Master of Arts, Intercultural Studies, 1990, Columbia International University

Full-time Freelancer

Chicago, IL

My two brief but intense years in graduate school at Columbia International University have left a lasting impact on me. I arrived with my wife, Christine, expecting to prepare for a career as a missionary. Instead, while overcoming the dreaded “syllabus shock,” I was led to use my skills and background in the service of missions journalism.

CIU gave me a solid foundation for my professional life. While on campus I connected with Martha Reapsome, a visiting teacher. Martha is married to Jim Reapsome, who at the time was the editor of “World Pulse and Evangelical Missions Quarterly.” Thus began some freelance writing assignments for Jim, which led to a job offer when his staff writer went to Albania as a missionary.

After a decade of missions journalism for Jim and then for Wheaton College, I moved on to “Christianity Today,” where I was pleased to find active interest in the global Christian movement. Now I am an independent publishing professional — writing books, columns, Bible studies, and basically anything that advances the kingdom and strengthens the church. My books “Missions in the Third Millennium,” “All That Jesus Asks,” and “The Sacrament of Evangelism” (with Jerry Root) have CIU’s fingerprints all over them.

CIU also provided me with a strong foundation for the rest of my life. I have appreciated the godly men and women of CIU and still keep in contact with President Emeritus Robertson McQuilkin and Professor Warren Larson, who continue to encourage me. Whether it was “living in the center of biblical tension,” learning to stretch beyond my known limits, the school’s modeling of joyful personal holiness, or the friendships we made, CIU deepened my soul in ways that have gone well beyond the classroom.

Stan Guthrie (M.A., Intercultural Studies, 1990) is an editor at large for “Christianity Today” and author of “All That Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us.” He lives in the Chicago area with his wife, Christine, and their three children.