Dr. Robin Harris from Dallas International University spoke at the First Free Will Baptist Church of Duncanville, TX. Dr. Harris serves as the director of the Center for Excellence in World Arts at the university.
Dallas International University has a long history of training missionaries, particularly in the area of Bible translation. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of linguistics, language and culture learning, anthropology, literacy, translation, world arts, Abramic studies, and international service. Their graduates are serving in over 50 countries across the globe.
The Center for Excellence in World Arts (CEWA) focuses on training students to contextualize the gospel using the arts. In preliterate societies in particular, the arts are often a powerful tool to convey the love of Christ to those who had never heard. Contextualizing the gospel into indigenous art forms also helps the gospel be accepted without being viewed as a foreign or western religion. Students at the center are also trained to employ the various art forms redemptively and therapeutically in community development.
The First Free Will Baptist Church has supported Dallas International University in various ways for years, and has been blessed to have both faculty members and students from the university attend the church. The university is located just a few miles from the church.
The First Free Will Baptist Church of Duncanville presented Dr. Harris a check in the amount of $10,000 dollars towards the endowment of the Eduard Alekseyev Scholarship for World Arts. The scholarship will be awarded to CEWA students who have have demonstrated their potential as a future Arts Specialist. The gift from the Duncanville church was a matching gift, which will be matched by a generous anonymous donor.
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