Alumni Around the World
Year by year, advanced graduate students pass through the School of Theology and the Center for Global Christianity, then go out into the world to teach and do what they have been studying. As they move, the CGCM community grows in engagement through them. They are such a diverse group of people that no one description could possibly do the entire body justice. Instead, news and updates will be regularly provided. Cumulatively, their activities will create a portrait of the CGCM alumni community.
Alumnus on “Serving the Global Church as a World Christian”
BU alumnus Dr. Daewon Moon ('17) recently contributed an article to Africanus Journal entitled "Serving the Global Church as a World Christian." In the article, Dr. Moon reflects on his participation in churches in South Korea during his childhood, his time with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and his training and service in various parts of the world, with a specific focus on his work in Burundi.
Dr. Moon is also preparing to publish his dissertation research on the East African Revival of the 1930s-40s as a book entitled Becoming Saved Ones.
A fellow BUSTH alum, Dr. William David Spencer, also contributed to this issue of Africanus with a review of The Story of Creeds and Confessions: Tracing the Development of the Christian Faith (ed. Fairbairn and Reeves, 2019).
Alumnus Continues to Document Mission Work in Charlotte, NC
BU alumnus Kendal Mobley (’04) and his team recently released “That They All May Be One,” the fourth episode in their Crisis and Compassion documentary (featured in an earlier post). “That They All May Be One” tells the story of the congregation at the Chapel of Christ the King Episcopal Church, which is working to transform the church’s underutilized property into an edible landscape. A new orchard and community garden will address food insecurity and provide an outdoor space where longtime residents and new arrivals can come together in the Optimist Park neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina. The episode also explores the church’s role in organizing an emergency property tax relief fund to help longtime residents hold on to their homes as the neighborhood experiences rapid gentrification. Much of the housing in Optimist Park was built by Habitat for Humanity in 1987, in a project led by Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, but many current homeowners are struggling to hold on to their homes as property values skyrocket.Remembering Fr. Vincent Machozi, Congolese Martyr
Five years ago on Palm Sunday, Fr. Vincent Machozi ('15) was shot to death as a result of his efforts to document, protest against, and end violence and exploitation of the people of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Fr. Machozi, who was born in the village of Vitungwe-Isale in North Kivu, was a member of the Augustinians of the Assumption. In order to gain control of valuable coltan mines, many different armed groups terrorized and exacted forced labor from the people living in this region, which borders Rwanda and Uganda. Fr. Machozi ran an important website, Beni Lubero, where he publicized the atrocities for all to see. After spending time in studies at the Boston University School of Theology, Machozi returned to the Congo, where he eventually was selected as president of the Nande community. As a result of his continued work for justice in the region, Fr. Machozi was murdered on March 20, 2016, in Katolu village.
A fuller story of Fr. Machozi's life and struggle can be found in Bostonia magazine and at the Dictionary of African Christian Biography.
BU Alum Co-Authors Book on Grief and Loss
BU alum Dr. Pat McLeod ('09) was recently interviewed by Rabbi Yitzi Weiner as part of a series on “individuals and organizations making an important social impact” for Authority Magazine. Pat and his wife Tammy serve as chaplains at Harvard University. As part of this work, they organized the Mamelodi Initiative in the township of Mamelodi, South Africa, which "connects Harvard students with at-risk youth in a mentoring and educational program to prepare them for college."
In addition to describing his campus ministry work, Pat also describes the story of his son's severe traumatic brain injury--an experience of grief and loss on which he and Tammy reflect in their recent book Hit Hard: One Family’s Journey of Letting Go of What Was — and Learning to Live Well with What Is (Tyndale Momentum, 2019).
Learn more about the McLeod's work at their website.
Documentaries on Faith Community Responses to Pandemic in a North Carolina City
BU alumnus Dr. Kendal Mobley (’04), Associate Professor of Religion and Coordinator of the Spiritual Life Center at Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU), is leading the effort to create a series of documentary videos called Crisis and Compassion, showing how diverse religious communities in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region of North Carolina are responding to the pandemic by working with local service providers, local government, and other faith communities to meet the needs. Each episode is accompanied by a study guide. Three episodes have been released, with at least three more in the pipeline.
