Alumni Spotlight: Kathi Small (MA Bible, 1996)

After graduating from CIU, Kathi returned to Venezuela and served a total of 10 years. She then served in Perú for 11 years. Now, Kathi lives in Guatemala City and teaches at SETECA (Central American Theological Seminary).

"My seminary degree allows me to teach on the seminary level. I continue to grow in my knowledge and application of what I learned at CIU. Though not due to my degree, I developed friendships that will last a lifetime."

Alumni Spotlight: Edward Canyes (MA, 2012)

Since I graduated in May of 2012 I worked on staff at my home church in Lexington South Carolina. I oversaw small groups and kids clubs. I helped to recruit and train over 70 volunteers for the kids clubs. I also led the small group leaders (about 50ish) and their well-being and equipping.
I resigned from that position in July of 2015. 

January 2019 I was asked to join a leadership group to start kids clubs in South Florida. Since January 2019 the leadership group has grown and the leadership raised enough money for two full-time employees and we launched October 1st 2019. 

The basic model of Game Day ministry is a triangular relationship between game day, the local church and the local elementary school to conduct kids clubs and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was tasked with writing the first business model as well as a ministry model and the process in which the ministry got started. We had several very intelligent people speak into this whole ministry venture. During this time I realized the absolute necessity for ministry leaders to have some kind of business knowledge or background. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a family that was business orientated so I learned a lot of the things that I used for the business model from my own personal knowledge.

The ministry model was based on many principles I learned from leadership training at CIU. Between CIU and the global leadership summit gave me a great base to start this ministry venture. As of March 1st 2020 we have 15 partner churches and about 10 schools that we are in direct communication with on a weekly basis. We are starting three clubs by the end of March possibly a fourth in April. This fall we're looking to launch between 10 and 15 clubs based on all the relationships that we've been building over the last several months. Many of the schools were unable to accommodate us this year but next school year there will be many opportunities. God has been absolutely amazing in this venture. He has continued to bring people to the ministry lead us, convict us, and grow us as people and as ministry leaders. It is an absolute joy to go to work each day just waiting and seeing what God has in store for that day! Game Day is everyday! 

My degree through CIU has helped me in many different aspects. The majority of the leadership principles that I learned I have applied on a weekly if not daily basis. All of the small group training and equipping at CIU has helped me with small group development when I worked on staff in Lexington, SC and helped me to grow the small group ministry. The necessity of taking care of the small group leaders so they can take care of the body of Christ was essential. Going deep with their understanding and knowledge and equipping and then going wide with the opportunity to duplicate small groups was an absolute essential ingredient that I used and learned that from CIU.
The current ministry opportunity that God has me connected with now I use most if not all of the leadership principles that I learned at CIU and the global leadership summit. I was honored to be a part of three global leadership summits while I was at CIU. CIU has equipped me well for the ministry that I have been a part of since I graduated. 

Alumni Spotlight: George (Clay) Weeks (MDiv, 2001)

Since graduating from the Seminary and School of Ministry, George helped with a church plant (Salt and Light Church). He served by teaching/preaching and helped to start and lead Celebrate Recovery. George went on to work as member care/pastoral care for the IMB in Central Asia. He and his family are presently back in Sumter, SC serving as the worship leader/pastor/elder at Salt and Light Church.

"My time at CIU provided me with a strong biblical world view; strengthened my understanding and appreciation for God's love for the nations; I learned how to put together sermons and study the word; I was mentored by so many of the professors. I have maintained a strong relationship with Roy King over the years. Without being trite, I came away with a deeper love for God and a desire to lead others to know him and love him." 

Alumni Spotlight: Garry Knussman (MDiv, 1977)

Garry and his wife are retired but very active in ministry at Truth Community, which started just 8 years ago. The Knussmans are charter members.

"My M.Div. from the grad school/seminary provided me with a solid foundation of biblical/theological & practical knowledge for my variety of work, service, and ministry efforts at the ministries and churches I was and am a part of.

My degree also provided me with a strong resource base (books, commentaries, periodicals) for maintaining and increasing my knowledge of Scripture, the church, and various service and leadership opportunities. What I learned and experienced at CIU (then CGS) helped me form and keep alive a desire for Christian discipleship and service."

Alumni Spotlight: Danny Carpenter (Master of Arts Old Testament, 1990)

"After leaving CIU I went to Venezuela with TEAM from 1991 until TEAM left in 2009. I then returned in 2010 to continue my work with the local church, this time with the denomination I was with at the time. I taught mainly Old Testament courses at Las Delicias Bible Institute in Eastern Venezuela for several years before it closed. I worked in a local church in Maturín, Venezuela, where I served as one of the pastors/elders, helped plant a church, co-started and facilitated in a church-based theological training center, co-authored a book with the other elders in Spanish (Biblical paradigm for church leadership), did leadership training locally, across Venezuela and in other countries, and did counseling.

