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1st Annual Race to the Philippines

1st Annual Race to the Philippines

Help us walk/run the 8350 miles to Mindanao Island in the Philippines to benefit the Burnham Center for Global Engagement!

REGISTER HERE!!!

 

 

 

In 2001 Martin and Gracia Burnham, both alumni of Calvary University and missionaries with New Tribes Mission were held captive in the Philippine Jungle for over a year. Gracia would be rescued and Martin would tragically lose his life during that rescue attempt. The Burnham name is now known to many and they are also honored and remembered through the Burnham Center for Global Engagement at Calvary University. The mission of the Burnham Center is to train and equip the next generation of cross-cultural servants of Christ to meet the challenges of ministry in an ever-changing world. The Inaugural Race to the Philippines seeks to raise funds to help the Burnham Center in this mission.

The Race to the Philippines is a  virtual walk/run. This, of course, solves the problem that unlike Jesus, none of us can walk on water! Undoubtedly you may be asking yourself, what is a virtual race?

REGISTER HERE!!!

What is a virtual race?

I am glad you asked!

While 5k’s 10k’s and marathons have been around for a long time as ways for organizations to raise awareness for their cause and raise funds, virtual racing is a recent phenomenon. A virtual race could be summed up with the tagline, Your Race, Your Place, Your Pace. Unlike traditional walk/runs there is no set date and time to do the event, there is no set course marked out to follow, and no set place to travel to in order to participate.  You can walk, run, crawl, skip, or ride a bike, wherever you are, whenever you have time to complete your distance. While we have set a suggested date of April 21st to complete the event it really is up to you. We will not be asking you to “prove” that you have gone the distance either.

We have created a Facebook event page here where we would like you to post a selfie or other picture of yourself completing your distance. Our hope is to gather pictures of people all around the world participating in this event so that it is truly a global event.

There is also the option of purchasing a race shirt here: Shirts are an extra charge but we do receive a portion of the funds towards our overall goal, and we think they look pretty sweet! Kudos to Callie Weeks for her design work!

Everyone who registers will receive an event medal, pictured here–>

 

What is the Goal?

Every great event has a great goal and ours is nothing short of legendary. The goal of the Race to the Philippines is to walk/run or otherwise cover the 8350 miles between Calvary’s Kansas City Campus and Mindanao Island in the Philippines. Mindanao is the island were Martin and Gracia were held captive.

There are two ways that we hope to accomplish this. When you register you will be signed up to walk/run the minimum requested distance of a 5k (3.1 miles). In addition, we have created another form where others can sponsor you to run/walk additional miles. So gather all your friends and have them sponsor you for an additional 10 miles and then walk a half-marathon! If you need to you can always break the distance up. Or you can sponsor Burnham Center Director Joshua Paxton for as many miles as you want, he plans on walking/running 1000 miles this year anyway as a personal goal.

So sign up today and join us as we Race to the Philippines!

REGISTER HERE!!!

Synergy  Is HERE!

Synergy Is HERE!

Synergy

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/

International Student and MK Orientation Dinner

International Student and MK Orientation Dinner

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.

 

Burnham Center for Global Engagement Announces Greece 2018

Burnham Center for Global Engagement Announces Greece 2018

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]