Janice Raymond’s selection as the Bethel Seminary 2007 Alumna of the Year was announced at the Bethel University Luncheon in Anaheim, Calif., on June 29. Raymond graduated from Bethel Seminary San Diego in 1999 with an M.Div. degree. She also holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in intercultural studies at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Raymond is the author of a highly successful math curriculum used nationwide and founder of AnsMar Publishers, Inc., of Poway, Calif. She is a faculty associate in New Testament and Greek at Bethel Seminary San Diego, and serves as an elder, teacher, and worship leader at First Presbyterian Church in San Diego. In addition, she currently serves as a self-supporting missionary to Russia and Mongolia six to 10 months out of each year, doing leadership, church, and ministry development.

Raymond is dedicated to serving individuals and families in whatever way God leads her. Just one example of her commitment: after meeting a Russian family who had a granddaughter with cerebral palsy, she brought the family to the U.S. several times for surgeries and medical treatment that enabled the little girl to walk normally. Raymond also saw a need to teach and preach in the “heart language” of those to whom she ministers, so she learned Russian and is now studying Mongolian.

Equally committed to the work of Bethel Seminary San Diego, Raymond considers the seminary community her family. She supports the staff and dean as a skilled business consultant and advisor, and serves the seminary through teaching and curriculum development. She epitomizes the values of Bethel Seminary through her consistent and personal commitment to relinquishing material possessions and sacrificing in order to more fully support the establishment of the kingdom of God.

In presenting Raymond with the prestigious award, Executive Director and Provost Leland Eliason noted that Bethel Seminary honors her for “being generous toward others while choosing simplicity for herself; for using the resources of graduate education to increase her capacity for compassionate service; for modeling how successful business savvy can be channeled to advance God’s kingdom; for extraordinary support of Bethel Seminary San Diego while simultaneously reaching people of Mongolia; and for being an authentic doer of God’s Word humbly, with discernment and joy.”