Fall 2024 Newsletter

The SL newsletter is your best source for keeping up with all that is going on in our global fellowship of theological leaders. We’ve also created a PDF download option for you to be able to access this new resource when you’re not online.

A Note from Dr. Christopher M. Hays, President of Scholar Leaders

This year, God has called Scholar Leaders to follow him down unexpected new paths. Listening to God’s call is not always easy—it requires patience, risk, and boldness (Acts 4:29-31). But who ever said discipleship should be easy? 

(Top: Photo of Elie Haddad, President of Arab Baptist Theological Seminary)

This year, as we’ve followed the unexpected opportunities God has placed before us, we’ve discovered new ways to fulfill our mission, enhance our impact, and cultivate an astounding community of Majority World scholars for his glory. It hasn’t been easy. But it’s been pretty exciting. 

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

When God calls his people for ministry, sometimes the ground trembles! But even if the terrain shifts under our feet, we’ve got no interest in standing still when the Spirit is leading onward.

Our Fall Newsletter tells the stories of people who are truly on shaky ground—physically, spiritually, and socially—and yet God is steadying them. Keep reading to learn how God is faithful to his people around the world.

A Lighthouse in Lebanon

A Lighthouse in Lebanon: ABTS’s Mission of Hope Amid Conflict 

By: Juliany González Nieves

“While the skies of Beirut testify of war, let our acts of service testify of a loving God!”
—Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS)

What does it mean to be a seminary in wartime? How does a theological school adapt while holding fast to its mission amid violence and waves of displacement? Since partnering with the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Lebanon through the Vital Sustainability Initiative (VSI) in 2016, Scholar Leaders has witnessed the seminary’s remarkable resilience. Now, as Lebanon faces an escalating conflict that has uprooted more than a million people, ABTS remains steadfast in its mission to “serve the church by equipping servant-leaders for the ministry challenges arising in the Middle East and North Africa,” while also meeting the urgent needs of a community longing for hope and safety.

In November 2023, the seminary opened its doors to the first displaced family from southern Lebanon. Since then, all 53 housing units on campus have been filled, sheltering 195 men, women, and children whose lives have been overturned by war. These families, forced to leave everything behind, have found protection within the seminary’s walls. 

ABTS is no stranger to this kind of work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they cared for Sudanese students who could not return home due to closed borders. So the rhythm of hands preparing food and feet hurrying to address challenges is familiar to this faithful community. The seminary’s normal chapel services have become gatherings of hope as staff, faculty, and guests unite in worship. Some families have chosen to stay in a single room to make space for other families—a powerful reminder of God’s sacrificial love. 

Despite this daily humanitarian work, ABTS has successfully started its academic year. Their fully online programs continue uninterrupted; a new module allows students in the hybrid Bachelor of Theology to maintain their studies while travel to ABTS’s campus for residencies is too dangerous. Faculty meetings have resumed, including with faculty members displaced by the conflict, who now teach remotely from new locations. In addition, ABTS has started a children’s ministry and a youth program, and through partners like the Hungarian Baptist Aid, has coordinated medical care for their guests. 

The seminary’s steadfast dedication to its mission testifies to the power of a faith that doesn’t seek to escape the realities of this world. Instead, this faith has become tangible in the face of war and displacement. ABTS has become a lighthouse in Lebanon’s darkest hour, reminding us of what it means to be the hands and feet of Christ in a broken world.

2024 New Scholars 

Welcoming new scholars into the Scholar Leaders fellowship is one of the great joys of our ministry. This year’s cohort includes: 

Angelica de Vera
Philippines
Staff for Asian Theological Association

Angelica’s calling is to engage, empower, and equip the body of Christ for his global mission. Passionate and energetic, she is a creative who plays the violin, draws, paints, and has illustrated children’s books. One of her many dreams is to create innovative resources to help the church live out its mission in the world. Her PhD research aims to uncover how Filipino Christian young adults in Metro Manila perceive the role of art in catalyzing missional engagement.

Patient Bahati
Democratic Republic of Congo/Algeria

Patient was born in Bukavu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He has been a priest since 2015, with special involvement in interactions between Christianity and Islam. His doctoral research considers the role of religion in the contemporary Muslim world, especially in Algeria. He is examining how, despite challenges presented by secularization on the one hand and radical ideologies on the other, religion can help to build rich societal identity.

