Summer 2004 Rapport: Graduation 2004

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129 Graduates from 29 states and eight foreign countries were awarded degrees at the 31st annual Commencement on Saturday, May 1, 2004.

Boyd Powers, secretary treasurer of the Oregon District (A/G) and 1996 alumnus, shared his reasons for supporting AGTS during the President’s Luncheon on May 1. The Oregon District is the seminary’s largest monthly supporter.
	Dr. Ivan Satyavrata, president of Southern Asia Bible College, Bangalore, India, delivered the keynote address.
Former AGTS President Del Tarr read the Scripture in French and prayed in Mori, the language of Burkina Faso, during Commencement. Del and his wife, Dolly, are veteran missionaries to Africa.
	Fellow D.Min. graduates gathered around Robert Cook, superintendent of the Rocky Mountain District (A/G), to pray for him before he delivered the D.Min. response at Commencement.
Despite being legally blind, Charles Scrivener (center, posing with Professors Paul and Dene Wood) earned an M.Div. in two years. The average is three to four years.

Alumnus of the Year: Jean Pawentaore Ouedraogo

Jean Pawentaore Ouedraogo is the son of an Assemblies of God (A/G) pioneer pastor who planted many churches in Burkina Faso. After high school, Jean attended an A/G Bible school in Ivory Coast and, later, the International Bible Training Institute in Sussex, England.

Upon his return to Burkina Faso, he pastored a church and was a teacher at the first A/G Bible school there. Later he became the principal and director of that school and trained many men and women for ministry.

In 1980 he came to Springfield to finish his B.A. at Central Bible College. Upon graduation, he earned an M.A. at AGTS and returned to Burkina Faso, where he was elected general superintendent of the A/G, a position he has held since 1989. The A/G is the largest Protestant church in Burkina Faso, with over one million members and adherents.

Currently, Jean is the chairman of the Africa A/G Alliance, which interacts with all A/G ministers in Africa. In addition, he is a member of the Executive Council of the World A/G Fellowship, the chairman of the board for the West Africa Advanced School of Theology and the director of the World A/G Relief Agency. He is widely respected in Africa and beyond as a model servant-leader.

Updated: Wednesday, September 8, 2004 4:34 PM