ABWE Names Dr. D. Jim O’Neill President after Two-Year Search
Harrisburg, PA (PRWEB) July 10, 2013 -- Dr. D. Jim O’Neill, a leader of leaders with a heart for the mission field, has been named president of ABWE Ministries Inc., a Christian missionary organization that works in more than 70 countries.
ABWE’s board of directors voted unanimously to hire O’Neill after a two-year search to replace Dr. Michael Loftis. O’Neill will assume his new duties on August 1, 2013.
“Dr. O’Neill is uniquely qualified to lead ABWE,” said Larry Green, Chairman of ABWE’s Board of Directors. “He is not only an experienced leader himself, he has a passion for developing the church’s next generation of global leaders. He has served in the mission field, trained missionaries and mentored church leaders from around the world. We’re excited about what the future will bring under his leadership.”
O’Neill is the President and Founder of the Center for Global Mission, which “equips emerging leaders to make a global impact for Jesus Christ,” in Chattanooga, Tenn.
He served 13 years in Asia as a church planter, five years leading the academic missiology program at Liberty University, nine years as president of CrossWorld missions agency and more than two years at Tennessee Temple University as executive vice president and interim president.
“Through all of these ministry experiences, the common thread has been a love for assisting younger leaders in their preparation for God’s Kingdom assignment,” O’Neill said.
He explained his ministry philosophy this way: “We are commanded to make disciples of all nations. These disciples form local fellowships the world over. Then the church is called to train up leaders who will in turn make disciples of all nations.”
O’Neill has two degrees in missiology, a doctorate from Western Seminary and a master’s from Grace Theological Seminary. He received his bachelor’s degree from Liberty University.
He is the author of “Teaming Up with God: How God Invades a Pagan Culture,” published by Harcourt and Brace in 1997.
O’Neil grew up in Reading Pa., a little more than an hour from ABWE headquarters in Harrisburg. ABWE, originally known as the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, is an independent missions agency with a goal of spreading Christ’s message “from every nation to every nation.” Founded in 1927, it has about 1,000 missionaries in the field.
For more information about ABWE, please visit http://www.abwe.org.
Leah Pickard, ABWE, http://www.abwe.org, 717.909.2306, [email protected]
Share this article