by Josh Paxton | Feb 7, 2018
Preparing for cross-cultural ministry just got easier!
Calvary University is pleased to announce the formation of the new Synergy Option. Synergy is all about preparing and sending the next generation of cross-cultural workers to the field with the best preparation they can get in the fastest time frame.
The traditional process is too slow!
To date 3.1 billion people remain unreached with the Gospel. This is up from 2.5 billion just five years ago. The sad fact is that the global spread of the gospel is not keeping pace with population growth. Add to that the typical college student’s preparation time of 4 years of college, time spent paying off debt, 1-2 years of training with a missions agency and then an average of 3 years to raise financial support and it is no wonder that we are not keeping pace.
Synergy is the solution!
Synergy is a cooperative option available to Calvary University students as an elective to their degree program. It works with a wide variety of degree options from Biblical Counseling to Ministry Studies and more. Students will engage in 12 hours of coursework (4, 3 hour classes) that will be conducted in partnership with one of Calvary’s mission agency partners. Calvary students enroll in their courses through Calvary are overseen through the process by a Calvary professor and also attend the agencies approved training program.
Agencies currently available:
Agencies in development:
- Ethnos 360
- Reach Beyond
- Biblical Ministries Worldwide – launching soon!
Through this unique educational option students have the opportunity to begin training with an approved mission agency as early as their Sophomore year. Students will become members of the agency they are training with and in most cases be able to start the support raising process in their Senior year. This will allow them to shorten their preparation time while still getting a quality education, excellent ministry and cross-cultural training and securing their financial support by the time they graduate. So that they are then able to launch into the ministry that God has called them to.
Synergy is only available through Calvary University and the Burnham Center for Global Engagement. It represents the next phase in missions training and preparation so that 3.1 billion unreached people can become 0!
Click here for more information: https://www.calvary.edu/synergy/
by Sara Klaassen | Jan 26, 2018
Weekly Portraits of Calvary Life
The theme of Calvary’s Conference on Global Engagement (formerly called Missions Emphasis Week) was Priorities: Engaging Gospel-Deprived Places. Dr. David Brown from Biblical Ministries Worldwide was the main session speaker, and his topics included Marketplace Ministry, Gospel Wildfires, Dialogue with Doubt, and the Threefold Cord.
Dr. David Brown was the main session speaker.
The schedule for the conference was a bit different this year with regular classes canceled on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Both days included two main sessions, prayer time, three seminar slots, and evening activities.
Alumna Sarah Chadbourn presented a seminar on Wednesday.
The entire Langmade Room was filled with displays from the various mission organizations and missionaries represented at the conference.
Students spoke with mission representatives by their display tables.
Also new this year was an art contest and auction where students submitted drawings, paintings, or photographs that fit the missions theme. The pieces were judged, given awards, and auctioned off to raise money for students going on summer missions trips.
These are the pieces students created for the art contest and auction.
Another highlight of the week was a song sung in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili! As always this was a week of making or reestablishing connections with God’s servants around the globe and being challenged in our own commitment to spreading the Gospel.
Sara Klaassen
Alumni Relations Coordinator
Upcoming Basketball Games
January 26, 5:00 (Women) & 7:00 p.m. (Men) vs. Barclay at Haviland, KS
January 30, 5:00 (Women) & 7:00 p.m. (Men) vs. Manhattan Christian at Home
February 1, 6:00 p.m. Women vs. Union at Home
February 6, 5:00 (Women) & 7:00 p.m. (Men) vs. CCCB at Home
Upcoming Calvary Events
Engaging Grace Conference January 31
Alumni Phone-a-thon February 1-28
by Josh Paxton | Jan 12, 2018
The Burnham Center for Global Engagement presents our annual missions conference: The Conference on Global Engagement. Formerly “Missions Emphasis Week”, the conference has undergone several changes this year to better fit our new course schedules. This January 22-25 Calvary University will host 45 Mission representatives and practitioners from 23 different local and international mission agencies.
Dr. David and Karin Brown
Our main speaker for the conference will be Dr. David Brown. “A former Philadelphia lawyer, David and his wife, Karin, have served as church-planters with Biblical Ministries Worldwide, focusing primarily on educating and mentoring national leaders. They worked for twelve years in Johannesburg, South Africa. David has also served as BMW’s Area Director for Africa and Europe. The Browns are returning to South Africa in 2018 to head up the 7 Rivers Outreach, involving a new seminary and biblical counseling center, church-planting, community development, and orphan care among the Zulu in South Africa.”
Dr. Brown will be speaking on the following topics:
Tuesday 1/23 8:00 a.m. Marketplace Ministry Tuesday 1/23 3:30 p.m. Gospel Wildfires
Wednesday 1/24 8:00 a.m. Dialogue with Doubt Wednesday 1/24 3:30 p.m. The Threefold Cord
Other missions representatives will be presenting in seminars throughout those days as well. Representatives will be here from: Biblical Ministries Worldwide, Avant, Crossworld, Ethnos 360, Village Missions, Rural Home Missionary Association, Adelphos-USA, Pioneers, Brazil Gospel Fellowship Mission, Reach Beyond, SIM, FIM, and many more…
We will also be taking special times to pray for our alumni missionaries located around the world and right here at home.
