Media Release
Contact: Phil Evans
InterVarsity Associate Director Communications/Media Relations
Madison, Wisconsin—Alec Hill, President of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, announced today the selection of Dr. James A. Tebbe as Director of Urbana 2003, InterVarsity’s 20th triennial student mission convention, December 27-31, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Tebbe holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Indiana University, a Masters of Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, a Masters of Arts in Near Eastern Studies/Islamic from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from St. John’s College in Nottingham, England.
Since 1977, Dr. Tebbe has served with Interserve International, an interdenominational fellowship of Christians ministering to people throughout South and Central Asia and the Middle East. In 1992, he was appointed the International Director of Interserve, responsible for vision, ministries and personnel.
From 1986 to 1992, Dr. Tebbe was an Area Director for the Western Region of Interserve’s work, with oversight of ministries in predominantly Muslim countries. Between 1977 and 1986, he pastored an international church in Punjab, India, and then an international church in Bangladesh, before working as a staff member of a Christian center in Pakistan that studies the culture and religion of Islam as a resource for the Church.
“My life is missions,” said Dr. Tebbe. “And I have always had a special interest in the Muslim world.”
Since his years as a student at Indiana University, where at one time he was President of the InterVarsity Chapter, Dr. Tebbe has maintained a close friendship with InterVarsity and participated in three previous Urbana conventions. “Jim is described by his colleagues as being a visionary leader with a heart for college students,” said Alec Hill, InterVarsity’s President. “And his passion for missions is evident through the inspired way he led a diverse organization through a period of growth and accomplishment.”
The son of missionaries, Dr. Tebbe was born in Pakistan. Since 1972, he has been married to Elizabeth (Beth) Ann Rea; together, they have four children, three boys and a girl. Dr. Tebbe is also an ordained Presbyterian minister with a strong evangelical church background and the author of numerous publications about missions, particularly in the Muslim world.
For over 50 years God has used the Urbana conventions, which are co-sponsored by InterVarsity/USA and InterVarsity of Canada, to challenge nearly 213,000 students from around the world to share and demonstrate the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. For more information about Urbana, see our website at www.urbana.org.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, an interdenominational campus ministry, has 750 chapters on more than 530 college campuses in the United States, and is a member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For more information about InterVarsity, see our website at: www.intervarsity.org.
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