Billy Graham Scholars are a perfect example of Wheaton's motto, "For Christ and His Kingdom". To date, 1175 Billy Graham Scholar alumni implement the tools and training gained from their Wheaton education serving Christ in approximately 115 countries around the world.
Asia
Amelia Klemm '23
Taiwan
Amelia focuses her outreach on the Hakka people, the largest unreached people group in Taiwan. With her Wheaton degree, she envisions connecting with Hakka university students in class and in English clubs on campus. Amelia also became the language and orientation coordinator for SEND Taiwan and helped design and lead the language and culture orientation program for the field.
Christina Claudia '23
Indonesia
Christina is active in the local church's children's ministry and works to enrich the spiritual lives of psychology students at Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH). She desires to expand her knowledge of the integration of followership of Christ and psychology. Lecturing at UPH, equipping future counselors, and serving Christian families with teens experiencing gender dysphoria and issues with sexual identity are her hopes after Wheaton. Her husband will be with her in Wheaton.
Amarjargal Jargalsaikhan '23
Mongolia
Amraa serves hundreds of spiritually hungry young people through his pastoral ministry and as faculty at the River of Life School of Ministry. He is eager to strengthen his theological foundations to impart quality education and influence Mongolian society. He will be joined in Wheaton by his wife and four children. He is featured in the Wheaton Magazine.
Eunjin Kim '23
Korea to Cambodia
Eunjin has seen Cambodian families face problems such as marital affairs, divorce, violence, alcoholism, drug addiction, and child neglect. Eunjin is a teacher, administrator, mentor, trainer, translator, publisher, and field researcher with experience in the Middle East. She will come to Wheaton to learn how to better serve families needing hope and restoration. Her husband will study Higher Education and Student Development at Wheaton and they will be here with their three children.
S.S. '23
Korea to Indonesia
S. has almost 20 years of leadership experience with Operation Mobilization (OM) as Associate Area Leader East Asia Area and Indonesia Field Leader. he aims to develop leadership competence for church planting among diaspora communities as part of OM's current vision to reach 28 Indonesian ethnic groups (36 million people) by 2028. S. has a heart to research the leadership competency needed for leaders from emerging countries wanting to make meaningful contributions toward transformation and lead international teams. He is married with two children.
Ronald Tinggogoy '23
Indonesia
Ronald works with Compassion International, where he coordinates the release of 3,000 children from poverty through church collaboration, good management, education, and practical assistance. He has also seen success in empowering youth to generate income through floating fish ponds and hydroponic farming and anticipates many other programs in the coming years. He believes the knowledge from this degree will enrich the organization and beyond. Ronald is married with three children.
Madhu
'22
India
Madhu serves women and girls in Kolkata who are rescued from sex trafficking and child sexual abuse. After the clinical training at Wheaton, she anticipates being better equipped for this ministry, training local care providers, and contributing to see social services work for the poor in her country.
Regina '22
Singapore
Regina works as Director of Homeless Ministry which operates a restorative home in the red-light district in inner-city Singapore. She is eager for this faith-integrated clinical training at Wheaton so that she can provide professional help with complex mental health issues and serve clients with various worldviews.
M.W. '19
East Asia
God used me as a church planting coordinator and church planter 15 years ago. In the beginning, I pastored my own house church in East Asia, and worked with other three churches in my country's capital area. Together, we ministered to about 200 Christians. After I graduated from Wheaton in 2016, I continued partnering with para-churches and seminaries, and travelled up to twelves times a year to different cities in my country to teach. Before the outbreak of Covid-19, I continued to travel back to my country to teach as many as five times a year. Since the breakout of the pandemic, I was prevented from traveling back overseas, but I continue to teach my seminary students online. All together, God has used me to train more than 500 church leaders over the past 10 years or so. I teach Greek syntax, New Testament Interpretation, Latin, Spiritual Formation through Latin, Hebrew Syntax, Hebrew Exegesis, and Systematic Theology.
As for why I use old languages to teach, I would say this is a special calling. In my country, seminary graduates realize the need of using theology and grammar for interpreting the Bible, but they are so busy studying theology in their seminary years that they hardly master any Biblical language to find the truth from the Bible. Another reason is our house churches are growing so fast that we are doing our own classical education. God's Kingdom is growing in different ways, and I am called to serve.
