KANSAS CITY (BP) – After years of prayer, planning and behind-the-scenes effort, enrollment for the Korean Doctor of Ministry program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) surpassed expectations during its debut semester.
“The Korean program, in just six months, has grown from zero to 119 students,” said Rodney Harrison, director of doctoral studies at Midwestern. “I would call it the overnight success that was four years in the making.”
Rock Choi, director of Korean doctoral studies at Midwestern, developed the program based on a “medical model” that produces “church doctors” who can diagnose and treat issues within Korean immigrant churches. Students travel to Midwestern from just about everywhere: Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, France, Ukraine and, of course, South Korea.
Choi said the MBTS program is flourishing because it is designed to be flexible. Rather than using set extension sites, the professors congregate in the locale of ministry, using different facilities for each session. The program also allows students to write their dissertations segment by segment in Korean with an English abstract. The policy allows students to write in their first language, empowering them to communicate their findings to their communities.
For information on the Korean D.Min. program, visit www.mbts.edu or call 1-800-944- 6287.
Meanwhile, five Midwestern students were among 140 volunteers from around the U.S., churches in South Dakota, and the staffs of LifeWay, the North American Mission Board and Dakota Baptist Convention who staffed an evangelism tent at the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D.
Each year during the first full week of August, the rally draws more than 700,000 motorcycle enthusiasts from all walks of life to the tiny town in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In all, the Gospel was shared 7,231 times, with 1,123 people accepting Christ as Lord and Savior.
Individuals interested in joining the Midwestern team for next year’s Sturgis trip, may contact Harrison at rharrison@mbts.edu.