David Sills

Spouse’s name/length of marriage: Mary, 31 years on Sept. 17
Children’s names and ages: Christopher, 25 (wife, Carol); Molly, 22 — all three are students at Southern Seminary.
Hometown: Jackson, Miss.
Current church and local church ministry: Ninth and O Baptist Church. Missions coordinator, Adult Bible Fellowship teacher
Hobbies: Travel, spending time with my family, learning about cultures, reading, watching movies
Most influential person in your life: My wife.
Favorite Southern Seminary memory: Signing the Abstract of Principles in chapel.
Something surprising students might not know about you: My wife and I were baptized by Tom Nettles as young adults and learned about God’s Word, theology and Baptist history from listening to him preach every Sunday morning and evening for the first year of our Christian life.
What books, beside the Bible, have most influenced you and why: “Through Gates of Splendor” (Elisabeth Elliot), God used it to shape my future for missions; “All Things for Good” (Thomas Watson), Gave me a love for the Puritans and the way they can still teach and pastor us centuries later; “Pilgrim’s Progress” (John Bunyan), Beautiful picture of the Christian life; “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” (John Bunyan), I was astounded and encouraged to learn that his story and mine were so similar.
What influenced your decision to come to Southern Seminary: Our son had returned to the United States for college, our daughter was nearing high school gradua-tion, my Mom had cancer and for various reasons we were beginning to think about the best stewardship of our gifts when I was contacted by Southern. After prayer and counsel, God gave us a peace about making the change in ministry. With R. Albert Mohler Jr. as president, the faculty he has amassed, the student body that Southern attracts and the depth and breadth of resources and facilities, I tell people that if you must be in the United States, you are in the Southern Baptist Convention and you are a teacher, there is nowhere to go from here but heaven.
Ministry philosophy: My missions vision is driven by three primary ideas:
1. Jesus commissioned us to reach and teach all people everywhere, so we must study and understand the cultures of the world. 2. Because life is short and the need is so great, we should train trainers and teach teachers who can multiply our teaching ministry until Jesus comes. 3. Finally, only as Christians become aware of needs will they be moved to meet them. So, I teach, preach and take mission teams so that they can learn how their lives can be used by God to reach, teach and impact His world.
Life Bible verse: Deuteronomy 31:8