I enjoy my ministry very much! This gives me opportunities to mentor pastors in a relatively efficient and effective way, as I usually meet them weekly. I believe the long-term mentorship philosophy. But I did not plan this by myself, God led those dear Christian brothers and sisters and church leaders or emerging leaders to me. In this way, I am multiplying churches, which fits my original calling when I was a church planting coordinator about 15 years go.
K.M. '17
Asia
"My family just returned to the field for another term of four years in a place that we love among a people that we love. We are very grateful for the BGSP and the freedom that it has given us to learn and serve God without debt. I put into practice DAILY the principles that I learned in the Intercultural Studies program. What began as head knowledge is becoming heart knowledge as I put into practice the tools that I learned. I am super super grateful!"
Roberta Adair ’10
Japan
"I am so grateful for the BGC scholarship and for my time at Wheaton Graduate School. My husband and I met in the program, and it has been good in our relationship and ministry to have the shared classes, vocabulary, and knowledge from our time there. We learned a lot from our professors, our classmates, and our time processing our previous experiences in and out of the classroom. As for our time in Japan, our experience at Wheaton has given us a filter and a base for understanding the obstacles as well as appreciating the beauty of God's work already going on here.
Currently, we live and work in northern Japan in a community affected by the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami. We work alongside a Japanese church, and we are preparing to be a part of a church plant in a nearby community when we come back for our next term. Thank you so much, BGC scholarship committee, for enabling us to be here!"
Regina Alexander ’97
India
“The BGC Scholarship Program is not about money and funding, even though it is set up to give grants, (and for those wanting to study overseas, money is a big issue) for me, it was an insurmountable obstacle. The BGCSP, I believe, gave me one of the largest scholarships available to train at Wheaton College. God called me to two large missions: one, to “educate to empower” the millions of dropout and out-of-school kids who are mostly rural Dalits in India. Two, and an even bigger commission— I was to develop an alternate education system for here and now and for eternity. I was connected with God’s amazing people at the BGCSP.”
P.C. ’08
Central Asia
P.C. is Field Leader of Operation Mobilization (OM) Central Asia North where nine multi-cultural teams are ministering to Muslims. He says, "My time at Wheaton and the learning that took place through the degree program have tremendously transformed me, resulting in incredible effectiveness in my ministry now. I thank and praise God for the BGC Scholarship that was instrumental in making the much needed transformation possible in my life and ministry."
Josh and Alicia Crowe ’07
Japan
"Since graduating in 2007, we have seen God's hand at work in our lives and ministry. We moved to Hokkaido, Japan in 2009 to begin the long process of language learning. Due to financial crisis in America, we were forced to cut back on our language school thus extending our time there. After three years, we graduated and began working with a Japanese pastor in a relatively new church plant. At that church we taught the Bible, led worship, ministered to youth, and joined the church in prayer for their community. We were blessed to see how God works in the midst of His people throughout the world when they call and wait upon Him.
The BGC Pre-field Missionary Scholarship allowed us to begin the journey that He had laid before us. Thank you, Billy Graham Center!
Bolortuya Damdinjav '17
Mongolia
Boloroo graduated from Wheaton with a master's degree in Intercultural Studies. While here she was exposed to the world of research and received further training with One Challenge International. That internship merged into work with the Mongolian Evangelical Alliance (MEA) where she is now the Head of the Research Department. She was also a Lausanne Younger Leader, and participated in YWAM's Ending Bible Poverty Project and the Global Church Planting Network. Her knowledge of research methods and the hard facts about the Church in Mongolia sees her speaking and networking in various countries in Asia. Read more in Wheaton Magazine.
C.G. ’09
Asia
"I graduated from the Wheaton College Graduate School in 2009 with a degree in Intercultural Studies and TESOL. Visa difficulties and an unexpected cancer diagnosis kept me off the field for over a year. I am forever grateful to the BGC Scholarship Program for putting my loan in deferment during this time and giving me the time I needed to get well! I was then able to return to East Asia and serve on a team reaching out to Muslim minorities. It was a joy to be able to use my Wheaton TESOL training in Asia. My program equipped me well for my teaching responsibilities, and my teaching experience left me even more thankful for my degree at Wheaton! I'm now involved in creative ways to help people know the Bible is available in their heart language.
