GLOBALLY EMPOWERED: ORU'S SPIRIT-EMPOWERED DISTINCTIVE GOES TO THE UTTERMOST BOUNDS OF THE EARTH

by Adam Palmer

"Going" is a foundational part of the DNA of Oral Roberts University. From its very beginnings, the University has endeavored to raise up students to go. To go out into the world—whichever part of the globe that might be—and have an impact.

And ORU students are indeed going. They are indeed having that impact. Worldwide.

One place where God's light is dim and His voice is heard small is China. Which is partially why ORU has placed a heavy emphasis on reaching the populous country, both through exchange programs of students and faculty and through partnering with Chinese universities to import whole person education.

"Because China is so dominated by a communist government, it's hard to recruit students who are already believers before they come to ORU," says Ying "Jenny" Fang, ORU's Director of Chinese Initiatives. "I prayed, and God is awesome, and he sent our first student from China, and they're Christian. Then we started not only to recruit students, but also to use the whole person education to impact educators there. We're now approved so that, when our students come back with their degrees, those will be recognized by the Chinese government. Whether it's business or education or anything, they can go back and serve."

The information highway of ORU's Chinese Initiatives runs both directions. Students and faculty come to ORU from China to learn and teach, while ORU also sends students and faculty to partner with universities to study and lecture.

"That's great for our students to be aware of the Chinese, the people, their culture, to have the international exchange—it opens their minds to impact Asia," says Fang. "And then people come here from China for a short time, and they get impacted. Whole person education fits the Chinese philosophy already."

Whole person education is also a valuable export in Latin America. The stories are plentiful, but here's one example:

In Quetzaltenango, Guatemala there is a church called Casa de Salvacion, which translates to "House of Salvation" in English. Founded only months ago, the church has already exploded to a membership in the hundreds.

"The Lord led us to start this work," says Erick Muñoz, the founding pastor of Casa de Salvacion and a 2016 graduate of ORU with a degree in Theology and New Testament, "and we've seen His hand on us over the past several months."

In addition to pastoring the church, Muñoz and his team are also working throughout the nation teaching at seminaries and Bible schools.

"Since a young age, I wanted to go to ORU," says Muñoz, who grew up in Quetzaltenango. "I loved my time there, but I always wanted to come back and put into practice everything I'd learned."

Muñoz is now working with students throughout Guatemala to bring them to ORU—or bring ORU to them.

"We've built relationships with professors in the theology department," he says, "working with ORU professors to establish some links. Hopefully some of our students will be going to ORU in the fall."

While ORU is creating specialized partnerships with learning institutions across the world, the University has also begun developing and expanding its own original study abroad programs.

"Study abroad is very exciting," says Dr. Kevin Schneider, Executive Director of ORU's Office of Global Service. "If you asked a year ago if students knew we had this program, they didn't know. They thought it was just for language or missions."

But they know now, as ORU's study abroad options have exploded. Following its pilot program to Paris, France during the fall semester of 2017, study abroad is expanding this semester, going to Bulgaria, Greece, and further afield in France.

"Going overseas, it's really easy to feel isolated," says Paige McQueen, a senior Writing and Journalism Major who participated in the first study abroad semester in Paris. "My passion is traveling and going global, but as an introvert, I didn't know if it would be good to do a normal study abroad program. Then I found out about this, and it was seven people maintaining that ORU feel overseas. That's the dream: ORU in another country."

The dream turned into a reality for McQueen as she spent September through December learning about more than just writing, journalism, and marketing.

"Just being in another country was a great way to reset and remember this is not all that's out there, that ORU is not all that there is," says McQueen. "But there is a way to keep ORU with you even when you're abroad, and it's kind of a pilot episode of what adult life will look like. I had to be on my own and I had to figure out life. I had to buy groceries and do work, and I had to make these decisions for myself, while I had ORU to back me up with a lot of support.

"I honestly adored pretty much every minute of it. I didn't want to leave, actually! I tried to stay!"

The current Paris semester is branching out from Paris alone, according to Dr. Andrew Lang, Chair of the Computing and Mathematics Department and an advisor for this Paris semester.

"Oftentimes study abroad will focus more on the humanities and the arts and culture and language," Dr. Lang says. But this semester also features an opportunity for more science- and technology-oriented students to intern at Eon Reality, the French company that provides the technology that powers ORU's Global Learning Center.

"This opens up the scope of students we can send on study abroad," says Dr. Lang. "The students we're sending to Eon Reality are a more interdisciplinary type team. It has students from disciplines like graphic design and computer science, who may not have been tempted to go study without this component."

These students are spending a portion of their semester in Laval, France, which is considered the "French Silicon Valley" by tech insiders.

"They'll be living there amongst the community," says Dr. Lang, "and they'll travel to Eon Reality research headquarters four days a week to be part of a team doing research and development on the latest AR and VR software and hardware."

Also in Europe are the students who took advantage of the pilot study abroad program in Bulgaria and Greece at New Bulgarian University, developed by the Office of Global Service and by Dr. John Thompson, an Assistant Professor of Missiology and Leadership, as well as the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program.

"This is the Balkans, which is a great place to explore ideas of conflict and convergence," says Dr. Thompson. "This is where east meets west."

Since Bulgaria and Greece—two countries with extremely divergent cultures—border one another, it seemed an opportune way to study both convergence and divergence in a fresh and tactile way.

"You're a full-time ORU student taking a full load of classes in another country," says Dr. Thompson. "That is the focus. These are robust courses that are going to demand intense study, but in a rich environment to bring the studies to a deeper level of engagement. There will be a real heightened sense of learning that will happen because they're on location doing this academic study, in a place where so many different cultures try to work together and experience their own identity."

At the end of the semester, students will be spending their final week in Geneva, Switzerland. "That gets us to the roots of the Protestant Reformation," says Dr. Thompson, "and connects us to a place where you have the UN and NGOs and working with refugees around the world."

What does Dr. Thompson hope this Bulgaria and Greece study abroad semester will accomplish? "Have our students' minds opened up to a global reality," he says. "Jesus said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God,' so I would hope our students come back with a new passion for being peacemakers and being witnesses through being peacemakers."

The witness of peace through whole person education is ultimately the cornerstone of all of ORU's international initiatives. From Europe to Latin America to China—as well as future development of new programs in Australia and Israel—the University is ever-reaching outward, seeking out new ways to introduce the world to Spirit-empowered, whole person education.

"Of course our school has a global impact," says Fang. "The more people understand ORU, they're going to think about the lives that are changed and the educational ideal and philosophy. There's a spirit and wisdom, so I believe it's going to go bigger and better."

[Note: This article is featured in our Fall 2018 issue of Excellence magazine. To read the complete issue online, go here].