Mobley’s team includes JCSU students Exodus Moon and Iyanla Parsanlal, along with LeDayne McLeese Polaski, Executive Director of Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network (MeckMIN). “Leading the Crisis and Compassion project has been exciting and rewarding,” said Mobley. “I’ve been honored to bear witness to the courage and devotion of people and organizations from diverse religious perspectives, and to offer them the chance to tell their own stories. In a very dark time, they offer an example that is enlightening, empowering, and hopeful. They show us the virtues and values that will carry us through this crisis: compassion, respect for human dignity, sacrificial love, humility, unity, and
cooperation.”
Crisis and Compassion is part of a larger project called Bridge Builders Charlotte. Led by Queens University's Belk Chapel and funded by Interfaith Youth Core and the Gambrell Foundation, campus teams from Central Piedmont Community College, Davidson College, JCSU, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Queens University, and Wingate University are strengthening local efforts to help the Charlotte community recover from and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michel Chambon (’19) Appointed Research Fellow at National University of Singapore
Dr. Michel Chambon, who earned his PhD in anthropology from BU in 2019, has recently been appointed a Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore. As part of his work on "Religion and Globalisation," his research will focus on Chinese Christians and Asian Catholics.
Chambon is the author of Making Christ Present in China: Actor Network Theory and the Anthropology of Christianity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). The work focuses on material culture and uses actor-network theory to investigate the development of Christianity in Nanping, China.
Daewon Moon Appointed Appointed Successor Pastor at Daegu Dongshin Church, South Korea
Dr. Daewon Moon, CGCM alumnus ('18), was recently appointed successor pastor at Daegu Dongshin Church, a congregation of 8,000 members which has been devoted to world mission since 1974. Today, the congregation supports 65 missionaries (full-time) and 72 missionaries (part-time) who are working in 41 countries in the world.
Dr. Moon also plans to serve as a part of the Korean Lausanne Committee, which will be working to prepare for the next Lausanne Congress, taking place in South Korea in 2024.
You can read Moon's recent article on African pentecostalism published in the January issue of Lausanne Global Analysis here.
Casely Essamuah Interviewed in Latest Issue of JACB
The Rev. Dr. Casely Essamuah, executive officer of the Global Christian Forum, was recently interviewed in the January issue of the Journal of African Christian Biography. Entitled "Accidental Missionary: Called to a Life of Building Bridges for Christ and His Kingdom," the interview describes the challenges and obstacles Essamuah faced in becoming who he is today and outlines the hopes, dreams, and challenges he sees for the African church going forward. He also tells of growing up as the child of a Methodist bishop in Ghana, his early work with the Ghana Student Christian Movement, his studies at the Boston University School of Theology, his leadership of churches in Boston and Baltimore, and his current work as the leader of the Global Christian Forum.
Anneke Stasson (’13) Co-Authors “Women in the Mission of the Church”
Dr. Anneke Stasson ('13) has recently co-authored Women in the Mission of the Church: Their Opportunities and Obstacles throughout Christian History with Dr. Leanne Dzubinski. Their historical survey extends from the early church of the 1st century all the way through the mission movements of the 20th century.
Dr. Stasson is associate professor of humanities and history at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana.
Congratulations to Drs. Stasson and Dzubinski for their latest scholarly work!
Work of Dr. Sung-Deuk Oak (’02) Receives 3 Book Prizes
CGCM alumnus Dr. Sung-Deuk Oak ('02) has received three prizes for the revised and expanded Korean edition of The Making of Korean Christianity. The Korea Christian Publishers Association recently announced it as "Book of the Year," which is a highly prestigious prize in the country. The book also received the prize for the best book in theology by the Kungmin Daily News. Finally, the book was named a King Sejong academic book (one of twenty) by the Korean government.
Dr. Oak is also the author of History of the Korean Bible Society III, 1945-2002, which is his first book dealing with the postliberation period in Korea and which represents the fruit of his thirty years of study on Korean Bible translation. He also plans to publish at least four books in the coming year.