Academic Excellence

Annie Sievert

I graduated in May, 2006 with a degree in Family and Human Services. I am now attending Reformed Theological Seminary where I am enrolled in their Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy and Counseling Program (MFTC). John Brown University’s Family and Human Services courses provided an excellent overview of the courses I am currently enrolled in through my Masters program. John Brown’s curriculum familiarized me with foundational counseling concepts and provided me with certification in Prepare/Enrich counseling, which I am presently studying through my Masters program. In addition, John Brown’s course work equipped me to better know how to conduct online research in a timely and efficient manner, which is a vital skill for any graduate study program.

Sarah Tomkinson

I graduated in May 2006 and took a job with Every Nations Ministries, a missions agency based in Little Rock, AR. Every Nations is a missions mobilization organization. We help train and equip people who have a desire to be involved in missions so that they can go. We send out short-term teams every year and this year we have also begun sending out long-term workers. Every Nations has a heart for the unreached, those who have little to no exposure to the Gospel. Because of that, the majority of our international work takes place in the 10/40 window, where there are numerous unreached peoples. My job ranges from administration and communications to being the liason between the US office and our people on the field, to leading teams internationally.

Looking back on my time at JBU I see that the Lord used academics to prepare me for this work. My classes that focused on communication and working in cross-cultural situations and my Bible classes that made the personhood of Jesus Christ real to me aid me every day as I strive to share the Gospel or equip others to do so cross-culturally. I am better able to deal with the stresses of communicating with others from a different background and because I know Jesus more I am better able to share him.

Chris Grizzle, Dec. 2005

Overall, the degree of Biblical and Theological Studies taught and prepared me for ministry as a lifestyle. John Brown University introduced and exposed me to this concept which directly affects my life, my goals, and my career. The faculty and staff as model, coupled with the curriculum, provided me a holistic approach that has afforded me advanced standing amongst my peers at seminary; I am pursued by graduate-level peers for academic advice and aid. Specifically, the classes titled "Philosophy of the Christian Faith and Christian Apologetics" equipped me with the philosophical and analytical skills needed to present the Good News to a pluralistic postmodern politically correct society. John Brown University - under-rated spiritual and academic maturation.

Ryan Hawk, Dec. 2005

My name is Ryan Hawk and I graduated from JBU in Dec of 05. I live in Nashville, TN.

I am the drummer for the Word records recording artist group Jackson Waters. My education at JBU hasn't brought me to the formal job that my youth ministry degree would normally grant, but has given me an opportunity to reach many more with the songs that I am involved in writing. My experience at JBU became more than just a degree. It became a worshipful experience. As a songwriter, I have been able to use the love of knowledge, wisdom and truth to become the background for the songs i write. When seeking God's kingdom and trying to represent his glory in the art i am involved in I often start with the search for absolute truth. We are all searching for something as God has designed us to be that way. We are looking for him. I was looking for him in many ways and when I found that life changing grace, I happened to be at JBU. The education I received became so much more than the typical degree. I became a seeker of truth. A lifelong learner. My education was only started by the professors and classes. They were the ramp that launched me into wanting to know all that i could. Everything that can be learned is somehow related to our creator and redeemer, from science to math and ministry alike, there is a story. A creation, a fall and a redemption is the key to that story. i believe that God has used my education to be able to write songs about absolute truth and God's grace to reach a world that has become cold, blind and seekers of self rather than seekers of the truth and grace and mercy of a father, lover and redeemer in our Lord Jesus Christ.