Right On Mission (ROM) opened on April 21, 2015.  Its founder, Sarah Sumner, had been urged by professors since Fall 2011 to start a seminary.  "Yeah right, Sarah's school!" was Dr. Sumner's skeptical, no-confidence remark.  Birthing Right On Mission seemed as unlikely as birthing Isaac.  

 

But God hemmed her in, uplifted her with support and access to top thinkers, and brought her in by exclusive invitation to attend "The Next New World" conference hosted by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times in Silicon Valley in June 2013 and again in 2014.  The timing was ideal since she had just returned from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where she was trained to lead as a global change agent.  

 

As Dr. Sumner put it, "When I heard Andy McAfee, the head of Science Research at MIT call out to the small audience in search of upstart leaders who would dare to redefine the next historical phase of higher education, I knew he was talking to me.  It was not a new thought to see myself reconstituting the core of theological education in the evangelical movement. The gulp for me was the challenge of starting from scratch, and stepping out in faith as an entrepreneur.  Once my husband swallowed the concept of us investing our own money in response to my conviction to follow through with the vision that I believe God gave me, I hired Pakou Vang to run the day-to-day operations."  

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"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it," was and remains our constant meditation (Psalm 127:1).