2025 Conference Schedule & Speakers
Speaker
Wilson Geisler
Director of Global Research, International Mission Board (IMB)
Schedule
6:00 pm – Taste of the Nations, Lamb Auditorium (No RSVP required!)
8:00 am – 8:50 am – Prayer Walk Bailey Student Center
9:00 am – 10:15 am – 1st Plenary Chafer Chapel
10:15 am – 11:10 am – Coffee with Missions Representatives Bailey Student Center
11:15 am – 12:15 pm – Workshops CAC 204, CAC 205, CAC 206
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Q&A Lunch CAC 204
1:45 pm – 2:45 pm – Missions Panel Lamb Auditorium
3:00pm – 4:30pm – Ice Cream Social with Alumni Lamb Auditorium
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm – Dinner with Missionaries Lamb Auditorium *SIGN UP REQUIRED!*
8:00 am – 8:50 am – Prayer Walk Bailey Student Center
9:00 am – 10:15 am – 2nd Plenary Chafer Chapel
10:15 am – 11:10 am – Time with Missions Representatives Bailey Student Center
11:15 am – 12:15 pm – Workshops CAC 204, CAC 205, CAC 206
12:30 pm – 1:30 pm – Q&A Lunch CAC 204
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm – Evangelism Experience Lamb Auditorium
8:00 am – 8:50 am – Prayer Walk Bailey Student Center
9:00 am – 10:00 am – Workshops CAC 204, CAC 205, CAC 206
10:15 am – 11:30 am – Commissioning Plenary Chafer Chapel
11:30 pm – 1:00 pm – Commissioning Lunch with Missions Representatives Bailey Student Center
About our Plenary Speaker
We’re so excited to have Wilson Geisler join us this year as our 2025 plenary speaker. He is the Director of Global Research for the International Mission Board (IMB) based in Richmond, Virginia. Wilson has a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a BS in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University, and a MS in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Wilson was a licensed and practicing Structural Engineer in Texas for 15 years prior to being called to overseas missions. Wilson is also a software developer and was the owner of Inertia Software, Inc. in Austin, Texas from 1995 to 2000. Now calling Virginia home, Wilson served with the International Mission Board in various strategy and leadership roles for 13 years in South Asia and the Middle East before becoming IMB’s Director of Global Research in 2019. Wilson has been happily married to Natalie for 37 years, and they have two grown children.
Taste of the Nations
Join us on March 10th to kick off our conference with our iconic night with tastes of food from around the world. There will be a variety of tables and each table will have a small sampling of foods from a specific culture. You can meet our global students and their families as they share their food, culture, and more about different people groups. It is an honor to be able to fellowship within the nations right here within our DTS community. In addition, this is a wonderful time to talk to representatives from missions organizations working all around the world. NO RSVP REQUIRED! Just show up ready to fellowship and try new things!
Workshops
The purpose of workshops are to engage and interact with a topic in a deeper, practical, and personally applicable way. There are three separate tracks for workshops this year which will be announced soon. Typically we recommend that students choose one track for the whole week, but feel free to choose what interests you most.
- Track 1 - Evangelism Training
- Track 2 - Local Missions
- Track 3 - Trauma Healing
Hands-on Evangelism Training with E3 Partners
Tuesday March 5th 11:15am-12:15pm — A Case Study: A Local Church that Transitioned from Pew Sitters to Ambassadors
We will dive into a case study of local church here in Dallas and their strategy and mistakes they made as they began to target their community for Gospel saturation.
Wednesday March 6th 11:15am-12:15pm — Training: Spiritual Conversations & How to Share a Simple Gospel
We will role play and actually show you how to flip from superficial conversations to meaningful conversations and how to share a simple reproducible Gospel presentation.
Thursday March 7th 9:00am-10:00am — Four Phases of the Gospel/Church Planting Movement
We will walk through the 4 phases of the gospel entering an area all the way to where we are today in the US where culture has thousands of churches in buildings.
