Mesa Scholars is comprised of 33 missional scholars and counting. We view the life of the mind and rigorous thinking as an arena for discipleship that is neither more nor less important than all other efforts to shape followers of Jesus. But we steward it as our particular calling, so we give ourselves to it with equal parts grit, delight, and dedication. As missional scholars, most of us are embedded in partnered theological communities. These communities are frequently seminaries in underserved regions that include Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Italy, the Middle East, the Netherlands, Venezuela, and parts beyond.
Day to day, we answer to our individual partnered theological communities, usually as teachers, administrators, and researchers. At the same time and at a different level, we function as a Mesa Scholars cohort. We regularly gather in both face-to-face and virtual configurations to share our ongoing research and our current missional innovation. Part of our commitment to each other is to interact and improve the individual "pushing of boundaries" in which each of us is engaged. When you think of our cohort, think of Mesa Global's geographical regions, each with its own Regional Leader. We are like that yet different, since our cohort’s boundaries are not defined by geography but rather by our shared calling or vocation. We are a vocationally defined region of Mesa workers. Certainly, each of us performs his or her labors within a geographical region of the world. Yet our primary Mesa Global identity is that of the Mesa Scholars cohort.
As members of that cohort, we mentor, challenge, encourage, and support each other through the various stages of our careers in service. We don’t believe in standing still or remaining content with what we learned and shared last year. As missional scholars, we aspire to engage constantly in discovery, disciplining ourselves, and encouraging our fellow Mesa Scholars towards life-long learning as we seek to shape the next two generations of Christian leaders in the image of Jesus and in his way of service.
You might wonder what a day in the life of a Mesa Scholar looks like. The picture varies with the individual and the context. But you’ll typically find us deeply immersed in the life of a local church, waking to some kind of study or research, teaching in and outside of classrooms, mentoring our students and engaging our colleagues, and practicing the spiritual disciplines we require in order to live and serve in the way of Jesus. It’s hard work and takes us deep into the souls of our students, so there’s a reason many of our offices have a Kleenex box within easy reach.
You might find a Mesa Scholar involved in various activities such as designing and coordinating workshops for teachers in Africa, preparing sermons for a church they pastor, or working on academic articles about how readers engage with specific religious texts. They could also be teaching biblical Greek to students from diverse backgrounds, baptizing determined students, coaching students through academic and ministerial decisions, or assisting former students in their transition to teaching roles.
We are Global Workers. We are Mesa Scholars, privileged to share the wider task of shaping a new generation of followers of Jesus from the anchor of a calling we share with the sisters and brothers who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the Mesa Scholar cohort. We are weak, but He is strong!
Stories from the Field
