Shorter College welcomes missionaries to campus

April 8, 2010 - Shorter College’s Hugh F. Davis Center for Ministry Education and Missions recently welcomed several missionaries to the campus as part of its “On Mission Celebration” event. The event, sponsored by the Floyd County Baptist Association, featured missionaries who have served with the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, the Georgia Baptist State Convention and other missionary associations.

Dr. Richard E. Bray, director of the Hugh F. Davis Center; Dr. Alan Hix, chair of the Religion Department; Dr. Aaron Werner, dean of the Chapel; and the Rev. David Roland, Baptist Collegiate Ministries director, worked together to bring the missionaries to campus during the day.

The missionaries spoke to several classes and set up display booths in the Fitton Student Union, where they shared information with students about opportunities in missions.  Mike Weaver, IMB missionary to Peru, spoke to students, faculty and staff during Shorter’s chapel service.

Display booths were set up in Fitton Student Union where students could learn about opportunities in missions.

According to Dr. Bray, a number of students expressed interest in either short-term or long-term missions as a result of the On Mission Celebration event. This growing interest is also reflected in the increasing number of students choosing to study in the new missions minor that the Department of Religion unveiled in the fall of 2009, Dr. Bray said.

“One student has decided to minor in missions as a result of the missionaries being on campus,” Dr Bray said. “ In my time at Shorter, I have come to understand that students want to make a difference in the world. The new missions minor is providing an avenue for students to participate in missions and impact the world. We have eight students who have already committed to this minor and others considering it.”

Shorter student Courtney Trippe, a missions minor from Villa Rica, was one of the dozens of students impacted by the missionaries visit. “I loved seeing the hearts of the missionaries. Although they were passionate about the area where they were ministering, their desire was not to recruit us to their place of service; they truly desired for us, as students and faculty, to discover where and how God calls us to serve,” Trippe said. “My favorite quote from one of the missionaries was, ‘If you doubt that you have the ability to witness to others, that’s good. It has never been about our personal abilities — it’s about a willing heart that allows Christ to work in you and through you’.”

Founded in 1873, Shorter College is a Christian college committed to excellence in education. Since 2003, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Shorter among the South’s best baccalaureate colleges. The college offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 48 major areas as well as undergraduate degree programs for working adults, the Master of Business Administration and the Master of Arts in Leadership. Online courses are also available. Shorter will transition to university status June 1, 2010. For more information, visit www.shorter.edu.

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