Dr Powers a Proponent of Ministry
Education Translated into Practical Life - Dr. Daniel Powers
Let me tell you a bit about myself. I was born in the Pacific Northwest in a small town called Council, Idaho. I am the youngest of four boys in my family. My parents — Richard and Shirley Powers — have been in the ministry for over 59 years. As a matter of fact, I am a fourth generation Nazarene.
After graduating from high school in San Jose, California, I attended Point Loma College (now PLNU) and graduated in 1982 with a B.A. in Philosophy/Theology. I had a minor in Music Performance (trombone) and ran on the Cross Country and Track teams. I still run 3 to 5 miles several times each week. It has been wonderful to run in the beautiful Colorado Springs area!
After graduating from Point Loma, I spent about 7 months working with the Salvation Army in Nuremberg, Germany. Then I attended Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. It was during my last year at NTS that I met Mieke — a nurse from the Netherlands who was studying at NTS to become a missionary. After finishing my M.Div. at NTS (1987), we were married in the Netherlands and lived in Holland for 7 months until her visa for immigration was approved. We pastored on the Sacramento Nazarene district in Davis, California, where the first three of our four children (Thomas, Kimberly, and Marcus) were born.
In August of 1991, we moved back to the Netherlands where I began my doctoral studies in New Testament exegesis at Leiden University. While in Holland, our fourth child (David) was born. I worked full-time as a security guard in order to support my family and my study. I also preached around 20 times each year in the various Nazarene churches in Holland. Finally, in February 2001, I defended my dissertation before the "Faculteit der Godgeleerdheid" (Religion Faculty) in Leiden. I contracted with European Nazarene Bible College in Büsingen, Switzerland to teach for the academic year 2000-2001. We moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado at the end of June 2001.
There have been many joys in my years at NBC. Mostly, I enjoy the fact that many of the students I have in class are currently ministering in a church. Thus, when we discuss a topic in class, it often surfaces in sermons, Bible studies, and conversations immediately in the pastoral life of the student. I always find this very gratifying because God himself uses our classes at NBC in an immediate and direct way. It also helps safeguard us against studying the Bible in an "academic vacuum." In my opinion, the most meaningful study of the Bible is not the kind of study that we put on a bookshelf somewhere, but it is a study that is put into practice in our daily life. By far, this is one of the greatest blessings I have experienced at NBC: Our lessons are immediately translated into the practical life of our students in their own specific area of ministry. This is such an inspiring and humbling element of God's use of the ministry of NBC. I am very blessed to be a part of this ministry.
Dr. Daniel G. Powers, Director of Advantage and Co-director of Bible and Theology Program