the Dallas area after graduating from UT in 2005, expecting an eventual move back to Austin or overseas. God had other plans. As she prayed about doing missions in Europe, Krystal was also praying to be a part of a community of godly men and women who seek to live out the gospel in their marriages and homes.
In the summer of 2009, she joined the Providence staff and quickly recognized this as the answer to that prayer. She desires for the children at Providence to grow up in homes where faith isn’t seen as a set of rules to follow but as an exciting relationship with their Creator. When she’s not in a classroom hanging out with toddlers, Krystal enjoys photography, music, and randomly singing the University of Texas fight song.
Erich Colberg
Student/Family Director
Originally from Northern California, Erich moved to the great state of Texas while in high school. Raised as an atheist, he bought a Bible when he was 19 years old at a garage sale for $3.50. His goal was to become an expert on all the supposed “biblical errors” in order to argue and debate with the street preachers in downtown Dallas. But, as only the Holy Spirit can do, the more Erich read and studied the Bible, the more he realized that he was winning these arguments only because he was a better debater, not because he was on the side of truth. God’s Word and Truth began to penetrate Erich’s heart as the Lord pursued him with the gospel. By 21, Erich had submitted to God’s will and was radically transformed through Christ’s salvation.
Erich is married to his lovely and sweet wife, Brittany. They have two precious daughters, Caroline and Ava. Family discipleship is a passion of Erich’s, and he strives to teach and imitate Christ in his home with love and sacrifice. In 2007, Erich felt God’s call on his life to pursue full time church ministry, and the Lord laid heavily on his heart the need for biblical family discipleship in the American church.
In 2009, Erich started NEXT: a family-centric ministry that brings parents and youth together around the truth of Christ. Its focus is on equipping and raising up parents to pastor their homes and disciple their children. God has been gracious to grow the hearts of the families and students in NEXT, and Erich is excited about God’s work through this ministry and what God will continue to do as believers chase after Him.