Alexandr Diller
Kazakhstan
Future faculty for a new theological institution in Kazakhstan

Alexandr was born in Central Kazakhstan. His spiritual journey began after he completed military service in 1992. Since 1993, he has been involved in ministry in various roles, including sound engineering, missions, youth leadership, and administration. He is now a pastor. He and his wife have been blessed with six children. For his PhD, Alexandr is researching the influence of the Soviet gulags (1940-1956) on Central Kazakhstan’s religious and cultural contexts.

Flo Kagwamba
Kenya
Staff for the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa

Flo Kagwamba serves as the Executive Administrator for the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA). Prior to her role at ACTEA, Flo worked at Africa International University as the Executive Secretary to the Vice Chancellor. She contributed to AIU’s chief achievements, including the Award of the Charter by the Kenyan Government. Outside of work, Flo enjoys spending time with her family. She is married to Edward, and they have three children: Giovanni (15), Gianna (12), and Makena (4). Flo’s doctoral research surveys succession planning practices within ACTEA-accredited institutions – specifically, how new leaders are identified, mentored, and transitioned into their positions. She is assessing the relationship between succession planning and institutional mission and seeking to identify best practices for improving succession planning. In her work, Flo hypothesizes that institutions that have robust transition processes are healthy, sustainable, and fulfill their mission.

Alejandra Ortiz
Mexico
Staff for IFES

Alejandra Ortiz is from Tijuana, Mexico and is married to Abdiel. She is mom to two girls, Erandi (6) and Ayari (3). Alejandra co-leads the Logos & Cosmos Initiative for Latin America, is part of the Engaging the University Global team, and serves on the regional support team for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) Latin America. Her work includes mentoring, teaching, writing, and leadership. In her research, Alejandra studies the history and missiology of Latin American evangelicalism with a focus on gender issues. In particular, she explores how women, both local and foreign, contributed to IFES and to the foundation of various Latin American university movements. 

Daniel S. Grijalba Roser
Colombia

Daniel is a Colombian who lives in Medellín. Teaching is his passion, and he is a theologian with a Master’s in education and a Master’s in theology and ministry. He is also a trained lawyer with a specialization in human rights. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Theology at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia. His research will exegete Matthew 25:31-46 to offer a renewed understanding of discipleship to Colombia as part of a theology of integral mission. 

Collins Ako
Cameroon/Democratic Republic of Congo
Staff for the United Methodist Church

The Rev. Collins Etchi Ako is a missionary with the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. In this role, he serves in the East Congo Episcopal Area in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Born in Cameroon and orphaned at an early age, Collins began working with the United Methodist Church’s Cameroon Mission in 2007. He has a special interest in the ministries of justice and reconciliation. He has traveled widely, conducting seminars on conflict management, peace, sustainable development, and interfaith conversations. His dissertation explores the relationships between mission and socio-political stability. In particular, he studies the missional activities of member churches of the Council of Protestant Churches of Cameroon (CPCC) in the midst of instability in southern Cameroon. 

Lily
Asia
Seminary faculty

Lily is a minister and seminary professor in a restricted country in Asia, where she has had the grace to serve the Lord for over fifteen years. Currently, she is a PhD student at Wycliffe College in Toronto. Her research will study the lament psalms in order to develop a theology that will benefit the church from the intersection of biblical thought, poetics, and Asian classical literature. She hopes that her study will create dialog between Christianity and her home culture, bridging the two to contribute to scholarship on the Hebrew Bible on the one hand and to be a blessing to the church on the other.

Ministry Feature: 80,0000+ books from Theological Book Network

After Theological Book Network merged with Scholar Leaders earlier this year, they have continued to collect, curate, and ship high-quality theological books around the world. Of particular note are two projects: a book shipment to Tavriski Christian Institute and two major shipments to India.

READ MORE

For over 40 years, Scholar Leaders’ mission has been to equip Majority World theologians. The leaders who founded SL saw that sustained investment in theologians from the Majority World and for the Majority World was a key step for expanding the Kingdom of God, so for us, equipping starts with scholarships for PhD students.

When SL selects a student for a scholarship, they get funding from up to three sources:

  • SL’s yearly ministry budget
  • Direct donations from churches and individuals through our Sponsor-a-Scholar program
  • Legacy Funds

Legacy Funds represent the love families and individuals have for scholars in our fellowship and the long-term investment they’ve made to keep scholarships a core part of our mission. 

