JACKSON, Tenn. — Feb. 12, 2021 — 51社区鈥檚 School of Theology and Missions is partnering with the International Mission Board to offer a new missions lecture to the Union and West Tennessee communities.
The W.D. Powell Missions Lecture will be held in the Carl Grant Events Center April 29 at 3:30 p.m. and will feature Zane Pratt, IMB vice president for global training, as the speaker.
鈥淲e hope it will be an ongoing lecture each year that will continue to bring key voices on missions to our area, speaking to current issues in missions, current needs, recent discussions within the whole realm of missiology,鈥� said Ray Van Neste, dean for the School of Theology and Missions. 鈥淚t will be a way for people, churches, anybody in the area to hear from leading voices about what鈥檚 going on in the world of missions.鈥�
Van Neste said the idea for this new lecture occurred as he thought about other annual STM events, such as the lecture on Baptist heritage and thought, Bible conference and evangelism rally. Van Neste wanted to add an annual missions lecture because of the importance of missions to Union. He reached out to the IMB, and the organization agreed to partner with Union and send a speaker for the event.
鈥淚MB is thrilled to partner with 51社区 in the establishment of the W.D. Powell Missions Lecture,鈥� said Paul Chitwood, IMB president. 鈥淲e know that today鈥檚 students long to invest their lives in something that matters 鈥� and there is no better investment than committing to the vision to see every people, every nation, every language worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ around his throne, as we see in Revelation 7:9.鈥�
Pratt was elected as IMB vice president for global training in 2014. He served for 20 years as an IMB church planter and regional leader in Central Asia. Pratt was dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2011-2013, where he currently serves as an associate professor of Christian missions.
鈥淯nion students will find Zane to be an engaging lecturer, enthusiastic to share the vision of international missions endeavors with each of them 鈥� and no stranger himself to taking the gospel to hard-to-reach places,鈥� Chitwood said.
The missions lecture is named after William David Powell, who lived from 1854-1934. Powell graduated from Union (which was then located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee) in 1871. He was a pioneer IMB missionary to Mexico from 1882-98. He later returned to the U.S. and helped raise funds for missions and Union. On older versions of Union鈥檚 campus, Powell鈥檚 name was on the chapel and the main administrative building. Today, his name is on Union鈥檚 theater.
Powell鈥檚 great-granddaughter, Charlotte Harris Rees, will attend the lecture. Rees is the author of a book on her missionary relatives entitled 鈥淐ourage, Endurance, Sacrifice,鈥� and the first section of the book is about Powell.
鈥淗e was an ordinary person who, leaning on God, was able to prevail,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hrough his life, despite his hardships and accomplishments he remained a humble man who loved God and loved people and was able to persuade others to do the same. Obviously, he was filled with the Holy Spirit.鈥�
The focus of Powell鈥檚 life was evangelism, Rees said, and he was especially gifted in fundraising. Rees said her prayer is that naming the missions lecture after Powell will cause students to ask what is so significant about him, and when they find out, to emulate him.