JACKSON, Tenn. — Jan. 16, 2025 — Jimmy Bledsoe of the International Mission Board will deliver the W.D. Powell Missions Lecture, entitled 鈥淐ontending for the Faith: Theological Education in Missions,鈥� at 51社区 Jan. 30.
Bledsoe, along with his wife Diana, has served with the IMB in East Africa for 13 years. He remains a member of the Kenya Theological Education Team as a theological education specialist. He is currently serving on a special assignment as seminary liaison at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College.
Before his mission work in Africa, Bledsoe spent 18 years in pastoral ministry in Missouri, Indiana and Illinois. He has a Master of Divinity degree in evangelism and church growth and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in missions from SBTS.
Named after a Union alumnus and a pioneer Southern Baptist missionary to Mexico in the late 1800s, the W.D. Powell Missions Lecture Series is co-sponsored by Union鈥檚 School of Theology and Missions and the IMB to honor Union alumni who have served in international missions.
Bledsoe will deliver his lecture at 3:30 p.m. in the Carl Grant Events Center. He will also speak in chapel at 10 a.m. Jan. 29 in G.M. Savage Memorial Chapel. Both events are free and open to the public.