Retreat Guides

Jon Huckins is the founder and director of Journey Home whose work is to heal soul and society through pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago and Mexico-US Border. He is also a PhD candidate in Christian Social Ethics and adjunct professor of New Testament at Point Loma Nazarene University. Jon has written multiple books, including co-authoring Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World. His writing has appeared in the USA Today, Sojourners, Red Letter Christians and numerous other publications. Jon regularly speaks at churches, universities, conferences and retreats.

In 2011, Jon co-founded Global Immersion, a peacemaking training organization, and was the co-director until 2023. With the conviction that the path to healing society comes through our individual and collective healing, he founded Journey Home in 2023 which is inviting Jesus’ followers to journey home to their hearts and contribute to a society where everyone has a home. At the center of Jon’s life and work is living deeply rooted in his neighborhood with his wife, four kids and house church community in San Diego.

Nina Barnes is a trained spiritual director and coach with a passion for accompanying others in navigating life. Through Transforming Journey, her spiritual direction and coaching practice, Nina considers it a sacred privilege to help people listen for and respond to possibilities. She creates space for people to discover purpose & meaning, discern opportunities, work through challenges and conflicts, and develop as leaders. Nina is honored to help others experience and embody love, hope, redemption, and a journey of belovedness.

Nina has extensive human resources experience, stemming from 30+ years of service within a variety of organizational settings. Along with a Master of Arts degree in Spiritual Formation & Leadership, Nina holds certifications in:
-Conflict Coaching / Mediation
-Bias Awareness and Mitigation
-StrengthsFinder Training
-Enneagram Training and Coaching
-Spiritual Transformation
-Spiritual Direction
-Human Resources Management

Outside of work, Nina desires to make a meaningful impact as she serves as a board member for two non-profit organizations, and in her most cherished role as mother to an adult son and “daughter-in-love”, along with treasuring being “Gramma Nina” to their two beloved little girls.

Sophfronia Scott holds a BA in English from Harvard and an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She began her career as an award-winning magazine journalist for Time and People. When her first novel, All I Need to Get By, was published in 2004, Sophfronia was nominated for best new author at the African American Literary Awards and hailed by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. as “potentially one of the best writers of her generation.” Her latest book is Wild, Beautiful, and Free, a historical novel set during the Civil War. Sophfronia’s other books include The Seeker and the Monk: Everyday Conversations with Thomas Merton, Unforgivable Love, Love’s Long Line, Doing Business By the Book, and This Child of Faith: Raising a Spiritual Child in a Secular World, co-written with her son Tain. She has taught at Regis University’s Mile High MFA and Bay Path University’s MFA in Creative Nonfiction. Currently, Sophfronia is the founding director of Alma College’s MFA in Creative Writing, a low-residency graduate program based in Alma, Michigan. She lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut where she continues to fight a losing battle against the weeds in her flower beds.

Aaron Niequist is a liturgist, writer, and pastor. Aaron recently graduated from General Theological Seminary in NYC. After leading worship at Mars Hill Church (Grand Rapids, MI) and Willow Creek Church (Barrington, IL), he created A New Liturgy - a collection of modern liturgical worship recordings. He then curated a discipleship-focused, formational, ecumenical, practice-based community called “The Practice”. Aaron released a book called The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Keep Us From Drowning and continues to create resources to help others flesh it out.  But that’s just job stuff.  The best part of his life is his wife Shauna, and their sons Henry and William.

Jonathan Merritt is one of America’s most popular writers on issues of faith and culture. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing - and How We Can Revive Them, named “Book of the Year” by the Englewood Review of Books.

Jonathan is an award-winning contributor for The Atlantic, a contributing editor for The Week, and a regular columnist for Religion News Service. He has published more than 3000 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and Christianity Today.

Jonathan is also a sought-after speaker at colleges, conferences, and churches on topics relating to spirituality, politics, and current events.

Jonathan currently happily resides in New York City. He is an aspiring dog dad, a college football fan, and intolerable before coffee.