My first wife, Linda, passed away of cancer in 2013. We had two children, Jessica and Stephen. I married a Venezuelan lady, Yulmari Sequea in 2016. She had two children, Saraí and Rommel. We came to the US in May, 2019. I resigned as a missionary in order to care for my 92-year-old mom in Waller, Louisiana.

I currently am dean of the Bible Studies Department and professor of Pro-META, an online master's program in Spanish for Latin American leaders. I am also helping a Hispanic church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

I published a small book in English with my twin brother, Lanny, entitled Causes of church decline. I recently published a book in Spanish, Esta cosa llamada el amor: hacia una comprensión del amor desde la perspectiva bíblica (This thing called love: toward a comprehension of love from the biblical perspective). I also co-wrote a study on Hermeneutics with my brother for Light of Life Ministries.

My Old Testament degree had helped in a number of ways. First, I've been able to share my love for and the importance of the Old Testament with Latin Americans. Many of them had not understood much of the Old Testament or its importance for today.

Second, I've been able to understand better the New Testament. I have a better appreciation for the strong connection between the testaments."

Alumni Spotlight: David Satterlee (MDiv Cross-cultural Ministry, 1989)

David has enjoyed a fulfilling career in software testing while serving the local church in teaching Sunday School and some lay preaching.

Alumni Spotlight: Trae Capers

Travien L. Capers earned his Master of Arts in 2007. He keeps busy by leading the flock at Zion Benevolent Baptist Church and raising a family of 4 children with his wife. 

Trae works on the CIU campus as an Academic Advisor and Adjunct Instructor. "Also in the interim," writes Trae, "I’ve had the privilege to consult in the area of Faith Based Initiatives, I’ve managed academic programs on various campuses and I’ve built learning management systems for a religious television network."

Trae shares that, "while a student in the SSM, I was blessed to have a true international experience. I studied with people the world over and those relationships have lasted faithfully in the decade since. I really enjoyed the instruction and the personal relationships the faculty forged with the students."

Listen to Trae's chapel January 21, 2020 message, "Say It Loud' 

Alumni Spotlight: Marlo D. Brayboy

Marlo graduated with his Master of Arts in Ministry Studies in 2019.

"I was led to CIU because of God's guidance. I was praying one morning, asking God for direction in my life. I conducted a Google search of Bible schools in Columbia, and I found CIU. Later that same day, the pastor from the church I grew up in called my mom. He gave her a message that she passed on to me, saying, "tell Marlo to go to the school on Monticello." Mind you, he and my mother did not know I was searching for a college earlier that morning. I told my mom to call him back because I did not know school was on Monticello. I Google searched colleges on Monticello, and CIU came up. Seconds later, my phone rang, and my mom said CIU.

CIU has been a great experience. I gained a ton of insight from the professors. I had and currently have the opportunity to sit under professors who love Jesus with all of their hearts. I was able to establish friendships with them and have maintained contact. The chapels were an excellent opportunity to worship with fellow followers of Christ. Many dynamic speakers spoke in chapel and encouraged me to a higher calling. CIU has genuinely been a blessing to me, and I am grateful that God directed me to this remarkable University."

Scholarship Fund

As CIU grows, your dean is always on mission to educate students from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ. Watch and listen as Dr. John Harvey personally shares how programs have changed over the last couple of years.

If you feel led to support your dean, consider giving to the school-specific scholarship fund. Dr. Harvey will award these funds DIRECTLY to students in their program who are in need!

Alumni Stories

Send us your stories! We love to feature our Seminary alumni! https://ciu.formstack.com/forms/seminary_school_of_ministry

Alumni Spotlight: Larry Evans

Larry has been staying busy doing outreach ministry in the form of helping Veterans and their family members receive compensation or pension benefits. He started a nonprofit 501 (c)3 organization in 2013 called "The Veterans Information Workshop" providing workshops throughout the state of South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia to inform Veterans and their family members what VA Benefits they may be entitled to. 

"My degree from CIU in (Pastoral Care) has really helped me in so many ways that's unreal. So many of our Veterans suffer from PTSD or other related illnesses due to their military service. By me providing these workshops I come in contact with many who are suffering from a related service illness and need to talk to someone who can relate to their problem by me being a Veteran they feel comfortable talking with me. I have been able to counsel so many that I have come in contact with over the years simply by starting this workshop. We never know how God will work out a plan to bring healing and peace to his people."

Alumni Spotlight: Phil Thompson

"My MDiv from CIU has equipped me to engage meaningfully in discussions and theological grounding for the projects as a whole."

