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.
Africa
Jeremy Boone '23
U.S. to Uganda
Jeremy serves with Equip International. His vision is to improve his missionary-care ability, provide counseling services for the underserved in Uganda, establish counseling strategies specific to the Uga people, and grow competency in handling domestic violence, divorce, addiction, trauma, and cross-cultural relationship challenges. Eventually, he would like to establish a network of Christian counselors in Uganda.
Sonnie (Catherine Mwangi) Gitonga '23
Kenya
Sonnie was orphaned at age 18 which led to great hardship for her and her three sisters. Her experience as an “aged out” orphan led her to write the book, “Can Scars become Stars?” and to establish the Scars to Stars Foundation. The Wheaton degree will provide additional tools and skills for her to minister God’s love and redemption to the hurting, integrate faith and mental issues, and provide greater support for orphans.
Ivan Onapito Odiit '23
Uganda
Ivan says, “My vision is to establish a program with well-developed training material embedded in African values and Biblical beliefs to equip the church and local community leaders…even as they respond to the ever-increasing disasters affecting refugees and forced migrants.” He currently serves with Development & Literacy Partners, Int’l., coordinating programs within refugee settlements in Uganda.
J.W. '23
U.S. to Niger
J. serves with Frontiers, and leads a small team doing community development and sparking disciple-making movements. Living in one of the poorest countries in the world, he has seen NGOs both “meet the needs of the people, bring hope and true relief” and “do their work poorly, reflecting corruption and injustice”. He longs to see those in need crying out for the Body of Christ as a symbol of grace, love, and justice. J. is married with three children.
Rebecca Adu-Boahene '22
Ghana
Rebecca is the Country Director for the ministry branch of Teens Aloud Foundation. Rebecca is excited about getting more training in a multicultural environment that will allow her to “design biblically-sound, holistic programs that facilitate spiritual growth in young people.”
George Blamoh '22
Liberia
George reports, "Liberia is a country in which 30% + youth served as child soldiers and a nation that has gone through several years of brokenness, pain, and trauma as the result of the 14 years of civil war, Ebola, and now COVID-19. I was able to lead my Association for Life of Africa (AFLA)-Liberia team to respond with humanitarian assistance and provided spiritual first aid training across five counties in Liberia through the skill and education acquired from my MA Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership at Wheaton College through the help of the Billy Graham Scholarship. AFLA is a Christian NGO that is reaching, rescuing, and restoring broken communities and lives across Liberia by providing health care, counseling, ministry, education, and social services. Lives are being saved and changed. We believe in the sanctity of life and that all lives are valuable and should be respected.
My role as an Ambassador of Compassion World Outreach International to the United Nations, New York, is to fight against corruption that has over the years undermined the development of Africa. I want to see us develop leaders and communities that will break the dependency mindset and graduate from an aid mindset to a development mindset. The change of Africa can only be sustained through win/win partnership with the international community with proper accountability to produce food security within the continent. We need to take responsibility and own the process of our growth and development. I believe now is the time. The change of Africa can only take place when we are intentional in creating the Africa we desire. I believe with God on our side we will get there but it starts with this generation. Please see our recent work in response to COVID19:"
Hilario Chitlango '22
Mozambique
Hilario is our first Billy Graham Scholar from Mozambique. His missionary ministry includes church planting, ministry training in the area of music and worship, coordinating the mission institute, sports ministry, and social justice work with children. His Wheaton education will help him lead a network of churches and organizations into Biblical social justice causes and projects for transformational development along with creating means to intervene in different humanitarian crises.
Samuel Ezewudo '22
Nigeria
Samuel is a parish priest of a large Anglican church. He also serves on the board of the diocesan school and as archdeacon for seven churches. Samuel is desirous of growing in his own discipleship and leadership capacities in order to raise the next generation in greater obedience. Samuel will study through distant learning to remain with his family of five children.
Emmanuel Kwizera '22
Rwanda
Emmanuel serves as Catalyst of Proclamation Evangelism with the Lausanne Movement and is the International Missions Director of African Enterprise which takes him to multiple countries in Africa and Europe, along with Australia and the U.S. Some of his goals for his Wheaton education include becoming an effective trainer and mentor of evangelists, especially African evangelists; creating curriculum; establishing a community of mentors of evangelists; and eventually establishing an institute of evangelism in Africa that will also springboard to global evangelism. His wife and three children will come with him to Wheaton.
