Cook Missions Conference 2026

2026 Conference Theme: Children of Light

Theme Verse: Romans 8:14-21

“14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

In a world that is oversaturated with messages of who we should be, and what we should do, the call of the Great Commission can easily become a box to check off on the to-do list. Before we can begin to share the good news, we must first be transformed by the revelation of who we are in relation to the Father. Once we understand our identities as children, we can begin to partner with Christ to see his love transform even the darkest of places. Light naturally progresses out of the source, revealing truth and expelling darkness. Walking in our identities as glorious heirs, the Children of light are empowered even in the midst of suffering to see the glory of Christ revealed to the nations.

In light of this declaration, how do we live as Children of light?

Director's Note

Welcome to the 96th annual Clyde and Anna Belle Cook Missions Conference! It has been such a blessing and joy to plan this conference, lead our incredible staff, and see the ways that God has already been moving on this campus. This conference is by students, for students, so we invite you to lean into the conference and actively engage in the sessions, events, and spaces that have been prepared for you.

Our heart for this year is that every student would see themselves as Children of Light — uniquely called and chosen to step into the Great Commission. As we walk in our identity as God’s children, His light shines through us, pushing back darkness and bringing His abundant life from our campus to the ends of the earth. We and so many others have been praying for this conference & are expectant and excited for how God is going to move!

Schedule

Students will have to obtain 5 total conference credits. All credits over 5 will become chapel credits. Livestream will be available, but cannot be used for credit. Please reach out to chapel.records@biola.edu with any questions.

Notes:
High sensory sessions: Main sessions may include loud music, bright lighting, and a high-energy environment.
* = Closed During Main Sessions

 

 

Seeing Through Asian Eyes: A Hindu Background Believer’s Approach to Gospel Engagement

• Speaker: Usha Reifsnider
• Location: Chase Gym
• Description: This session explores the lived experiences of Hindu migrants and how their religious and cultural backgrounds shape their understanding of the gospel and Christianity. Through Usha's personal conversion story and by learning how to see through Asian eyes, participants will gain insight into Hindu beliefs, cultural values, common barriers to following Jesus, and how many Hindus come to discover Christ.

 

CALLED BY NAME: How Your True Identity Changes Everything

• Speaker: Dominic and Emily Balli
• Location: Ethel Lee
• Description: Before God sends us, He names us. A mission doesn’t begin with a passport or an assignment, it begins with identity. Many of us step into calling still striving, proving, and believing lies about who we are. In this interactive workshop, you’ll discover how embracing your true and unique identity in Christ releases fear, and unlocks authority for the life God is sending you to live.

 

Overcoming Our Shame: Reclaiming Our Identity in Christ

• Speaker: Matt Williams
• Location: Calvary Chapel
• Description: Many of us carry shame in our lives due to our actions or the actions of others. This session will explore how shame hinders our evangelistic and missional ministries, and will look at how to overcome shame according to Scripture. It will end with a practical time of personal reflection and removal of our shame.

 

Rediscovering the Church as the Family of God

• Speaker: Chris and Julie Bennet
• Location: Crowell Music Hall
• Description: In a world marked by loneliness, division, and radical individualism, Scripture reveals that the Church is meant to be more than a gathering, it is the literal family of God. This breakout session will explore how Christian community can transform strangers into neighbors and neighbors into family, cultivating a renewal of identity and familial healing.

 

Living Your Faith Out Loud

• Speaker: Kevin King
• Location: Mayers Auditorium
• Description: Many Christians have been shaped by culture to keep faith private. This session offers practical ways to live openly as a follower of Jesus, moving from good deeds that open doors, to a clear gospel witness that points people to Christ.

 

The Table: Meditation on Romans 8

• Speaker: Table Chapel
• Location: Andrews Banquet Room
• Description: This breakout session offers a quiet space to slowly read and reflect on a passage from the book of Romans. We will engage Scripture in a calm, unhurried environment designed for those who prefer minimal stimulation and a contemplative space.

