Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Autumn 2013 | Page 23

in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior’” (Hab. 3: 17-18).
Like the generations before them, Doug and Jeanie devoted themselves not only to their ministry outside of the home, but also to raising
a new generation of insightful and engaged Christians. After 20 years of
side-by-side mission work in Japan, Jeanie took up teaching and counseling responsibilities at The First Congregational Church of Hamilton
and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary while Doug assumed
leadership of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism (LCWE).
Doug also served as the first director of the J. Christy Wilson, Jr. Center
for World Missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Doug’s history with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism
began long before his involvement as a leader. In 1975, during his
senior year at Wheaton, he was introduced to the new movement

executive chair of the LCWE began in 2004. His persistent commitment
to sharing the vision for the global church with all those he encounters has
produced an increased spirit of unity among Christians around the world.
Grace Samson-Song, part of the National Leadership Team for Youth
With A Mission in South Africa, notes, “Since [the Lausanne Younger
Leaders Gathering in Malaysia in 2006], my world has been enlarged,
my perspective of missions challenged, and my passion has risen to new
heights. My life has drastically changed. I became more focused and my
faith for the Great Commission has been multiplied.”
For three years prior to the Cape Town event, Doug traveled the
world, articulating the vision, expanding networks, inspiring individuals,
recruiting leaders and volunteers, and raising funds for the Congress and
for the ongoing movement. Even afterward, he says the real work is just
Doug and Jeanie raised
their three children in Japan.
The family is shown here at
the University of Cambridge,
where Judd is now studying
for his Ph.D.: (l to r) Judson
’05, M.A. ’06 and his wife
Joannella, who have twins,
Ivy and Kuyper; Jessamin;
Jeanie; Doug; and Stacia
and her husband David, who
have a daughter, Juni.

by President Hudson Armerding ’41 (one of the five authors of the
Lausanne Covenant) and Dr. Donald Hoke ’41, M.A.’44, D.D. ’59,
director of the 1974 LCWE.
While at Wheaton, Professor of English Dr. Leland Ryken and
Chaplain Evan Welsh ’27, D.D.’55 strongly influenced Doug’s growth
and development. With Dr. Ryken, Doug studied Milton’s Paradise
Lost and his sonnet “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent,” which
concludes with the words, “They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Doug notes that over the course of his career he ha s come to realize,
“This waiting is not passive—it is waiting with hopeful anticipation
that God is going to demonstrate his faithfulness and his greatness.”
Doug met with Chaplain Welsh every Tuesday during his
Wheaton days. “We would sit in wing back chairs and talk for 30
or 40 minutes and then get down on our knees and pray. He taught
me a magnanimous spirit and prepared me for working with a wide
spectrum of the church.” Though evangelicalism was preoccupied with
boundaries in those days, he says, “Chaplain Welsh showed me the
importance of a heart that’s pure with the love of God.”
Doug participated in the Lausanne Younger Leaders Conference in
Singapore in 1987, and then in 1989 served as assistant to the conference
director for Lausanne II in Manila, Philippines. His leadership as

now taking place through relationships, partnerships, and ideas sparked
from the Congress in 2010.
“What does it mean for a ten-day event to energize a global
movement? It means the fruit of that movement grows on other
people’s trees,” Doug says, noting for instance that an organization like
World Vision has re-assessed its humanitarian work in the light of the
evangelization mandate.
The progress also continues through international meetings such as
the consultation that took place among 15 evangelical Islamic specialists
from across the globe to help the church think about how to respond
to the challenges in Muslim majority countries; or the Global Leadership
Forum held this June in Bangalore, India, drawing 350 delegates,
including President Philip Ryken ’88, who addressed the challenges
and opportunities for world evangelization through Christian higher
education.
In 2013, Doug begins a new chapter of service as the 27th president
of the American Bible Society. He sees this as a continuation of the
theme at Cape Town: to eradicate Bible poverty. In this new role, Doug
continues to collaborate with evangelical leaders, particularly through
the commitment to scriptural engagement, working across the full
expanse of the Christian community.
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