West Africa
Theological Seminary

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Testimonial

“Jesus believed in wholistic ministry. He taught, he preached, he healed, he fed multitudes, and he challenged the status quo. He delivered captives in distress. He cured human need . . . So, this event is a symbolic act which proclaims the Lord's jubilee to a continent so very deeply in need of what God can do.»

Dr. William Sillings

Rev. Dr. Leroy Adams

Biography of Rev. Dr. Leroy Adams

Rev. Leroy Adams was born in 1933 into a Christian home. His father was a Bible college music teacher, in the school from where Leroy graduated in 1956. In 1958 he was married to Myrtle Wildhagen, daughter of missionaries to South Africa. Since his maternal grandfather and uncle were both missionary evangelists, he was in contact with missions and missionary work virtually all his life.

Leroy and Myrtle Adams went on their first missionary assignment in August 1959, to Eritrea. There they were put in charge of the Faith Missions Orphanage, serving as director, pastor and music teacher. Later he became the principal of Faith Mission High School, and was active in preaching, evangelism and church planting.

In their third term in Eritrea civil war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Eventually the Adams moved to Addis Ababa. There they were under suspicion by the Marxist government who put Rev. Adams in jail for three days. Soon after they return to the US, and over the next several years Rev. Adams taught missions and music in two US Bible colleges. For the first time he became very engaged in the emerging Perspectives Course offered by the U.S. Center for World Mission.

It was with the marriage of their fifth child that the Adams responded to the call to join the work of Wesley International Bible College, in Nigeria. There Rev. Adams labored for five years as Academic Dean and lecturer in the Perspectives course and other missions classes, as well as music. At that point WIBC had about 300 students, and for more than two years Rev. Adams was in charge of training 250 church planters in the Church Planting Institute, funded by the Bible League. During that period Rev. Adams also help initiate the sending of WIBC missionaries-in-training to neighboring countries, under the so-called Springboard program. The Springboard short-term missionary program has become one of the most successful ventures of WATS over the years, and has grown to the point that over forty missionaries are going out in 2009 to countries as far-flung as the Gambia, Sudan and Botswana.

From Nigeria the Adams moved to Ghana, to help direct the Evangelical College of Theology in Kasoa, which had been launched earlier from efforts directed by Gary Maxey. Leroy Adams eventually was made principal of the college. Once again, the teaching of the Perspectives course helped earn for the college the reputation of a strong missions emphasis.

After several years in Ghana, the Adams returned to the US, where Rev. Adams entered Columbia International University (formerly, Columbia Bible College) to earn an MA in Missiology. He had already earned an M.Ed. degree on one of his early furloughs from Eritrea. In the meantime, their older son had established a Bible College in Ukraine and was pastoring a growing church in Kiev. When the Adams visited him, he invited them to come help in the college. There, working with the young people, and translating Perspectives into Russian, was quite taxing and it was a new idea to some Ukrainians. When their son later returned to the US office of their mission, Leroy Adams took over as director of the college.

After three years in Ukraine their mission asked them to move to Egypt, to work under Christian Egyptian leadership in the Faith Churches that had increased from thirteen churches to fifty churches in about thirty-five years. The Adams arrived just before the Iraq war, but God kept His hand on them, where they made progress in the Arabic language. Rev. Adams taught one semester of the Perspectives course, translating into Arabic.

In 2009 the Adams have now completed fifty years of active missionary work (in addition to the fact that Myrtle Adams spend the first sixteen years of her life in South Africa as a missionary kid). They have served multiple years in all of the geographic sectors of Africa—southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and North Africa—and they are still going strong! Presently Rev. Adams is taking up the John Maxwell Leadership materials to help pastors become more effective in their impact on our generation. When he returns to Egypt next September, he plans to share these with the Egyptian pastors.

The Adams have been blessed with five children—two boys and three girls. The two boys are today in ministry and missions; two of the girls are homeschoolers and the third is in Law and Order. They are blessed with eighteen grandchildren and three great- grandchildren.

TIP: Hover your mouse over the picture to pause the show, or click to see the single shot.

Praise God for these men of God who support WATS!

Other Honorees

• Brig. Gen. Samuel Laiye Teidi (rtd), Doctor of Humanities
• Dr. Chidozie Nwangwu, Doctor of Humanities
• Rev. Dr. Benedict C. Kofi Obiako, Doctor of Divinity
• Rev. Dr. Leroy Adams, Doctor of Divinity
• Rev. Dr. Donald R. Plemons, Doctor of Divinity
• Rev. Dr. Bernard Dawson, Doctor of Divinity
• Rev. Dr. Alan Bullock, Doctor of Divinity