Commencement exercises celebrated at Midwestern; Korean pastor Lee delivers address
posted on Jun 01, 2011 by T. Patrick HudsonShifting their focus from schoolwork to their callings in Christ, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and College, SBC, students celebrated the completion of their degree work during the schools’ 51st commencement exercises on May 21 at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo.
The event, in which 110 different degrees were awarded, was presided over by Dr. R. Philip Roberts, MBTS president. Presenting the commencement address was Daniel Lee, pastor emeritus of the Global Mission Church in Seoul, South Korea.
More than 1,500 guests packed the church’s auditorium to witness as one of the Seminary’s largest classes was awarded degrees. In noting the size of the congregation, Roberts said that the school is doing everything within its power to hold the graduation ceremony on campus in the new 1,000-seat chapel complex in 2012. Also amidst the celebration was a first for Midwestern Baptist College, SBC. During the ceremony, the school’s first graduate of the 100-percent online Master of Arts in Theological Education was awarded his degree.
During his message, Lee, who recently retired as senior pastor of perhaps one of the world’s largest Baptist churches, encouraged the graduates with testimonials of how dedicated missionaries remained faithful and persevered in spreading the Gospel in Korea, and also of his own personal journey that eventually led to the planting and growth of his Global Mission Church ministry.
Lee told how young seminary graduates-turned-missionaries Henry Appenzeller and Horace Underwood arrived on the same boat at the port of Incheon, Korea, on Easter Sunday in 1865, and immediately sensed the darkness and “terrible condition” of the land. However, as a result of much prayer and faithfulness, over the next 126 years a radical transformation has taken place.
“These two young men arrived in ‘The Land of the Morning Calm’ with just their own copies of the Bible, yet today Korea is the number two missionary-sending country in the world—second only to the United States,” Lee said. “You can see red crosses on every street and in every area of Korea. It is the richest country in the ‘10/40 window,’ and through the two universities established by these young missionaries, Korea has become a leader in science and technology. I believe all this success is a result of the Gospel’s penetration into Korea, so to my American brothers and sisters, thank you for bringing the Gospel to my country, Korea. I am truly grateful!”
The keynote speaker, who’s authored 169 books, then transitioned into his personal testimony, describing how, after graduating from high school in 1963, he was abandoned by his father and was left to care for his family. It was an “unimaginable task for someone who had just graduated from high school, and I felt like I had no future,” he said.
Lee’s family’s religious background was Buddhist, but he added that their faith was nominal at best. In his overwhelming situation, Lee said he considered ending his life, but as a last chance effort he went to a Buddhist temple to pray.
“On that day as I prayed to Buddha, one question came to my mind,” Lee said. “Even though the Buddha seemed to be peaceful, ‘Could he understand a young man in his early 20s who had lost his dream and had no hope for the future?’ Simultaneously, from nowhere an image came to my mind unexpectedly. It was the image of Jesus Christ on the cross crying out to the Father. This blood-covered young Jesus; this suffering Jesus surely could understand a young man like me with all this frustration, broken heart and pain.”
Soon thereafter, Lee said he got involved in a Bible study led by Billy Kim, who’s been described as the “Korean Billy Graham.” Lee admitted that his motive of going to the study was more to learn English than to learn about Jesus. However, in the midst of the study, he memorized Scripture, and the powerful Word of God would eventually lead him to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in 1965. “From that point on I didn’t look at the Bible as an English book or a religious book, but rather as the Word of Life.”
Lee noted that he began to share his faith daily with as many people as he could. He then realized that it was “something I could do for the rest of my life,” he added. In 1973, Lee came to the United States to study theology, and from there pastored a Korean church in Maryland. Eventually, he said he felt the Lord calling him to spend the rest of his life ministering to his native people by planting a healthy, influential church there. He did so in Seoul in 1993, and today the Global Mission Church holds seven services on Sundays reaching out to more than 30,000 people and sends more than 400 missionaries into the field.
The pastor emeritus wrapped up his addressby encouraging the graduates saying, “If God can work so mightily through someone like me, I truly believe He can do even greater things through all of you here,” he said. “There are so many unfinished tasks waiting for us in this world in this generation. I hope as all of you graduate that you can look beyond North America and into the global community just as two missionaries did 126 years ago toward Korea to share the Gospel of Christ. I pray that, just like them, you too will venture off to new territories…because the world is waiting for church leaders and Kingdom builders. I hope you will be these builders!”
In concluding the commencement exercises, Roberts charged the graduates to “love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and all your strength. To do justly; to love mercy; to walk humbly with your God; to deny yourself; to take up your cross daily and follow the Lord Jesus Christ; to be filled and go on being filled with the Holy Spirit…” He also added that they “let the prayer of missionary explorer, evangelist and servant of God, David Livingston, be yours: ‘Lord lead me anywhere, but go with me. Lay any burden upon me. Only sustain me. Sever any cords that bind me, except the one that binds me to you.’”
In addition to the awarding of degrees, the seminary and college announced the recipients of 16 academic awards, with the honor of the Wanda J. Keatley Award being shared by co-winners, Vicki Hauser and Daniel Watson, bothMaster of Arts in biblical languages majors. The prize for this award was an all-expenses paid trip to the Holy Land.
