Lee University will host its annual Dee Lavender Missions Week, October 21–23, a three-day emphasis designed to challenge the campus community to discern and join God’s movement across the earth. Named in honor of Dee Lavender, a Lee student whose passion for global missions continues to inspire generations, Missions Week serves as an invitation for students, faculty, and staff to embrace the heart of the Great Commission. 
 
This year’s theme, “Movement: Sending & Going,” centers on defining “missions” for the campus community, not as a distant call for a few, but as a daily willingness to follow God’s movement wherever He is working in the world.  
 
Featured speakers for the week include Coleman Bailey and Kyle Philippi, both Lee alumni and current Church of God World Missions (COGWM) missionaries. Bailey will speak in chapel on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and Philippi will conclude the week on Thursday, Oct. 23. Both missionaries once sat in the same chapel seats as current students, and during their time at Lee, Dee Lavender Missions Week played a pivotal role in shaping their purpose and calling toward global service. 
 
On Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., students will lead a Prayer Gathering in the Lee University Chapel. This service will center on confession, consecration, and a collective openness to God’s movement around the world. Faculty, staff, and community members are invited to participate. 
 
Each year, the university partners with a specific missions project to provide tangible support for Gospel work among the unreached. This year, Bailey and Philippi will introduce Jonny Moore, another Lee alumnus and COGWM missionary serving in Southeast Asia. Together, they are inviting the Lee community to help purchase a rescue van that will aid in transporting minors safely out of trafficking situations throughout the region. Those who wish to contribute may give directly through Church of God World Missions at cogwm.org/give/. 
 
Nearly 20 mission organizations that serve both nationally and internationally will also participate in Missions Week. Representatives will visit classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and host exhibits on the Pedestrian Mall following chapel on Thursday, weather permitting. 
 
“Dee Lavender Missions Week has always been about discovering and joining the movement of God,” said Wes Lutes, campus pastor and director of spiritual life at Lee. “Our prayer this year is that students would see that missions begins with availability. May we be ready to go wherever God calls, trusting that He is already at work there.” 
 
For more information about Dee Lavender Missions Week, visit leeuniversity.edu/missions-week or contact Campus Ministries at (423) 614-8420.