Campus News

Myers family to pursue international missions

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  Dr. Robert Myers, associate professor of mathematics at Bethel College, has an amazing background centered around his journey of faith that has led him to an upcoming transition into international missions work.Myers said that he became a Christian during his freshman year of college at the University of Missouri, Columbia, where he earned three bachelor’s degrees in physics, mathematics, and German.
Dr. Robert Myers is a professor of mathematics at Bethel College
Dr. Robert Myers is a professor of mathematics at Bethel College
“At one time, I actually had four majors, in physics, mathematics, German, and religious studies,” said Myers. “My dean called me in and told me that I needed to narrow it down. I decided to drop the religious studies major because, being at a secular university, it wasn’t quite what I was looking for.” Myers went on to earn his M.A. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, he is working to earn an additional Ph.D. in Christian Thought. “I was drawn to Bethel because it was a Christian college,” said Myers. “I had never been at a Christian college, and I was impressed with the academic excellence and the spiritual environment of Bethel.” Myers has just begun his tenth year of teaching at Bethel, but will be resigning at the end of the semester to pursue overseas missions work in Kenya through DOOR (Deaf Opportunity OutReach) International. “We felt called to do this for a long time, but were waiting on God’s timing on the matter,” said Myers. “Part of the waiting was that we wanted to make sure our kids were on board with it, too. We wanted them to feel like they had a choice, rather than dragging them along. We wanted to give them an opportunity to share their feelings on the matter.” The Myers family will be moving to Kenya in April. “We did a short-term overseas trip during the summer, just to test the waters and see how our kids would respond,” said Myers. “They enjoyed it so much that they didn’t want to leave, so that was like a final confirmation that we were on the right track.” Myers said that, upon arriving in Kenya, he and his wife will begin pursuing advanced studies in sign language in preparation for work in sign language Bible translation. “I began taking ASL courses in 2005,” said Myers. “Recently, I have also taken some courses in linguistics and Greek.” Myers said that he will be training specifically to become a linguistic consultant. “There is a lot to do between now and when we move in April,” said Myers. “But we are excited about following the next step God has for us.” The Myers family asks for prayer support from the Bethel community as they embark on this new journey. Additional information about the Myers family and their journey can be found on their blog, The Myers Chronicles: http://themyerschronicles.blogspot.com/.
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