In other awards, Dr. Larry Cornine, associate professor of pastoral care and counseling, was named Professor of the Year. There were also two Presidential Medallions awarded. This honor is given to recognize significant contributors and supporters of MBTS. The medallions were presented first to Lee, and then to Leighton and Kay Clemmons, the Missouri Baptist Builders state co-coordinators, who’ve spent significant time since May 2010 volunteering on the school’s chapel construction project.
2011 Graduates by degree state
WISDOM
Haiyan W. Acton Missouri
Laura L. Dyer Nebraska
Jennifer Friebel Nebraska
Associates
ASSOCIATE OF ARTS, CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Darla Marie Walker Missouri
Bachelors
BACHELOR OF ARTS, BIBLICAL STUDIES
Filip Blank Poland
Paul J. Chang Kansas
Ronald V. Channell Kansas
Robert N. Christian Missouri
Atticus Robert Dyer Missouri
Shawn L. Eckhoff Kansas
Jaysen P. Gill Georgia
Erik Thomas Hall Missouri
Sean G. Hannah Missouri
Joseph Caleb Himes Kansas
Jason Scott Hinckley Missouri
Normen Kampomo C. Malawi
Zachariah Alan King Missouri
James F. Longe, Jr. Georgia
Robert J. Lundy Missouri
Jon Colin Nelson Kansas
Bruce G. Norris Kansas
Tony Lee Stottlemyre Missouri
Meagan A. Taverner Colorado
Nathaniel Taverner Missouri
John J. Ungerer Missouri
BACHELOR OF ARTS, CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Corey James Brest Kansas
Ania Mae Hale Poland
Rachel Rae Hambleton Missouri
BACHELOR OF ARTS, CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES
Jennifer K. Belcher Kansas
Alisha Ann Littleton Missouri
Seth David Mason Missouri
Abigail Joy Stout Iowa
BACHELOR OF ARTS, CHRISTIAN MINISTRY, PASTORAL
Jonathan C. Bowman Kansas
Tyson Keith Branizor Kansas
MATS
MASTER OF ARTS, THEOLOGICAL STUDIES
Gregory Thomas Barnes Missouri
David Thomas Harper
Asa Mahan Ramirez
Shane T. Stone
Sam Unruh
Masters
MASTER OF ARTS, BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
Geraldon B. Howell, Jr. Tenneseee
MASTER OF ARTS, BIBLICAL LANGUAGES
Steven Dale Acton Missouri
Jeremiah M. Bradford Missouri
Daniel E. Brown Missouri
Vicki Dunn Hauser Kansas
Clinton Blake Loy Missouri
Daniel Joe Watson Missouri
MASTER OF ARTS IN CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Brian Aric Barber Missouri
Ben Bextermueller Missouri
S. Andrew Braams Missouri
Michael J Davis Colorado
Heeseong (Gloria) Ha South Korea
David K. Hackathorn Kansas
Teresa Leann Keeler Missouri
George Brian Powers Nebraska
MASTER OF ARTS IN CHURCH MUSIC
Joshua Mackie Erisman Missouri
Marie Elizabeth King Missouri
MASTER OF ARTS IN COUNSELING
Kenan Alyse Bradford Missouri
Sherrie L. Canzoneri Maryland
Kathryn Anne Holsen Missouri
David L. Hurtado Missouri
Lori Louise Lancaster Missouri
Matthew E. Luckenbach Missouri
Kevin R. Pruitt Oklahoma
Sean A. Ruthrauff Kansas
Jesse Marie Spencer Illinois
Kenneth S. Tombley Missouri
Marjorie R. Townley Missouri
Jesse Hampton Winn II California
Steven R. W. Worstell Alabama
Emily D. Wright Missouri
MASTER OF DIVINITY
Christopher John Bass Missouri
Adam S. Breckenridge Arkansas
Kevin Joseph Burgess Oklahoma
Ian Patrick Carrico Kentucky
Tony Dwyane Cobbins Missouri
Craig Glen Dickinson Kansas
Robert Daniel Friebel Wisconsin
Andrew W. Higginbotham South Carolina
Chadrick L. Higgins Mississippi
Matthew Ryan Inman Missouri
Benjamin Jensen Kansas
Anthony J. Jobe Oklahoma
Casey Steven Joyce Texas
Stephen Veth Muschany Missouri
Robert Carter Smith Missouri
Ronald A. Suarez Oklahoma
Jason J Terpack California
Scot A. Thomson Missouri
Ryan Scott Tufo Indiana
Michael Lynn Tull Missouri
MASTER OF DIVINITY, CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Brent Lee Hale Oklahoma
Chia-Hung (David) Lin Taiwan
Lucas Edward Randall Kansas
Lucas W. Smith Arkansas
Charles C. Yates Mississippi
MASTER OF DIVINITY, COLLEGIATE MINISTRIES
Michael Glenn Burgett Tennessee
Travis James Hamm Missouri
William Aaron Reitz Kansas
MASTER OF DIVINITY, NORTH AMERICAN CHURCH PLANTING
Ernesto Alfonzo Ceballos South Dakota
Doctoral
DOCTOR OF EDUCATIONAL MINISTRY
Montira Siengsukon Thailand
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
Johnny Michael Blevins North Carolina
Corey Allen Cain Tennessee
Casey J Campbell Texas
Michael S. Hubbard Missouri
Israel Onyeka Izuakor Canada
Richard L. Pace Tennessee
Dennis A. Roth Missouri
Alan James Thompson Arizona
Leslie Dale Tripp South Carolina
Darrell A. Winters Tennessee