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Missions conference focuses
on students mission with God

Dr. George Murray and the Rev. Paul Borthwick will speak during the 62nd annual missions conferenc on Feb. 13--18. The conference theme will be "On Mission with God," based upon is Gen. 12:1-3 where God asked Abram to leave his country, promised to make him a great nation and stated that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him.

The conference will have daily themes: "Hearing God's Directive," "Stepping out in Faith," "Receiving God's Promises," "Becoming a Blessing," and "Impacting the Nations."

Students who have been to two or more Multnomah missions conferences will have the option of going on school-sponsored missions trips that week instead of attending the conference. Students can go to Canada with North American Indian Mission and work with Native Americans in Vancouver, BC. The Student World Outreach Team is sponsoring a trip to Philadelphia, Pa., where students will help inner-city children. Another group going to Latvia will "help people of Ceriba Draudze (Hope Church) reach the city's youth for Christ," said Rachel Crowthers, who will lead the team.

Classes will be canceled missions conference week to give students time to learn about what God is doing all over the world. More than 35 missions agencies have been invited, ranging from Overseas Missionary Fellowship to Hard Hats for Christ.

Keynote speaker Dr. Murray is the president of Columbia International University. He served in Italy as a missionary and then became the president of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM). Dr. Norm Cook, a Multnomah professor, said that Dr. Murray is one of the best missions speakers in the country.

The Rev. Paul Borthwick, another keynote speaker, was the youth pastor at Grace Church in Lexington, Mass., for 18 years. While serving in that position, he organized or led more than 100 short-term missions trips for his church to Europe and Central America.

Other missions conference speakers will include Shelly Volkhardt, Dr. and Mrs. Cook's daughter serving in Equador; Barry Keiser, former dean of men at Multnomah, serving in the Czech Republic; Sheila Joshi, a Multnomah graduate, serving in Cameroon, Africa, among the pigmy people; and Ed Lewis, who served in Europe and who many students know as the "Micromachine Man."

The VISION 2000 Steering Committee and the Missions Conference Preparation Team are working on the details of the conference's format, dramatic presentations and decorations. The preparation team is made of Multnomah students who plan the conference details during the student ministry workshop time on Tuesdays.

"We want to get flags from every country represented and put them out in front of the school," Rachel Crowthers, a member of the planning committee, said.