Highlights from Harding history of international missions

Sharing the gospel has been at the heart of Harding's mission for a century, and as we celebrate our centennial, we need your help to build this timeline. Please share your story of international missions with us at hardingmag@harding.edu.

1961

Harding hosts first World Mission Workshop, which became Global Missions Experience in 2010 following a transition to hands-on learning.

1963

Dean L.C. Sears leads students on the first international mission trip to Ediburgh, Scotland.

1964

A group of students from Harding, Abilene Christian College and Oklahoma Christian College return to Scotland.

1965

Dr. Jimmy Allen, assistant professor of Bible, leads a group of students on a campaign to Brisbane, Australia.

1967

Project Germany begins as Dr. Joe. Hacker, chair of the Bible department, leads a group of preachers, professionals and Harding students to Frankfurt. They hosted a gospel meeting and vacation Bible school as well as conducting personal evangelism visits.

1968

MISSION/PREPARE program begins with the goal of training and motivating missionaries. in the first year, 16 students declared a major in world missions, and 242 were involved in local evangelism. MISSION/PREPARE became the Center for World Missions in 1999.

1981

Dwight Smith becomes College Church of Christ's campus minister and, along with his wife, Barby, mentors thousands of students teaching them to live lives of service. Smith also partnered with Dr. Don Shackleford to plan various trips abroad and was named director of international campaigns in 1993.

1989

Africa Summer Internship program begins. The program was designed to train and prepare students for long-term mission work with the goal of increasing the number of missionaries in Africa.

1995

Romanian Missions program is launched by Dr. Budd Herbert, director of the Center for International Business. The team offered business training with a focus on Christian morals while establishing mission points and relationships in Eastern Europe.

2007

The University's seventh international program launches in Zambia. Located at the Namwianga Mission, this program focuses on health care missions.