One of the beauties of Legacy Scholarships is that they allow us to offer funding to specific kinds of students. For example, the Persevere Scholarship, created in honor of Sydney Smith, is given to a woman scholar who has demonstrated perseverance in her life and ministry. Other Legacy Funds go to assisting PhD students attending specific schools, such as Fuller Theological Seminary. Still others, like the Liefield Scholarship, go to support scholars from particular geographic regions. 

Students who receive these funds have gone on to remarkable achievements. For example, David Hayfron (picture above) received the Prinn Scholarship for his PhD at Fuller. Following his graduation this spring, he is serving as Area Head of the Church of Pentecost in Ghana, a role in which he oversees ministers in 241 local congregations with a total membership of 53,000. He also works as a pastor and an adjunct lecturer at the Pentecost University.

This year, the Legacy Scholarship recipients are as follows: Collins Ako from Cameroon, serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo; a woman scholar from East Asia; Sara Amestegui-Deik from Bolivia; Hepziba Arputharaj from India; Michelle Kang from East Asia; Yosam Manafa from Uganda; and Patient Bahati from the Democratic Republic of Congo, serving in North Africa.

Five New Publications by Scholar Leaders Fellowship Members

Arputharaj, Hepziba. “Gender Inequality and Domestic Violence.” In Christians and Christianity in India Today: Historical, Theological, and Missiological Assessments. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2024.

A current Leader Studies scholar, Hepziba Arputharaj is pursuing a PhD in Intercultural Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. Her research focuses on nonphysical violence in marital relationships in Christian families in India.

Galadima, Bulus, and Sam George, eds. Africans in Diaspora and Diasporas in Africa. Langham Global Library, 2024.

Bulus Galadima serves as catalyst for diasporas with the Lausanne Movement and as associate pastor of West Shore Baptist Church. Prior to these roles, he held multiple positions, including provost/president of Jos ECWA Theological Seminary in Nigeria.

Tharwat Wahba, a contributor to this book, is the Middle East Mission Coordinator with Frontier Fellowship and an adjunct professor of mission at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo. Prior to these roles, he served as the chairman of the Pastoral and Outreach Ministries Council with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Egypt. Scholar Leaders had the privilege to support Tharwat during his PhD studies in missions at the London School of Theology.

Handley, Jr., Joseph W., Gideon Para-Mallam, and Asia Williamson, eds. Leading Well in Times of Disruption: Leadership Development for Global Mission. Langham Global Library, 2024.

This edited volume features contributions from several SL fellowship members, including:

  • Current Leader Studies scholar and Director of Memoria Indígena, Jocabed Reina Solano Miselis; 
  • International Director of ICETE and key participant in No More, Michael Ortiz;
  • and Kavitha Emmanuel, a leading voice for gender equality and also a key participant in our No More project.

Morales Fredes, Nelson R., ed. Good News from Latin America: Reflections in Honor of John Stott. Langham Global Library, 2024.

Nelson R. Morales Fredes is dean and professor of Bible and Biblical Exegesis at the Central American Theological Seminary in Guatemala. Originally from Chile, he has lived, studied, and taught in Guatemala since 1993. A recipient of a Leader Studies scholarship, he earned his PhD in Theological Studies/New Testament from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

J. Daniel Salinas, a contributor to the book, is the associate director of the Mesa Scholar program at Mesa Global and a professor at the Fundación Universitaria Seminario Bíblico de Colombia (FUSBC). With the support of Scholar Leaders, J. Daniel earned his PhD in Historical Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Munayer, Salim J. Reconciling Justice: Concepts of Justice in the Multireligious Context of Palestine/Israel. Eugene Oregon: Cascade Books, 2024.

Salim Munayer has worked in reconciliation for over thirty years. He is the founder of Musalaha, a faith-based organization that focuses on teaching, training, and facilitating reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. He is also the coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa region of the Peace and Reconciliation Network of the World Evangelical Alliance. With the support of Scholar Leaders, Salim earned his PhD from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He was the 2009 Scholar Leader of the Year.  

The InSights Journal has a new look! We have created a new brand for the journal with a new logo and website. Check out our most recent issuefeaturing multiple articles exploring women’s experiences in African theological education.

YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH SCHOLAR LEADERS

Over the years, Scholar Leaders has been generously supported by churches, foundations, and individuals like you.

You’ve responded generously when crises erupted, when a new opportunity emerged, and when a young scholar needed support to follow God’s call. Thank you! 

To give to Scholar Leaders, or one of our dynamic program areas, please visit scholarleaders.org/give. To find out more, contact us at contact@scholarleaders.org.

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