The conference is open to the public. Beginning Monday 1/22 Brochures will be available at the receptionist desk in the Administration Building, for any who would like to attend a Main Session or seminar.
Conference Schedule:
|
Tuesday 1/23 |
Wednesday 1/24 |
| 7:00 |
|
|
| 8:00 |
Main Session 1 |
Main Session 3 |
| 9:30 |
Prayer |
Prayer |
| 10:30 |
Break |
Break |
| 11:00 |
Seminars |
Seminars |
| 12:00 |
Lunch |
Lunch |
| 1:00 |
Seminars |
Seminars |
| 2:00 |
Seminars |
Seminars |
| 3:00 |
Break |
Break |
| 3:30 |
Main Session 2 |
Main Session 4 |
| 5:00 |
Dinner |
Dinner |
|
|
|
| 9:00 |
Event |
Event |
|
|
|
by Sara Klaassen | Sep 15, 2017
Weekly Portraits of Calvary Life
Last weekend Calvary’s Student Missions Committee participated in their first outreach event of the school year. The Belton Fall Festival took place on Main Street, and Calvary students volunteered as a way to serve the local community.
Students Elizabeth Viens and Sarah Stewart helped with breakfast.
They helped with setting up on Friday and serving a pancake breakfast on Saturday.
Moriah Roberts, graduate student, flipped pancakes.
Students also monitored a children’s activity, handed out free water at Calvary’s booth, and assisted with clean-up.
Joshua Paxton, Intercultural Studies Professor, and Tim Willis, member of the Student Missions Committee, carried bottled water to the Calvary booth.
Helping with this event each year is a good way to be intentional about reaching out into the surrounding community.
Sara Klaassen
Alumni Relations Coordinator
Upcoming Volleyball Games
September 16, 10:00 a.m. vs. Oak Hills Christian at Home
September 16, 2:00 p.m. vs. Dallas Christian at Home
September 19, 6:00 p.m. vs. Ozark Christian at Joplin, MO
Upcoming Soccer Games
September 19, 4:00 p.m. vs. Randall at Home (613 W Mill, Belton, MO)
Upcoming Calvary Events
President’s Dinner September 28
Theatre Production: Traveler in the Dark October 12-15
Discover Calvary: Visit Day October 13
by Josh Paxton | Sep 1, 2017
On Wednesday of this week as part of Welcome Week activities, several students gathered for an international student and MK orientation dinner, hosted by Missionary-in-residence, Tim Hange. Mr. Hange and his family have just completed 8 years of service in Moscow, Russia where they worked at Hinkson Christian Academy.
While in Russia, and even before his service there, Tim became passionate about understanding cultural differences. He was able to witness the cultural adjustments that he and his family, including two adopted children from Russia had to make. Returning to the States, he is now passionate about helping International Students and MKs (missionary kids) adjust and make the transition to learning and thriving in the American academic world.
Wednesday nights activity was a fun time of Greek food (provided by Mr. Hange, who has Greek heritage), learning, discussion and fun activities. As part of his service to Calvary, Tim seeks to create a new International Student Program that will help these students with learning English, and adjusting to the academic environment of Calvary. We are excited about what God is doing through Mr. Hange and his efforts to make our brothers and sisters from other nations feel welcome!
Mr. Paxton needs to do a better job of balancing his expectations and reality!
One of the lessons that Mr. Hange shared had to do with balancing our expectations and the reality of cultural adjustment. Often, our expectations can be very high, we expect to be able to learn the language quickly, make friends quickly, and figure out how things work in the new culture with ease. However, as our expectations and reality get further apart, we begin to experience pain and hardship. One of the ways to fix this problem is to bring our expectations more in line with the reality of what we are experiencing.
The yay duck and the yuck duck of cultural acquisition.
Mr. Hange treated everyone to some gyros, they were delicious.
by Josh Paxton | Jun 6, 2017
Burnham Center for Global Engagement – Greece 2018
The Burnham Center for Global Engagement exists to prepare Christian men and women to serve and interact with peoples of a diverse world. This is accomplished through our Intercultural Studies program, partnerships with several mission agencies, local and global outreach opportunities, and on-campus activities.
In keeping with the mission of the Burnham Center we are pleased to announce Greece 2018.
In the summer of 2016 the Director of the Burnham Center, Joshua Paxton, led four Calvary students on a trip to Greece. This trip was offered through the Zodiates International New Testament Study Center, a ministry of AMG. Our time in Greece was spent visiting the historical locations of Acts, learning more about the history behind the New Testament. We also spent time ministering to Syrian refugees at a refugee camp near Athens. Read more about the last trip here: https://www.calvary.edu/calvary-goes-greece/
We are excited about the opportunity to return May 19 – June 8 of 2018.
The itinerary for this trip will include visits to: 
- Thessaloniki
- Philippi
- Neapolis
- Olympus
- Thermopylae
- Monasteries at Meteora
- Delphi
- Athens
- Corinth
- Olympia
- Patmos
- And more…
We will once again be spending some time at a local refugee camp as well. Learning about the needs of Syrian Refugees and how churches in Greece are trying to help them. Two years ago we played with the kids and passed out care packages to the parents.
This trip is available for Calvary students, faculty, staff and friends alike. Students have the option of receiving 3 hours of credit for the trip by signing up for the course Biblical Sites Trip.
Contact Joshua Paxton for more information or to get involved [email protected]