 

What Do Our Bodies Have to Do With Missions?

• Speaker: Jason Tresser
• Location: Business Building 109
• Description: Our bodies are not incidental to our faith, they are instruments through which God reveals His character and carries out His work. This session will explore how Scripture calls us to think about our bodies and how we can intentionally train them for a life of faithful service.

 

How an Amazonian Tribe taught Us About Forgiveness

• Speaker: Chet and Katie Williams
• Location: Library: Elizabeth Elliot Exhibit
• Description: How can the gospel transform a culture shaped by revenge and violence? This session tells the story of an Amazonian tribe once on the brink of extinction and how encountering the light of Christ brought freedom and forgiveness to them. Through life-on-life discipleship, participants will see how the light of the gospel can reshape culture, bring restoration, and spread the Kingdom.

   
  

The Call Is Real, But So Is the Cost

• Speaker: Sandi Balli
• Location: Chase Gym
• Description: The call to live on mission is beautiful, powerful, and life-changing, but it comes with a sacred cost. In this session, we will explore what it means to surrender comfort, control, and certainty for the sake of the gospel, discovering the depth of sacrifice, the sweetness of surrender, and even the gift hidden within suffering. Together, we will honestly process the realities of obedience to God’s call and why, whatever the cost, Christ is worth it.

 

Meet the Persecuted Church

• Speaker: Al Janssen
• Location: Ethel Lee Auditorium
• Description: One in seven Christians around the world suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith in Jesus. In this session, we will examine what life looks like for the Church in some of the most persecuted countries in the world.

 

What’s His is Mine: Walking in our God Given Authority and Royal Inheritance

• Speaker: Dominic Balli
• Location: Calvary Chapel
• Description: What if the life, authority, and resources of God’s Kingdom were always meant to be yours in all of their fullness? This session invites you to rediscover your identity as an heir of the King: called to carry His life, bring freedom and healing, and see His Kingdom flourish wherever you go. Step into the reality of living as the heirs you were created to be.

 

How the Gospel Can Shake a Nation 

• Speaker: Chris Wienand
• Location: Crowell Music Hall
• Description: Storytelling, sacrifice, and obedience.

 

Local Church Panel: Unlearning our Shadows

• Speaker: Danny Roh, Jonas Lee, Javier Toyos, and Shannon Baker
• Location: Mayers Auditorium
• Description: Sift through the wrong beliefs, and false patterns you have adopted from past church hurt, religious experiences, and childhood lies. In this panel we will learn how to let Christ’s light shine through the shadows of our past.

 

Too Secure to Be Safe: How to Take Holy Risks Through Church Planting

• Speaker: Daniel Janssen
• Location: Andrews Banquet Room
• Description: Through Christ, we are adopted as children of God and no longer are bound by fear. The reality of being a child of God gives us the freedom to take bold risks for Christ’s Kingdom. This session explores how being secure in Christ allows us to take Holy risks in Church planting and ministering in hard places.

 

Leveraging Business, Engineering & Marketplace Skills for God’s Global Mission

• Speaker: Patrick Lowndes
• Location: Business Building 109
• Description: Business and engineering students want to know how their skills can serve God’s global mission without abandoning the gifts they’ve spent years developing. Yet many are told that their only options are to become a traditional worker or start a business. In this session, we will explore how students can leverage their skills as operators within existing businesses and markets on the field.

 

The Woman Who Loved in the Face of Hatred

• Speaker: Laurie Wilson and Elizabeth Elliot
• Location: Library: Elizabeth Elliot Exhibit
• Description: Elizabeth Elliot was a missionary to the Waorani tribe in Ecuador in the 1950s, even after the tribe’s people brutally murdered her husband. She sacrificially lived with them, ministered to them, and ultimately brought the transformative love of Jesus to the Amazon Jungle. Watch a recording of a message that Elizabeth Elliot gave at a Biola Missions Conference in 1981 and then engage in a thoughtful discussion about it with Dr. Laurie Wilson!

