Marla Alupoaicei

Bio: Marla Alupoaicei is committed to helping women experience freedom and spiritual transformation through her ministry of redemptive writing and speaking. Marla holds a B.A. in English and Communications from Purdue University and a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. She worked as a writer and editor for Insight for Living before launching her freelance writing and speaking career.

Marla met her husband, Catalin, while ministering to the needs of orphans in Romania in 1998. The couple married in 2002, and soon afterward, they founded Leap of Faith Ministries. Catalin and Marla also maintain a popular creative website, www.marriageleap.com, which enables them to minister to artists, writers, and intercultural couples across the globe.

Marla's nonfiction articles have been published in a variety of publications, including Marriage Partnership, Kindred Spirit and Insights. In addition, her poems have been published in literary journals and she has won several major poetry competitions, including the Writer’s Digest Poetry Competition, the Purdue Writing Competition, and the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize (with a cash award of $10,000).

Marla enjoys a variety of creative pursuits, including music, art, dance, photography, traveling, teaching, and mentoring young women. Her speaking topics include women's leadership, intercultural relationships, how to live a more abundant life, experiencing greater joy and intimacy in marriage, teaching on abstinence and courtship principles for teens, how-to sessions on organizing and planning mission trips, and much more.