At the Office with Dr. Daub

How did God save you?

I grew up in a family that very much loved God and served the church well. When I was young, I believed that if I did certain things, that made me a Christian. I felt, “If I can check all the boxes, I’m good.” However, my parents were very intentional to not let me take the Lord’s Supper as a young child, and I didn’t really understand why. So, I started asking questions, and my mother and father sat me down and shared the gospel with me. And they said, “There’s a difference between us and you in that we’ve decided to follow Jesus, and he has saved us from our sins, and — to our knowledge — you’ve not done that yet.” They were very straightforward, and it really got me thinking.

I didn’t accept Christ that day, but it started the cascade of events that led me to decide to make a profession of faith. One day I walked the aisle and told the pastor that I had heard the gospel and wanted to become a believer because I knew that Jesus had died for my sins, and he was the only answer for me — that this wasn’t about a checklist or being good. It was about recognizing that I couldn’t be good and that only Jesus could save me.

How did God give you a passion for missions?

My mother worked with the Women’s Missionary Union in our area. She loved missions and was very intentional that any time a missionary was visiting our small town in Texas, they were at our dinner table. But I grew frustrated and told my mother, “I keep hearing this story where God takes people kicking and screaming to the mission field, and doesn’t he know that if he called me, I would just go?” And she looked at me and said, “Is it possible that is your calling?” I started to investigate this potential call on my life.

Over time, I realized that I did have a passion for missions. I also had skills that were particularly suited for this type of work. I love people and conversation. I enjoy trying to learn languages. And I enjoy interacting with other cultures. When I was graduating from college, I applied for the Journeyman program and ended up in South Asia.

What led you to pursue missiology in school?

My time as a Journeyman was very formative. I came back from overseas with the intention of returning to South Asia; my goal was 20 hours of seminary and back on the field. But I had a professor my first semester who actually looked at me and said, “You need to do a PhD.” I laughed in his face at the time. I had never seen a woman teach in any program except women’s ministry. Yet I felt called to missions and missiology.

My professor was very insistent for multiple semesters. At one point, he told me, “You don’t have to do a PhD, but you do have to figure out how to steward your brain.” That was the first moment where I realized it was possible for me to pursue academics and missiology and missions and that all of these could go together in a way that only God could design.

What would you say is the value of a seminary education in preparation for the mission field?

I think sometimes the Lord slows us down because he wants to form us before he sends us. It’s essential to recognize that we are not the savior — Jesus is, and his mission continues regardless of whether we’re here in Wake Forest or overseas.

It’s essential to recognize that we are not the savior — Jesus is, and his mission continues regardless of whether we’re here in Wake Forest or overseas.

Sometimes the Lord only lets us do missions abroad when we’ve cultivated obedience here by getting up and being faithful to his mission every day. It may feel boring. You may be overwhelmed by your studies. But what does it mean to be faithful in this place? That faithfulness really matters in your heart formation and prepares you for what the Lord is doing overseas. It prepares you for the hard times that you’re going to face. Intercultural teaming is hard. Living overseas in another area, where you can’t speak at a level higher than a kindergartener for a season, is hard. Learning how to walk alongside people and let them take over the reins is hard. And so, learning how to be obedient and faithful to God’s mission here, in a familiar context, is important so we can do that wherever God calls us.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love musicals. That’s my fun thing. When I started working on my dissertation years ago, I realized that we have incredible musical options around us, especially at the Durham Performing Arts Center, and so I’ve been fairly intentional about going to musicals ever since. I love the mountains, especially Black Mountain and that area in general. I actually go there to write a lot. And I love to sing. This academic year, I started singing in a choir. That has been a fun addition to my life.

What is your favorite class to teach and why?

I love my Christian missions class, and I hope my students do too. To give you a sneak peak, I love walking through what I would say is twenty-first century missiology, which I argue is, “Christians boldly going together.” So I do a section on the motivation behind our mission and what it means to go with boldness. And then I do a section on what it means to go — which covers the biblical, theological, and historical foundations of missions. And then I explore who goes together, meaning men and women, singles and married couples, global church and western church. And finally, I ask, how do we go together? I find it to be such a fun, refreshing class for me, and I enjoy getting to help people see their place in God’s mission.

How has your understanding of the glory of God deepened during your time on mission?

As I’ve grown more in love with God and as I’ve seen him work — in the various students that we’ve sent out and the various people I’ve worked with over my 10 years here — I’ve truly started to see God’s sovereignty. He’s moving in ways that we don’t even understand. I’m reminded that Jesus promises he is going to build his Church. The reality is, lift your gaze and look to the horizon. God is doing amazing, incredible things in the global Church. We work with seminaries in countries all over the world who are trying to think through theological education in their own context.

The reality is, lift your gaze and look to the horizon. God is doing amazing, incredible things in the global Church.

I often use this analogy: the global Church is like the roots of a tree, spreading underneath the surface, and we don’t get to see them. But every once in a while, we get a glimpse of what the Lord is doing around the world. And so, no matter what we feel in our current context, we have hope because Jesus is building his Church in some of the most unimaginable corners of the world.