Located in CAC 204
Interact with three unique ministries located right here in Dallas
Tuesday, March 5th 11:15am-12:15pm — Refugee 101: Loss Simulation
Attendees will learn about the plight of refugees and participate in a reflective exercise where they will face decisions many refugees have experienced as they became displaced. The Northwest Community Center mission is to aid, empower, and invite refugees to experience new life and serves refugees from over 40 countries and 35 people groups in the Vickery Meadow neighborhood of Dallas. Hosted by the Northwest Community Center
Wednesday, March 6th 11:15am-12:15pm — Connecting with International Students in Friendship
International Students are one of the most unreached people groups in the U.S. Over 1 million students’ study on our colleges and university campuses, half of which are from India and China. This interactive workshop will help you understand that connecting with international students is as easy as developing a friendship. Learn from and interact with ISI (International Students, Inc.) staff on how you can make disciples of the nations here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and beyond. Hosted by International Students Inc.
Thursday, March 7th 9:00am-10:00am — On-Mission in Dallas
This workshop will highlight the importance of missions and crossing cultural barriers, not just physical ones. Being on the mission field is not just about geographical locations but also about bridging cultural divides and sharing hope with people from different backgrounds. We, as students, need to move beyond the “I’m just here to study” mentality and adopt a more mission-focused mindset. At OurCalling, we want to Disciple the people in Dallas to reach out to a broken and desperate world and share the good news that brings hope. Hosted by OurCalling
Located in CAC 205
Join this series of Healing Matters hosted by SIL Trauma Healing
Tuesday March 5th 11:15am-12:15pm — Understanding Heart Wounds
What is a wound of the heart? Join us in this interactive session as we uncover causes and symptoms of trauma and learn from examples in the Bible of ways to express emotions surrounding these hurts.
Wednesday March 6th 11:15am-12:15pm — Exploring the Path to Recovery
What can help our heart wounds heal? Come with us on an interactive expedition as we explore ways that can help ourselves and others to begin healing from wounds of trauma. Learn things that help, and things that really don’t!
Thursday March 7th 9:00am-10:00am — Journeying through Grief
What happens when someone is grieving? Journey with us through the villages of grief as we learn what it means to grieve, and practice techniques that can help.
Located in CAC 206
Q & A Lunches
Enjoy a delicious, FREE lunch with our plenary speaker, Wilson Geisler. This is a time where you can ask questions you may have, dive in deeper to topics related to missions, and wrestle with difficult concepts or their application. Students MUST RSVP BY 2/27 in order to get a free lunch. Even if you didn’t RSVP, you are still welcome to join! We may not be able to give you a meal, but you can still engage with our speaker and ask any questions or give any comments you may have.
Coffee & Snacks with Missions Representatives
Come to the Bailey Student Center from 10:15am – 11:10am right after the plenary sessions to drink coffee, have snacks, and meet representatives from missions organizations working here in Dallas and all around the world. You can also make appointments with different missions organizations and come back in the afternoon Tuesday and Wednesday to explore even further. These times are excellent opportunities to learn more about missions organizations working to fulfill God’s global mission all around the world. You can sit down, enjoy coffee, tea, and snacks with any of the representatives. There are truly a wide variety of organizations so everyone can find something that interests them.
Ice Cream Social with Alumni
All mission-minded students are invited to meet and fellowship with DTS alumni who have hearts for missions. Join our alumni for an ice cream social on Tuesday, March 11 at 3:00 p.m.! Please enjoy ice cream and be encouraged by our alumni who have worked all around the world.
Missions & Evangelism in Global Contexts: Poland and Brazil
Join us online via teams on Wednesday, March 12th from 1:45pm-2:45pm CST. Two Global 100 students, one from Poland and one from Brazil, will share their experiences regarding mission and evangelism in their home contexts. This session will be an opportunity for them to share insights about:
- A brief overview of Christianity in their countries
- Their personal ministry work
- The unique opportunities and challenges Christians face in missions and evangelism in their countries
- How DTS students can get involved
Please note that this event can only be joined online through teams.