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.
United States
Ernesto Alaniz '23
Flint, Michigan
God rescued Ernesto from anger and cynicism, an event he is still “recovering from”. Ernesto is a front-line pastor serving the people in the city of Flint, Michigan. This Evangelism & Leadership M.A. is put to good use as Ernesto reaches the city and trains up leaders.
Thomas Clark IV '23
Chicago, IL
Thomas pastors in the Bellwood/Lawndale area of Chicago. He has witnessed violence decrease in areas where the Church moves in. The need for true discipleship has impacted Thomas recently and he is eager to learn more ways to disciple and mentor leaders. View Thomas' testimonial.
Graceanne Ryken '23
overseas field to be determined
Graceanne has cross-cultural ministry experience in Turkey and Haiti. She expects her Wheaton education will equip her to develop communities, engage in mental health education and treatment, share the gospel, and raise up Christian leaders wherever the Lord leads her after graduation.
S.F. '22
overseas field to be determined
S. has developed technical skills in website and User Experience (UX) design and is also fervent about education as a means of empowerment. Her goal is to work for an evangelical Christian humanitarian organization in a refugee camp or field office in cross-cultural leadership.
Dan Bovey '21
West Chicago, IL
Dan has pastored New Life Bilingual Church in West Chicago for 17+ years. He is involved in sports (esp. soccer) community ministry and an exciting summer internship program that trains high school and college students for ministry. He says that "serving as a pastor...has given me many opportunities to see how God can work powerfully despite my weakness, and that strength is found in my dependence on Him." Dan is married with four children.
Jong Dae Choi ’12
New York City
"I'm a missionary from Korea to reach out to children in the U.S, especially Korean-American kids. Through suffering from many circumstances, I learned many things and I felt God's broken heart and tears. For the first three years in Chicago, my life was like a desert. CEF ministry was slow, my body was aching, my wife was depressed, and my mother-in-law passed away. I was desperate and miserable. When I attended a retreat, a speaker shared her story. Her story transformed my life. (I realized that) the problem was not my wife, or Chicago, but ME. When God transformed me first, He changed everything. God gave me a chance to reach out to children in Chicago, LA, New York, and Portland. I did not initiate ministry, but God did. I just followed His way, and listened to His voice. It was much easier than before. Through the wilderness, I experience God's presence in God's absence. I can totally trust him now."
Mary Lederleitner ’97
Wycliffe Global Alliance
Mary was awarded the BGC Pre-field Missionary award in 1996 and is currently a Consultant on the Leadership Team of the Wycliffe Global Alliance. She is also a researcher and adjunct professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School from where she earned her PhD in Educational Studies. Mary has sat on various ministry boards and has published several articles with Evangelical Missions Quarterly. She wrote Cross-Cultural Partnerships: Navigating the Complexities of Money and Mission and contributed to other edited works. She's thankful for the BGC Scholarship as it freed her from the limitations of academic debt so she could serve in ministry immediately after graduation.
Emily Shattuck '22
Dreamer's Ranch in Massachusetts
Emily's vision at the ranch is to "see revival and renewal of the youth" from the Boston inner-city and neighboring areas. The ranch is a "response to the crisis our youth are facing including opioid addiction, domestic violence, human trafficking, depression, suicide, anxiety, and social media addiction." Her story in Wheaton Magazine.
Roger Simmons ’16
Fox Valley Christian Action
"My goal is to be in relationship with organizations that help serve the same purpose of reaching families that live in urban communities."
Eli Suddarth ’12
Pastoral, North Carolina
"It's hard to believe four years has already passed since I graduated with my M.A. in Evangelism & Leadership from Wheaton College. God used my studies at Wheaton to profoundly shape my years in ministry since that time, and none of it would have been possible without the Billy Graham Scholarship in Urban Ministry. I learned what I needed to know about how to reach this current generation with the Gospel of Christ and how to help people move from seeking to knowing to believing in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.
Two years ago, I was called to become the outreach director for a church in Charlotte, NC, coordinating local and global missions for the congregation of 1,000. We have seen God move in the hearts of people, producing fruit for a great harvest in dozens of local agencies in Charlotte and countries around the world.
In all of my ups and downs since graduation, I remember well the lessons learned from faculty, staff and fellow classmates. "Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God" goes the saying from William Carey, and as I have followed that kind of thinking, God has never failed to amaze me even in my feeblest attempts at obedience in ministry.
Thank you for the Billy Graham Scholarship and to all the donors who continue to make ministries like mine possible by equipping us for the work God has called us to do."
Eli completed earning his loan forgiveness through ministry in the fall of 2016.
Emmanuel Tahear ’12
Diaspora ministry, Chicagoland
Emmanuel is of Ethiopian descent. "Refugee" and "prisoner" were labels before he was granted a BGC Urban/Ethnic Ministries award and graduated in 2012 with a M.A. in General Theology. He works with SIM in the Chicagoland area mobilizing church-planting among immigrants, Muslim evangelism, and leadership/discipleship training. He networks with ethnic churches and coordinates the annual “All Nations Worship” event. His ministry extends overseas to Ethiopia, Egypt, and Japan as he coordinates leadership and discipleship training there.