When Stephanie Lowery Ph.D. ’16 and her family left Kenya for a health emergency in 1996 after serving there as missionaries for 13 years, Stephanie knew she would return one day. She did not, however, know the educational twists and turns God would take her through first.

Stephanie’s education had already been a whirlwind, bouncing from a Kenyan school to homeschooling to a one-room schoolhouse to boarding school and finally public high school in the United States.

After attaining a Master of Divinity degree and teaching for a year, the tug on Stephanie’s heart to return to Kenya was stronger than ever, but she sensed God’s calling in a different direction when three different mentors came to her separately suggesting she obtain a Ph.D. Stephanie was pleasantly surprised when Wheaton College accepted her application to study African models of the church, a very specific area of focus, with a scholarship.

In 2016, Stephanie was finally able to return to teach in Kenya, and in January 2019, she accepted a full-time lecturer position at Africa International University in Nairobi. She also facilitates pastoral training sessions at a rural institute and serves at a local church.

Stephanie has observed that for young Christian leaders in Kenya, planting successful churches is not a question of faith or willingness; it is a need for leadership training that parallels the rate of growing churches. Her role is to prepare people for lifelong ministry so that the church may continue to grow and thrive in Kenya under a new generation of leaders.