Lorraine Green ’96
Chad, South Africa
“2015 will mark 35 years of ministry for me in Africa, most of which was in Chad. After 30 years of teaching the Bible to women, TEAM asked me to join the leadership team as Senior Director with responsibility for our Africa fields. In 2015, TEAM celebrates her 125th anniversary. In the fall, we will trace the steps of David Livingstone along the Zambezi River and reflect on what the Lord has done in Africa, and particularly in Zimbabwe."
Krista Horn ’11
Kenya
My husband and I moved to Chicago so he could attend medical school. Our long-term plan was to move overseas to be medical missionaries, but the culmination of that calling was still years away. I felt the pull to go back to school, learned about the Masters in Intercultural Studies at Wheaton, and applied for the Billy Graham Pre-field Missionary Scholarship. I knew the Lord was leading me in that direction, but also knew we couldn't afford another graduate degree while my husband was going through medical school. I was amazed and humbled when I received the scholarship! The generosity and grace of the Billy Graham Scholarship Program is something I am continually grateful for.
The Masters in Intercultural Studies prepared me for living cross-culturally more than any other pre-field training I did. I regularly use my Wheaton education as I teach homeschool classes for both American and African children, as I teach Sunday School in our compound, and as I lead Bible Studies in our community. My husband, by virtue of hearing me talk about everything I was learning in class during the grad school years, has also been able to apply cross-cultural awareness and wisdom as he works at the hospital every day. My education at Wheaton was an incredibly valuable and impactful preparation for our life and ministry overseas and I will be forever grateful for it.
Kioko Mwangangi ’16
Kenya
Kioko Mwangangi M.A. '16 was featured in the autumn issue of the Wheaton magazine. Read his profile
Emmanuel Ndolimana ’15
Rwanda
Emmanuel recorded two To the Nations podcasts with April about his philosophy and practice of ministry and his experience with the volcanic eruption of Mount Nyrangongo. He was also was featured in the Spring 2015 Wheaton Magazine article, Answering the Call:
Rwandan Emmanuel Ndolimana M.A. '15 went from homeless teen to church-planting pastor, teacher, and Billy Graham Center scholar. Find out where he's headed next. Access the article on page 43 of the Spring 2015 issue of Wheaton magazine
John Raines ’11
North Africa
“After spending about two years living and ministering among people in North Africa, I wanted to enroll in a program that would deepen my knowledge and love for God's word and thereby equip me for further service in that same part of the world. The Father has used the BGC Scholarship to make it financially possible in a way that won't hinder my return to the mission field with long-term debt. I'm so thankful for it, and I pray that my life would steward this investment into the eternal treasury to which it has been committed.”
Miriam Smith ’07
Kenya
"You know those "Ah-hah" moments in life when experiences and theory merge into a moment of pure illumination and understanding? That is what my time at Wheaton Grad School was like: moment after moment of "ah-hah" or "ohhh now I get it..."
I grew up as a missionary kid in central Africa, went to the Horn of Africa as a short termer from 1993-1994 and then returned to Africa full time in 1999. By the time I received the BGC scholarship and entered grad school to earn an MA in Intercultural Studies, I was a mother of 3 children and had a lot of experiences and questions swirling around in my head. Sitting in classes such as Intercultural Communication or Transformational Development or Issues and Trends in Missions was like someone taking the blindfold off my eyes and allowing me to see what had been going on around me all along.
It is really impossible to measure how profoundly the understanding I gained at Wheaton has influenced the fruitfulness of my work as a missionary. I have been able to capably serve the church through training, curriculum and program development. Currently I serve as founding director of a ministry called Eden Environmental Camps and Clubs. Eden Camp is a weekend wilderness camping program for orphans and vulnerable children to be exposed to the wonder of God’s creation, to be encouraged to join all creation in worshipping Him and to be challenged to use wisdom in living more sustainably. The Clubs are hands-on after-school programs focused on teaching students God’s incredible design for all created things and humanity's role in protecting, restoring and stewarding all that God has made."