Events & Opportunities - J. Christy Wilson Center for World Missions

Events and Opportunities

The J Christy Wilson Jr. Center for World Missions offers a variety of events, including chapels, lunch forums, open house venues and lectures, which focus on various geographical areas, major religions, and types of global ministry opportunities. Throughout the year, we also host international guests, sponsor cross-cultural and service-learning experiences and have the opportunity to engage on a variety of topics related to the global mission of the church.


Prayer for the Nations

Every Weekday | 1:00 – 1:30 p.m | Zoom link – see email to students

30 Minutes Each Day, One Nation a Time
Come as you are and join our student leaders praying for God’s work to be done on earth. Prayer for the Nations is currently praying through all the nations of the world for 20 minutes and then praying for ongoing world events the last 10 minutes. Contact [email protected] for zoom link to join us in prayer. 


Global Missions Week

September 28 – 30, 2021 | 11:10 a.m. | Kaiser Chapel

“The whole Church, taking the Gospel to the whole world”

Lausanne 2010[1]

Join us during Global Missions Week for three chapel services followed by lunch discussions September 28 – September 30, 2021. Our goal is to give GCTS students a broad understanding and reminder of the biblical call for individuals and churches to pray, give and go to participate in Missio Dei along with the global Church, to bear witness (Ac 1:8) of the Gospel which involves both proclamation (Mt 28:18-20) and holistic concern (Luke 4:18-19) to all peoples (Rev. 7:9) with special concern for those with the least witness.  Our speakers this year are Dr Wonsuk Ma, Dr Alexia Salvatierra and Dr Joshua Bogunjoko. To view and share the event flyer  GMW 2021 events on campus 

Tuesday September 28, 11:10 AM Kaiser Chapel – Dr Wonsuk Ma – “The Whole Church” followed by luncheon in Alumni Hall and panel discussion on “The Whole Church” till 1:30 PM

Wednesday September 29, 11:10 AM Kaiser Chapel – Dr Alexia Salvatierra – “The Whole Gospel” followed by luncheon in Alumni Hall and a panel discussion on “The Whole Gospel” till 1:30 PM

Wednesday evening 7:00 – 8:30 PM Kaiser Chapel – OPEN TO THE WHOLE SURROUNDING CHURCH COMMUNITY AND STUDENTS – “The whole Church, taking the Gospel to the whole world” presentations by each speaker

* SPECIAL CHAPEL* Thursday September 30, 11:10 AM Kaiser Chapel, “To the Whole World” by Joshua Bogunjoko followed by a pizza luncheon in the Chapel hallway and breakout discussion sessions with main speakers to follow at 12:30 – 1:20 PM

If you are unable to attend in person, we invite you to join our livestream on Facebook.

Friday October 1, Alumni Hall – Dinner for All Nations – community potluck for students, faculty and staff 5:30 – 7:30 PM Food preparation guidelines will be announced before the event.

[1] https://lausanne.org/content/twg-three-wholes

Speaker bios:

Dr Wonsuk Ma (Ph.D., Fuller) is a Korean Pentecostal scholar in Old Testament studies by training, but also in studies of Pentecostalism, Mission, and Global Christianity through continuing research. He currently serves as Dean and Distinguished Professor of Global Christianity, College of Theology and Ministry, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States of America.

During his service as a missionary to the Philippines (1979-2006), he engaged in various ministries, including evangelism and church planting among mountain tribal groups and theological education at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary, Baguio City. In addition to his teaching in Old Testament and Pentecostal Studies, he served in various administrative responsibilities, including Vice President for Academic Affairs. During this period, he established the Asian Pentecostal Society and served as Founding President (1998-2000). He also founded two journals: the Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies (also serving as Co-editor, 1998-2006) and the Journal of Asian Mission (also serving as Founding Editor, 1999-2001).

He also participated in various international mission and ecumenical functions, including the Reformed and Pentecostal (Theological) Dialogue (1997-2005), Edinburgh 2010, Lausanne meetings, and various ecumenical conferences including the World Council of Churches and the Global Christian Forum. He also participated in networks for theological education, including the Global Forum of Theological Educators.

From 2006 to 2016, he served as Executive Director of Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, United Kingdom. He also served as David Yonggi Cho Research Tutor of Global Christianity, and directed Regnum Books International, which has published, among others, the 35-volume Regnum Edinburgh Centenary Series.

His publication includes Until the Spirit Comes: The Spirit of God in the Book of Isaiah (T & T Clark, 1999) and (with Julie C. Ma) Mission in the Spirit: Towards a Pentecostal/Charismatic Missiology (Regnum Books, 2010). Also, he has sixteen (co-)edited titles. He has published numerous studies in academic journals and chapters in books, as well as entries to dictionaries and encyclopedias. His current researches include the Spirit of God in the OT; Global Christianity and Mission; and Modern Pentecostalism in Contexts.

Dr. Joshua Bogunjoko, SIM International Director

Dr. Joshua Bogunjoko brings over two decades of leadership and mission experience to his role as the first African leader of SIM, a large missions organization serving in 80 countries. He is also a family physician with years of experience in surgery and holds a Masters in Leadership and Management. During his 26 years with SIM, he has served as chief medical officer and later director of Galmi Hospital, Niger, West Africa, and as SIM’s Deputy International Director for Europe and West Africa. Since 2013, he has served as the International Director of SIM.

