From September 9–13, Cairn University organized and hosted its biannual World Reach Week. Missionaries from around the globe shared their experiences, insights, and encouragement with students throughout the week. This year’s featured chapel speaker was Bill MacLeod, Executive Director of MissionConnexion.
Bill MacLeod founded MissionConnexion in 2001 during his fifteen years as a missions pastor in Portland, Oregon. Its signature event, Mission Connexion Northwest, has grown into one of the largest annual church-missions-mobilizing conferences in the U.S., impacting thousands. MissionConnexion also sponsors smaller, theme-focused events throughout the year to help local churches enhance their missions mobilization efforts.
During World Reach Week, MacLeod led chapel services by breaking each session into three components, all centered around this year’s World Reach Week theme: “Where Do You Fit?” Each day, he explored a different aspect of this theme. On Monday, the focus was “Discovering” where you fit; on Wednesday, it was “Exploring” where you fit; and on Friday, “Joining” where you fit. Drawing from personal stories, biblical history, and God’s future plans as revealed in Scripture, MacLeod urged students to pursue and embrace their calling as ambassadors for Christ. Whether students felt called to be career missionaries or to share the gospel in their current environments, MacLeod’s wisdom, anecdotes, and Scripture-based teachings provided powerful encouragement.
In addition to the chapel services, students, missionaries, and faculty participated in various events, including the popular World Feast, as well as information sessions that equipped students with resources to help them fulfill their calling as representatives of Christ.
