Introduction To Zwemer

"If the Churches of Christendom are to reach the Moslem World with the Gospel, they must know of it, and know it."-Samuel Zwemer

Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies

The Zwemer Center at Columbia International University exists to offer comprehensive courses on Islam, facilitate research, foster dialogues, offer seminars, conduct training and provide resources for effective witness and ministry among Muslims. Those who want to study Muslim missions will benefit from the Zwemer courses offered in the Master’s Degree in Muslim-Christian Relations.

Founded in 1979 at the U.S. Center for World Mission, the Zwemer Institute became a major resource and training center for Christians seeking to engage Muslims with the gospel. This need was highlighted with the emergence of the Lausanne Movement and grew out of a consultation led by Dr. Don McCurry, the first Zwemer Director.

Multitudes of missionaries, missionaries-in-training, students and scholars have contributed research, studied in seminars and earned graduate degrees in Islamics over the years, facilitated by the renowned faculty and adjunct staff. Hundreds of churches have been equipped to understand and relate to Muslim neighbors in seminars conducted throughout North America… Read More

Read Zwemer's Books Article on Samuel Zwemer A Brief History of the Center

The Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies is a beautiful and strategic combination of crucial research and actual teaching.

Dr. Phil Parshall

The Zwemer Center is carrying on the vision of the Apostle of Islam whose name it bears with his passion and academic rigor.

Dr. Dudley Woodberry

For many years I have dreamed of seeing an evangelical center come into existence, which would focus its energies, resources, and vision toward the worldwide evangelization of Muslims.

Dr. Ralph D. Winter

Team

Dr. Warren Larson

Warren and his wife Carol served for 23 years in Pakistan with Christar. He is a faculty member of the Seminary and School of Ministry at Columbia International University. Due to his understanding of radical Islam, he has been quoted widely in both Christian and secular publications. His book on religious extremism in Pakistan and its effect on Christian ministry was chosen as one of 15 most significant writings on mission in 1998. Dr. Larson is the former Director of the Zwemer Center.

Dr. Trevor Castor

Trevor, Katie and their three children live in Columbia, South Carolina where he serves as the Managing Director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies. He is also a professor of Muslim Studies and Intercultural Studies at Columbia International University (CIU). He and his wife served as missionaries and worked in South Asia among a 100% Muslim population. After returning from the field, Trevor completed a Master’s Degree from Columbia International University in Muslim Studies. He also has a Ph.D. in Muslim Christian Relations from the Australian College of Theology.

Dr. Ed Smither

Ed Smither serves as professor and dean of intercultural studies at CIU. Ed spent 14 years serving in intercultural ministry in North Africa, France, and the USA. He earned a PhD in Historical Theology from the University of Wales-Trinity St. David and a PhD in Intercultural Studies from the University of Pretoria (South Africa). Ed’s areas of interest are early Christian studies, the history of mission, non-western mission movements, and theology of mission. His most recent books include Brazilian Evangelical Missions in the Arab World, Rethinking Constantine, and Mission in the Early Church. Ed is married to Shawn and they have three children.

Dr. Dave Cashin

Dr. Cashin is professor of intercultural studies at Columbia International University (CIU). Dr. Cashin obtained his bachelor of arts degree in history from Gordon College and his master of arts and doctor of philosophy in indology from Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. While in Sweden, Dr. Cashin served as pastor of two churches. He wrote and taught courses and seminars in Islamic history, theology and Muslim-Christian relations. For nine years Dr. Cashin served in Bangladesh as missionary, church planter, educator and development worker with SIM International.

Advisors

Dr. Robert Blincoe

Bob Blincoe is President of US Frontiers. He and his family lived in northern Iraq in the 1990s. He studied for the PhD with Ralph D. Winter on the subject of “A New Social Contract Relating Mission Societies to Church Structures.”

Arlene Richardson

Dr. Roy Oksnevad

Director of the Muslim Ministry Program at the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism. In his role, he gives leadership to a coalition of ministries to Muslims in North America called the COMMA Network. He is also adjunct faculty at Wheaton College and Northern Seminary, and gives leadership to a fellowship of former Muslims in the Chicago area.

Dr. Steve Coffey

Cash Godbold

Cash and Ann are true pioneer missionaries, living for 30 years in the Sahara Desert working with the Tuareg people. They grew up in Columbia, attended Columbia International University, and married in 1958. Leaving for the mission field in 1960, they raised 3 children in severe and primitive conditions. Their love for the Tuareg was obvious in their adaptation to their ways, dress, food, and customs. Their continuing work is a strong testimony to the missionary call, conducting workshops on the mission field and the US teaching believers how to witness to the Muslim people. Cash and Ann have been used mightily to stir the hearts of churches and young people for the cause of missions. Each of their three married children attended CIU and has spent time on the African mission field.