Spring 2007 | Volume 65, No. 3

What in the world does the WMC do?

by Melanie Lloyd

Founded in 1980, the World Mission Center (WMC) offers students at Southwestern Seminary the resources necessary to follow through with Christ’s admonition to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

“The heartbeat of the WMC revolves around enhancing understanding of the biblical basis for missions, increasing awareness of God’s work among all peoples and assisting in identifying and embracing roles in God’s mission,” said Art Savage, associate director of the WMC.

One of the most exciting developments at the WMC is its staff’s role in advising students who concentrate on international church planting (ICP) through the Masters of Divinity program. A unique aspect of the ICP concentration is that students complete the last two years of their degree on the mission field: a true combination of academic preparation and practical application.

“This concentration equips students to start and develop churches abroad,” said Keith Eitel, director of the World Mission Center. “The church-planting experience occurs under the auspices of the International Mission Board’s International Service Corps or career apprentice program.”

The MDiv with International Church Planting encourages students to study both biblical Greek and Hebrew before going to the field, but there are also Greek-only or Hebrew-only options. Either way, students will also earn credit for acquiring a field language when they are in their posting with the International Mission Board.

“Because of the necessity of spending only two years on the Southwestern campus, completion of both biblical languages, while crucially important for Bible study and teaching, poses a significant challenge,” Eitel said. “Therefore, a student may complete either four semesters of Greek or three semesters of Hebrew while on campus.”

As an incentive for students in the International Church Planting program who take both biblical languages using summer and inter-term opportunities, Southwestern offers a scholarship to cover the second language plus a scholarship to cover an additional 12 hours of field-based requirements.

“We have had quite a few students come by and transfer into the MDiv ICP program as they have learned more about the program and its effective cooperation with the IMB,” Savage said. “The process is easy and, so far, no one has lost any credit hours when transferring from another degree. It is an exciting program that offers missions adventure with a highly recognized degree.”
But there is so much more going on at the WMC than coordinating the ICP concentration. For students not studying for a missions degree, the WMC sponsors three to four trips a year to various countries in which future IMB deployment will take place.

“A lot of students participating in these mission trips will go on to become youth pastors or education ministers, and we want to train them in the necessary steps is takes to put together mission trips in their own churches or ministries,” Savage said. “We also encourage non-students to participate in our mission trips.”
Throughout the year, the WMC also sponsors on-campus seminars featuring various topics, such as how to share a testimony or how to effectively use the Evangicube.

“The WMC is not just a place for missionaries,” Savage said. “It is a place for everyone. We want students to come and use it for a place to study. They can use the resources in our small library. They can catch up on world events by watching television, reading the newspapers and magazines. We have board games for times when folks just need to relax, and a hot cup of coffee is always available. We want to be what Dr. Eitel calls ‘a missiological Starbucks.’”

The World Missions Center is located at 4441 Stanley Ave., across from the A. Webb Roberts Library. For more information about any of the programs or opportunities sponsored by the WMC, call 817.923.1921, ext. 7500, or go to www.swbts.edu/worldmissions.