Phil heads up online theological learning initiatives for The Gospel Coalition. In November of 2017, TGC launched TGC Courses, a free and open Christian learning site. Since the time of its launch, the ministry has seen over a quarter million learners access courses over one million times. Phil also directs another effort that rolled out Fall 2019. TGN provides a series of 250 free theological essays on our site which will then be translated into several other key languages. Over the next five years, they are working to develop a core "pastor's bookshelf" of free resources in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, and Arabic.

Phil also serves as a resident at his church, The Church at Cherrydale, in Greenville, SC.
While much of his work is in managing projects, Phil interfaces regularly with pastors and academics as they work to provide resources to the global church.

Alumni Spotlight: Ronny Kolty

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good, dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness 

To God Alone We Strive To Bring Glory! 

We are amazed at every interval to witness God’s intervention. If there has ever been a doubt, the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit reminds us that God is faithful and if there have been setbacks, we know that He will see us through, if there has been any lacking, God’s track record shows that He did provide and will continue to do so. We look back through the years and marvel at God’s faithfulness at every turn. To Him Alone We Strive to Bring Glory. 

Feeling Like Quitting 

The caption seems to contradict the above sentences, but it is our reality. The common phrase Christians often hear when going through overwhelming circumstances is, “Don’t give up.” Though we’ve known the phrase too well and have sung that “chorus,” the reality is that we are the one going through it and the this “chorus” seems like an ancient tune. To deny the reality of our circumstances is like living in fantasy land but to acknowledge our struggles takes humility, and I believe that is the safest place to be. 

Misunderstood 

It’s not a pleasant feeling when been misunderstood. And to add salt to the wound, people misinterpreted the move to open a coffee shop is a retirement plan (You Must Be Kidding). If people outside of our circle mention it, it’s understandable because they did not know us, but if someone of the same “peers” says it, the wound runs deeper. The feeling of betrayal and frustration is no way close to how King David felt. However, we could taste a fraction of his expression when he said this; “For it is not an enemy who taunts me---then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me---then I could hide from him, but it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend” (Psalm 55:12-14, ESV). We cannot allow the comments from the people to dissuade us from doing what the Lord wants. We have to laugh about it and press on to be missional. We do have a “retiring plan,” and that is wearing our “sneakers” and ushering people with the help of the Holy Spirit into God’s Kingdom till Jesus returns or we go to see him.

Alumni Spotlight: Cassandra Frear

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Biblical Studies (New Testament) and a Teaching Fellow at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Currently, I am assisting with Greek classes, developing fresh approaches to teaching Greek, and studying for comprehensive exams.

CIU classes in Greek and Hebrew were excellent foundational preparation for more advanced doctoral work. I have also benefitted significantly from the self-care habits and spiritual disciplines that I developed at CIU in conjunction with my classes. My professors often encouraged me to make my coursework applicable to daily life, and this factor alone has been invaluable to the management of my Ph.D. workload.

Alumni Spotlight: Lay-Hwa Teh

I'm presently the Member Care person at PioneersinAsia ("PiA"). PiA, based in Singapore is the Asian mobilization base for Pioneers. I am based in KL, Malaysia but report to the Singapore office.
I provide missionary care to PiA's missionaries (primarily from Asia) who are serving in different parts of the world. I'm also doing some mobilization work in Malaysia.

In addition, I also represent Heartstream Resources in Malaysia, where I provide counseling to workers and training in member care topics. 

My degrees from CIU, MA in Global Studies and MA in Pastoral Counseling had helped me tremendously in my work. 

Alumni Spotlight: Sarah Meehan de Solorzano

When I started at CIU in 2005, I was in the process of moving to El Salvador to serve as a fulltime missionary with Reliant Mission. I served in El Salvador as the Missions Coordinator and a leader of women’s ministry for 10 years. 

In 2009, I got married to Jorge Solorzano, a youth leader, and deacon who was working with the church in El Salvador. Jorge and I served fulltime at the Great Commission Church in San Salvador, El Salvador until the beginning of 2017. Within that time we had two beautiful children; Sophie is now 7 years old and Jorgito is 5. God had begun to stir our hearts to plant churches years ago. We thought that we would continue to serve in Latin America and possibly move to South America to plant churches, but the Lord was actually calling us to plant a multi-ethnic church in the United States in my hometown, Annapolis Maryland. 

Once we moved to Maryland in 2017, my sending church, Bay Area Community Church then trained Jorge as a pastor. In 2018, Jorge was ordained as a Pastor and now Jorge will finish his seminary studies at Lancaster Bible College with a Master’s in Church Planting this December of 2019. God had used Micah 2:13 which says, “the One who breaks open the way will go before them...” The Lord really opened the way for us to follow His vision for our lives to move us Maryland to plant a church. The name of our church is Axis Church. It is Axis because we believe that when Jesus is the “axis” of our lives and everything revolves around Him, all things hold together (Col. 1:17). Our mission statement is to “inspire people to make Jesus the center of their lives.” We have a core team and have been preparing for our Sunday launch, which happened on September 8th of this year. We are so amazed to see all God has done in our lives and are excited about what He will continue to do. 

