From around the globe: meet the missionaries
Devan Trout, Staff Writer
If you didn’t get a chance to talk to any of the missionaries who had booths set up in the cafe for the Global Missions Conference earlier this week, catch up with some of the work they’re doing below.
Tim and Jody Cross stand by their table during Global Missions Week at North Greenville.
Tim and Jody Cross
Tim and Jody Cross, who work with the North American Mission Board, specifically Open Arms, had a table set up in the cafeteria to inform students of their full-time mission work withr refugees who are brought into America. These refugees come from Congo, Iran, Iraq, Burma, Syria and Cuba.
Refugees are chosen after a two- to three-year process based on whether they are being persecuted because of their race, religious beliefs, social groups, nationality or political opinion. These five qualifiers determine if they shall be able to come to United States.
The Cross family helps these families by being partnered with World Relief. They collect donations, furniture and set the new family up with a good neighbor team so that they can learn how to live in a new country.
The Spartanburg-Greenville area has become a new refugee city this past summer. Two new families from Burma will be settling in Cherrydale in the next 10 days. This area should be expecting 50 to 60 refugees a year.
Wallace and Kim Nix
Wallace and Kim Nix stand in front of their booth in Todd Dining Hall.
Wallace Nix is the Executive Director of Chosen Children Ministries. Nix and his wife, Kim, are full-time evangelists. They travel back and forth with their ministry to Nicaragua. They help facilitate teams from colleges, churches and businesses.
Their newest project is the Genesis Project. The Genesis Project focuses on education, farming and entrepreneur business. They are planning on sending 1,000 kids to school from this project by providing the children with the necessary supplies. This includes a Spanish Bible that was written by public school in the United States.
The public school in Hendrix built a school in Nicaragua through Chosen Children. They were able to do so by making this mission trip all-inclusive and inviting everyone from all religions and backgrounds.
Bruce and Grace Snovely
Bruce and Grace Snovely founded Global Baptist a training foundation. Their motto being: “Taking biblical education to the nations.”
Bruce and Grace Snovely stand behind their table in the cafeteria.
The Snovely family spent the first 20 years of their missionary work in Canada. They were church builders before they felt called to teach. They both furthered their education and Bruce Snovely teaches online at Liberty University and Grace Snovely works at North Greenville University.
Both felt called to continue their mission work so they set up the Global Baptist foundation. This foundation serves to train developing nations in theological training in order so that they may spread the Gospel. They developed their own curriculum and have it translated to the language of the country where they are.
The students are provided food and training through donations. The foundation funds themselves completely off donations. One of these being the coffee cup donation. This asks people to give up one Starbucks coffee cup a week and give the money to the Global Baptist Training Foundation.
They operate in multiple teaching sites including Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
John Stawers
John Strawers takes time for a picture in front of his JAARS booth.
John Strawers works full time with the JAARS . Strawers served in Asia for 22 years and for the past 14 to 15 years has been engaging with various political leaders.
JAARS reaches out to people groups in East Indonesia and remote parts of Asia. It starts by dropping off the missionaries so that they can be immersed in the culture. They fulfill the physical need first in order to make a connection.
The company is also working on translating the Bible into all languages. They help organizations all over the world translate Scripture into heart languages faster, more cost effectively and more safely.
Alfredo Volercia
Alfredo Volercia stands beside his table in the cafeteria.
Alfredo Volercia is a full-time missionary with the International Missionary Board. He spent 13 years in Chile doing mission work, 10 years in the United States working among the Hispanic group and spent the last two years at the Headquarters of the IMB Training Center. Volercia helps prepare and train new missionaries to go out to the missionary field.
IMB is a Southern Baptist mission sending industry. It focuses on bringing the Gospel to any group, especially unreached people groups. It provides many opportunities for students to find a place in missions.
