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Derran Reese | Bible, Missions and Ministry

An opportunity to get out of town for the summer and try something new turned into a lifetime calling for Derran Reese.

It also gave him the opportunity to spend time with a young lady named Ann Lynch, who would become his wife. No one was more surprised at either development than Reese, who got those opportunities the summer after his freshman year at ACU.

"I had no idea that summer would change my future so drastically," he said. 

The relationships I developed during my time at ACU have provided a solid foundation for support and encouragement for our calling to Thailand.

Derran grew up in Abilene and had strong ties to ACU. He is related to two other Reeses at the university - an uncle, Jack, and aunt, Jeanene. Jack Reese is dean of the Graduate School of Theology. Jeanene Reese is associate professor in the Department of Bible, Missions and Ministry and director of the Center for Women in Christian Service.

Derran got an inside look at ACU student life growing up by attending sporting events, Sing Song and Lectureship. A positive view of the university and an awareness of the quality programs in the College of Biblical Studies made it easy for Derran to choose ACU when he made a decision to go into ministry.

Ministry is one thing, but a calling to a lifetime of missions in a strange land is quite another. Derran didn't see it coming. After his freshman year, he jumped at the chance to do a summer internship in Chiang Mai, Thailand - primarily, he admits, as a way to get out of town for the summer.

A passion for missions

But the journey turned out to be so much more. He discovered a passion for missions and for Thailand. He also grew closer to Ann Lynch, another intern on the trip. The two had known each other in high school before Ann moved away with her family.

Derran and Ann reconnected as students at ACU and then shared time together on the mission trip to Thailand.

"We started dating later and returned as interns after our junior year," Derran said.

That second trip sealed the deal for Derran, who became convinced that full-time mission work in Thailand was in his future. He and Ann married after their senior year.

She earned a degree in English and a teaching certificate in English and English as a Second Language. Derran earned a bachelor's degree in biblical text, and in 2006 he added a master of divinity degree with an emphasis on missions. He also taught full time in the Department of Bible Missions and Ministry for two years.

Now, Ann and Derran are the parents of two daughters, Brynn, 3 years, and Meg, 16 months. The whole family will take off for Phayao, Thailand, in September to begin a long-term mission endeavor. The Reese family will be on a team of seven adults and six children.

Derran credits his years at ACU, both as a student and as a faculty member, with shaping his life in significant ways. He took advantage of overseas summer internships and Spring Break campaigns, which bolstered his desire to do missions work full time.

A solid foundation

But there was more. Derran's ACU experience wasn't just about lectures and textbooks.

"The relationships I developed during my time at ACU have provided a solid foundation for support and encouragement for our calling to Thailand," Derran said.

What started as a chance to get out of town for a summer turned into a lifetime calling for Derran. And now, he has a family to take with him on the next phase of his incredible journey.

"My ACU experience is directly related to this path my family is on," he said. "I am grateful for those experiences and opportunities."

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