How has your degree helped you?

It has really helped me to be able to have a clearer understanding of the whole plan of God's redemption throughout the whole Bible. It has helped me in leading women's ministries and preparing messages also. 

Alumni Spotlight: Eric Needham

After graduating from seminary I worked for four years at Ben Lippen School. Following that my family was sent through Crossworld to Thailand where we coordinate the Thailand Teacher Project. We provide holistic support for English teachers sent from North America to Thai schools where they are able to make disciples in Thai communities.

Intercultural courses helped me take the perspective of a learner as I entered another culture. I also appreciate the focus on leadership development in several of my courses.

Homecoming, 2019

Thursday – October 31, 2019

11:00 a.m. Recent Alumni Recognition Award Chapel Shortess Chapel (Come hear the heart of our recent alumni as we honor them)

6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Music Through the Ages rehearsal Shortess Chapel

Friday – November 1, 2019

8:00 - 10:45 a.m. Homecoming Check-in Alumni Center

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast available for purchase in the Cafeteria

9:15 - 10:45 a.m. Class Reunions Various locations ’59, ’69, ’79, ’89, ’99, ’09 reunions

11:00 - 12:00 p.m. Alumni of the Year Chapel Doug (’67) & Alleene Petty (’68) Kracht Shortess Chapel

12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Student/Alumni Lunch *** ($8) Cafeteria Find the organization or group that you were a part of during your time at CBC/CIU and enjoy lunch with the students. (RAs/Res life, Sports, Yearbook, Student Mission Fellowship, CIU Players/Drama, and others)

1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Attend a Class Schedule provided in the Homecoming booklet (See the new classrooms in Fisher and the new Business and IT Building)

2:00 - 4:30 p.m. Class Reunions Various locations

2:30 - 3:00 p.m. Campus Tours Meet in front of the Administration Bldg (See the campus renovations of Fisher and Shortess and tour the new Business and IT Building)

2:00 – 4:30 p.m. Homecoming Check-in Alumni Center

3:00 p.m. Music Through the Ages rehearsal in Shortess Chapel

6:00 – 7:30 p.m. President's Banquet *** ($20) Moore Fitness Center

8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Music Through the Ages with the Ambassador Choir and Cola Worships Shortess Chapel

9:30 p.m. Fireworks

9:30 p.m. Homecoming Bonfire and ‘Smores The Pointe

Saturday - November 2, 2019

8:00 - 10:45 a.m. Homecoming Check-in Alumni Center

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast with Alumni of the Year Doug & Alleene Kracht McKey/Cafeteria

9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Professor/Alumni Meet-n-Greet Cafeteria

10:00 - 12:00 p.m. Class Reunions Various Locations

10:00 - 12:00 p.m. Disc Golf Tournament

10:00 - 2:00 p.m. Bouncy House and Activities Quad

10:00 – 12:00 p.m. Student led activities: spike ball, volleyball, corn hole Quad

12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Picnic Lunch *** ($8 adult/$4 for children 12 & under) Quad

1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Student volleyball championship game (tournament throughout the week) Quad

1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Home Run Derby Softball field (Try your hand at the Home Run Derby and other games on the softball field with coach Sara Allen and her team.)

1:00 –6:00 p.m. Volleyball Games Moore Fitness Center

1:00 p.m. CIU vs Reinhardt University

3:00 p.m. Reinhardt University vs Michigan-Dearborn

5:00 p.m. CIU vs. University of Michigan-Dearborn

5:00 - 6:30 p.m. Dinner available for purchase

6:00 p.m. CIU Bowl Ben Lippen Football Field

*** paid events

2019 Alumni of the year: Alleene Petty Kracht (’68) and Doug Kracht (’67)

Doug and Alleene have been missionaries since 1972, initially serving with World Team, Inc., and later cooperatively with World Witness (ARP). They have also served on the faculty of Jamaica Bible College. Throughout their ministry, God has used Doug’s audio-visual abilities and Alleene’s gift of teaching to spread the gospel in a variety of ways including church planting, educating students with learning differences, and producing evangelistic materials in digital and printed formats. Their work has made an impact throughout much of Latin America, including Cuba, as well as in Spain.

Global Networking Event

ALUMNI! 

At Homecoming this year we are hosting our first annual GLOBAL NETWORKING EVENT for students and alumni! We would love to see you there! Bring your business card and RSVP at ciu.edu/hc19