In the past year, I have also had the wonderful privilege to serve as an online phonetics coach with the Wheaton College Institute for Cross Cultural Training's Second Language Acquisition Course. This course helps pre-field missionaries be better equipped to learn language and culture. I have loved working in the ICCT and having the opportunity to serve a younger generation of missionaries just beginning in their fields of service! As with so many other things in the past 8 years, my Wheaton training has proven invaluable to my service in the ICCT.
As I reflect on my years of service since my graduation from Wheaton, I am so thankful for the wonderful blessing that my program has been in my life and ministry, and I am eternally grateful for the BGC Scholarship that made my degree possible!"
Jeremy Gatzke ’12
Thailand
I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity I was afforded by the Billy Graham Center Scholarship Program. If it wasn't for the generous scholarship I received, I don't believe I would ever have had the chance to do postgraduate studies at all. Yet, because of my BGC Scholarship, I was able to complete a MA in Biblical Exegesis under an amazingly gifted group of instructors at Wheaton College Graduate School. And, this education has had a significant effect on both my personal life and ministry.
After graduation, my family returned to serve as missionaries in Thailand and I was asked to serve on the faculty at Phayao Bible Seminary. I have been teaching Bible and Hebrew language to Thai undergraduate students ever since. It is an opportunity I would never have received without my training at Wheaton, and it is a blessing to be able to pass on this training to young people preparing for ministry. It is a capacity in which I hope to continue serving for many years to come.
Lydia G. ’10
China
Lydia works as an English teacher in China. She just earned complete loan forgiveness for her time on the field. She says, “I can't help but again stop and reflect in awe at the Father's sovereign, graciously loving ways. For me, receiving the BGC Scholarship was much more than "just" receiving the fund itself, though that was, of course, a much-needed & deeply appreciated part of it all! In addition to its providing the means for me to make it through graduate school AND become a much better-equipped teacher here in this field, receiving the BGC Scholarship was a very special token of the Father's blessing & confirmation of His call. For me, it has become a 'stone of remembrance' along the journey.
My heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude to the Father for the stellar training I received at Wheaton Graduate School and for the professors who invested so much us. Not only did I glean effective teaching skills, but I also have gained wonderful models of excellent teachers whom I strive to follow. I sincerely ask that the Father may bless all those who gave so generously--and continue to do so for current Wheaton graduate students!--so that so many of us can follow the Father's call to go where He leads.”
Zach and Noelle Slagel ’07
Cambodia
"Nearly six years ago, Noelle and I moved to Cambodia with our son. Now, six years and two kids later, we are a family of five still living and working in Phnom Penh. We have a couple of ministry foci; namely counseling and coordinating church planting work among an unreached people group. Zach is involved in pastoral counseling and coaching ministries and Noelle has been involved in counseling supervision of Cambodian counselors and social workers as time allows. Having three children six and under is quite busy and we regularly assess how we are doing in order to have a life of balance.
The BG Scholarship allowed us to further our education at Wheaton College Graduate School. Noelle received a M.A. in Clinical Psychology and Zach a M.A. in Intercultural Studies. Both degrees have been invaluable in serving and connecting with people in a cross-cultural environment. We are so thankful for the scholarship in that it eased the financial burden tremendously of attending graduate school and then moving to Cambodia shortly after."
Through their overseas ministry, the Slagels completed earning their loan forgiveness in December, 2016.
Solomon Tang ’11
Taiwan
"One summer, a Wheaton professor asked us to write a future ministry plan as our final assignment. This assignment became my proposal to Operation Mobilization Taiwan. Two years later, this proposal became reality. Together with OM Taiwan, I launched the Community Transformation Ministry Center in 2013. The aim of this ministry is to reach the least-reached people group in Taiwan, the “Hakka” with only 0.3% Christian population. We host international short term mission teams four times a year that work alongside local churches. We also provide 3-month to 2-year on-the-job training for cross-cultural workers. Wheaton’s education equips me to think globally and act locally. It also helps me to share the gospel in a culturally sensitive way. I thank our heavenly Father’s provision through the BGC scholarship which made my study in Wheaton possible."