 

 

 

 

Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of “Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World” (Intervarsity Press). She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational (English and Spanish) and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational/community organizing and legislative advocacy.  She serves as Assistant Professor of Integral Mission and Transformational Development for the School of Intercultural Studies for Fuller Theological Seminary as well as Coordinator of a Professional Certificate program for Hispanic pastors and church leaders at Fuller’s Centro Latino.  She coordinates the Ecumenical Collaboration for Asylum Seekers and serves on the leadership team of Matthew 25/Mateo 25 (a bipartisan Christian network to protect and defend families facing deportation in the name and spirit of Jesus.)  She serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association.

She has been a national leader in the areas of working poverty and immigration for over 25 years, including co-founding the national Evangelical Immigration Table in 2011, the 2007 New Sanctuary Movement, the Guardian Angels project for unaccompanied migrant minors in 2014, and Matthew 25/Mateo 25 in 2016.

From 2011-2014, she served as the Director of Justice for the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA under Bishop Nelson. From 2000 to 2011, she was the Executive Director of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice—beginning as the director of CLUE in Los Angeles and then as the first CLUE-CA director.  CLUE-CA is a statewide alliance of organizations of religious leaders who come together to respond to the crisis of working poverty by joining low-wage workers in their struggle for a living wage, health insurance, fair working conditions and a voice in the decisions that affect them.   Under Alexia’s leadership, CLUE-CA became known for its young leaders’ project, the New Sanctuary Movement and the “Our Children” project in Orange County which engaged immigrant and non-immigrant evangelical congregations in joint ministry to immigrant youth facing deportation.

Before CLUE-CA, Rev. Dr. Salvatierra founded multiple programs and organizations, in the US and overseas. These included a gang prevention program for at-risk immigrant youth, a community computer center and an intergenerational community garden where the elderly taught at-risk youth to grow produce for sale as well as a collaborative of UC students, homeless leaders and congregation members providing emergency services in the streets of Santa Cruz and the migrant farmworker camps in Watsonville. She was founding director of the Berkeley Ecumenical Chaplaincy to the Homeless, a program that integrated social services, community organizing, pastoral care, and economic development for the homeless that was replicated in six US cities. In the Philippines, she trained urban poor women in Manila to serve as chaplains to their neighbors.

She has been awarded the Fuller School of Intercultural Studies 2019 David Allan Hubbard Achievement Award, the Changemaker award from the Liberty Hill Foundation, the Stanton Fellowship from the Durfee Foundation, the Amos Award from Sojourners, the Giants of Justice award from CLUE LA and the Prime Mover fellowship from the Hunt Alternatives Fund.


Overseas Missions Practicum (OMP)

For students who are looking to be a part of the Overseas Missions Practicum this summer, the deadline for applications is NOW. The potential trips we are offering: Dubai, India, Uganda, Athens, North Africa, Sierra Leone and Japan. Contact [email protected] for any questions.

Short Term Missions – Long Term Strategic Goals

The Overseas Missions Practicum is an opportunity for Gordon-Conwell students to travel to cross-cultural locations around the world where they can learn to serve the poor, share their faith and network with Christians and missionaries from a broad spectrum of other cultures and church traditions.

Every year, students are invited to partner with one of several ministries overseas with which the OMP program has long-standing partnerships or to embark on practicum trips of their own design with other approved ministries.  Please check out the options for more information about the program.
OMP trips last for at least 6 weeks and involve substantial on-campus preparation.

Class credit is available, sign up for WM 721 (Summer session I) and/or get 2 Mentored Ministry Units.

The potential trips we are offering for summer 2022 – Dubai, India, Uganda, North Africa, Japan, Athens, Greece (working among refugees), and Sierra Leone. Additionally we are developing local cross-cultural opportunities for summer 2021 in Boston and NYC area.

We are always looking for students who have a burden for a place who may be interested in leading a student team as well! Contact [email protected]

First OMP interest meeting TBD

Mandatory orientation classes: Wednesdays: Feb. 3, Mar. 3, April 7 & Mid-April Chapel commissioning in the evening at S. Hamilton campus with Zoom link for classes. Additionally, there will be a chapel commissioning for OMPers mid-April

All dates TBD exactly & costs are based around airfare and are subject to change due to lack of interest and/or political/security concerns. Applicants will be interviewed & will now be required to have a CORI check. Application link coming soon.

About OMP

Objective

The objective of the OMP is to mobilize, train and send out teams of students into cross-cultural areas around the world where they can learn to serve the poor, share their faith and network with Christians and missionaries from a broad spectrum of other cultures and church traditions.

Program Description

The OMP program offers students course credits in missions and the option of two units of mentored ministry. WM721, offered over three weekends during the spring semester, is the prerequisite orientation class for all OMP participants (including non-student spouses who wish to go). This is followed by a contextualized, field-based learning experience of supervised cross-cultural ministry. It is required for all pursuing an M.A. in Intercultural Studies, and it is also open to all members of the Seminary community. All participants must be endorsed and sent by a local church.

Class Credit for OMP:

WM721: Overseas Missions Practicum (may be audited)
Up to 2 units of Mentored Ministry

The OMP Process

Students who are interested in participating in an OMP for the next summer should submit an application online. The Wilson Center will review the application and notify you of your acceptance via email. Students are responsible for registering the courses WM721 for the Summer semester respectively, and participate in fundraising as a team for their trip.

For more information, please contact the Wilson Center for World Missions.

Overseas Missions Practicum (OMP)

An opportunity for Gordon-Conwell students to travel around the world where they can learn to serve the poor, share their faith and network with Christians from a broad spectrum of other cultures and church traditions.

Learn More