Kirt Mellberg Memorial Missionary Scholarship

Application for the Kirt Mellberg Memorial Missionary Scholarship

The scholarship fund, donated by interested sponsors, is a living investment for the purpose of recognizing and encouraging students who have distinguished themselves as leaders, who exemplify the servant qualities of our Lord Jesus Christ, and who are actively preparing themselves for ministry in missions or in a local church vocation.

CRITERIA - To be given:

1. to a student who gives testimony of repentance of his/her sin, faith only in God’s provision of Jesus Christ as the only means of obtaining his/her salvation, and acceptance of the Bible as his/her infallible authority for faith and practice.
2. to a student who currently manifests an exemplary service-oriented Christian life.
3. to a student who shows definite promise of usefulness in future ministry by currently working successfully in a leadership capacity in his/her church.
4. to a student who has successfully completed at least four semesters and has indicated intent to serve Jesus Christ in a local church ministry or as a missionary outside the continental United States.
5. to a student who has a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5.
6. to a student who demonstrates financial need.


ESSAYS – Write essay answers of no more than two pages in length indicating:

1. Using the criteria identified above, why should you be considered as a recipient of the Kirt Mellberg Memorial Missionary Scholarship?

2. What is your understanding of Biblical servant leadership?

3. How do you believe your life demonstrates the qualities of servant leadership?

4. How are you preparing yourself for full-time service at home or on a foreign field?


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LAST NAME, FIRST NAME, MIDDLE INITIAL

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ADDRESS

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CITY, STATE, ZIP, PHONE NUMBER

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ANTICIPATED DATE OF GRADUATION: (Month / Year)

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GRADE POINT AVERAGE:

Signature:__________________________________________________________

Date:______________________________________________________________

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8

“…but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26b-28


Kirt Mellberg Memorial Missionary Scholarship

This scholarship is in memory of missionary Kirt Mellberg who finished his earthly mission well on March 23, 2005.

As a young boy Kirt heard a true story set along a jungle river in Ecuador. Five exceptional and talented young American men had been motivated to carry the Gospel to an indigenous tribe in the equatorial region, the Aucas. The young men, with hearts full of faith and vision for what God could achieve through them, and after much diligent preparation and time-consuming efforts, finally landed their plane to make personal contact; but shortly, all five were savagely murdered with the tribes’ wooden spears, having never spoken to the people with whom they came to share.

When news of the tragedy blazed around the world, many Christian young people accepted the call to follow the example of the martyred friends to invest their lives in missionary service. Kirt was one of them. Jim Elliot’s words summing up his view of life, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose,” rang in Kirt’s heart from the moment he heard the account until the end of his life. He vowed to “give what he could not keep to gain what he could not lose.” Devoting life to eternal things is not easy or cheap, but both Jim Elliot and Kirt would agree, it was worth it.

Kirt was born October 21, 1948, in Tucson, Arizona. He accepted God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation as a boy, and as a young teenager, he committed his life for full-time service in sharing the Good News to those who have never heard. He is a 1973 graduate of Southwestern Baptist College in Phoenix, Arizona, with a B.A. in Bible. After graduation, he served an internship at his home church in Phoenix, the Alice Avenue Baptist Church (now North Village Baptist Church). He spent 1976 in the Baptist Bible Fellowship language school in Querétaro, Mexico, and following deputation, he began working in Tepic, Nayarit, 1,000 miles south of the border on the west coast of Mexico where he served faithfully for nearly 30 years as a missionary.

God’s divine purpose for Kirt included allowing him to lead to Christ and work with a variety of distinct groups that God placed within his reach. Every culture of people in whom he invested his life is unique. The small village works are known for their warm, "country" hospitality. The primitive Huichol Indian works are intriguing for their radical change to Christ from the worship of over 100 Huichol gods. In Tepic he worked with city people, many of whom in the past, never would have darkened the door of an evangelical, Christian church but now have become some of the most loving and caring body of believers in Mexico.

Kirt was promoted to Heaven from Mexico on March 23, 2005. He used every moment in serving Christ. His love for the people of Mexico was the theme of his service, and afterward his earthly tabernacle was buried on a hillside overlooking Tepic. Kirt left nothing undone, and no doubt, as he was ushered into the presence of his Savior, he heard Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”