BUA, Texans on Mission partner to grow Christian leaders

Baptist University of the Américas and Texans on Mission have entered an agreement to work together to develop Christian leaders for a global impact.

Leaders from both groups signed a memorandum of understanding July 30 outlining the cooperative effort. It seeks to pair BUA’s longstanding ability to train leaders for churches and ministries with Texans on Mission’s ability to deploy volunteers for maximum impact.

BUA will educate, train and develop leaders who will seek to take the gospel to the next generation of Texans and people around the globe. Thanks to the school’s cross-cultural curriculum, BUA alumni are positioned to serve in unique places globally.

Texans on Mission will help expand those educational opportunities, as well as give students practical opportunities to serve through disaster relief and water impact ministries.

“This partnership represents a significant step forward for both BUA and Texans on Mission,” BUA President Abe Jaquez said.

“Students will gain extensive awareness of the work being done by Texans on Mission and how they can contribute to similar efforts in their future churches and communities. By integrating their initiatives with BUA’s educational programs, a unique and impactful synergy is being created.”

For more than 75 years, BUA has met the growing need for Spanish-speaking and Latino Christian leaders to take the gospel across Texas and around the world as demographics continue to shift.

The school has provided pastors for up to 75 percent of the Hispanic Baptist churches in Texas, and its curriculum has empowered alumni to serve around the world. The training particularly has been helpful in Central and South America, as well as Arabic regions that have cultural and language connections.

Since 1967, Texans on Mission—historically known as Texas Baptist Men—deployed Christian volunteers to deliver help, hope and healing in Christ’s name. The ministry largely is known for its disaster relief and water impact efforts through which it has responded to every disaster in Texas, most across the United States and many around the world.

Texans on Mission’s global imprint has grown in recent years as it has established significant efforts in places like Poland, Ukraine, Israel, Uganda and Peru.

“The world needs beacons of hope more than ever,” said Mickey Lenamon, chief executive officer of Texans on Mission. “BUA students want to be that in the name of Christ, and we’re excited about how they can pursue that calling through Texans on Mission ministries.”