 

5 Ways to Join in the Great Commission Today!

• Speaker: Anonymous
• Location: Chase Gym
• Description: Can you imagine being called to be a fisher of men after encountering Jesus face to face on your deathbed? Come and hear from a man whose life was radically turned around by Jesus, on how to practically participate in the Great Commission.

 

The Calling Lab: Build Your Personalized Calling Map

• Speaker: Nicole Reeves
• Location: Ethel Lee Auditorium
• Description: Tired of trying to “find your calling” and ending up more confused? You’re not alone. This interactive workshop reframes calling through a biblical lens by dismantling the pressure and mystery associated with it. Explore how God has already been at work in your story and find clarity by creating a personalized calling map in this breakout.

 

CALLED BY NAME: How Your True Identity Changes Everything

• Speakers: Dominic and Emily Balli
• Location: Calvary Chapel
• Description: Before God sends us, He names us. Mission doesn’t begin with a passport or an assignment, it begins with identity. Many of us step into our calling while still striving, proving, and believing lies about who we are. In this interactive workshop, you’ll discover how embracing your true and unique identity in Christ releases fear and unlocks authority for the life God is sending you to live.

 

The Ancient Path of Disciple-Making

• Speaker: Kevin King
• Location: Crowell Music Hall
• Description: Jesus did not leave us guessing about how disciples multiply. In this session, we will walk through the ancient path of disciple-making found in Matthew 28 and Luke 10, focusing on seed-sowing, cultivating the soil, and learning a reproducible approach that makes disciples who make disciples.

 

Sharing the Gospel of Peace in a Multi-Faith Context

• Speaker: Paul Cornelius
• Location: Mayers Auditorium
• Description: This session explores how interactions between Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam have shaped religious identity and tension in India and beyond. Drawing on personal experience, Dr. Cornelius will teach you how to engage in interfaith contexts through understanding, hospitality, and personal encounters. He will encourage participants to consider how thoughtful presentation of Christ can foster peaceful relationships across faiths.

 

Shining a Light on Mental Health

• Speaker: Willa Williams
• Location: Andrews Banquet Room
• Description: The US Surgeon General has declared a crisis for youth and young adults of mental health. We already knew this, didn't we? But what is the solution? How can we improve our mental health? This session will show that good mental health is based on Jesus and grounded in the honest truth of who we are in Christ.

 

 

SUB Worship and Prayer

• Times: Wednesday & Thursday: 24/7 (not open during main sessions)
• Location: Student Union Building
• Description: Join us for a time of corporate worship and prayer! This space is designed to be a set-apart place to encounter God’s presence and process conference outside the main sessions. Fellow Biola students will lead worship!

 

Global Awareness

• Times: Wednesday & Thursday: 11 a.m.- 9:30 p.m. (not open during main sessions)
• Location: Rose 002, 005
• Description: Global Awareness is an immersive event walking students through missionaries’ experiences as they engage the gospel in various countries. The theme of our room this year is The Unengaged Gospel, which highlights how the gospel interacts with cultures different than our own, and how the light of the gospel comes into the darkness of our world.

 

Missionary Organization Fair

• Times: Wednesday & Thursday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Location: Student Union Building
• Description: This event is a highlight of Missions Conference. Missions Organizations worldwide, focusing on local and global missions, have come to Biola to share what they do and how you can get involved.

   
  

Marketplace

• Times: Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. (not open during main sessions)
• Location: Fluor Fountain
• Description: Here, you can purchase merchandise at Fluor Fountain!

 

Missionary Voices: An Auditory Experience

• Speaker: Wednesday & Thursday, 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. (not open during main sessions)
• Location: Kim Dining Room
• Description: As believers, we were once walking in darkness and now have been called into God’s marvelous light (Rom. 8:14-21, Eph. 5:7-10). In this room, students will have the opportunity to hear missionaries' experiences about living as children of light in their ministries or witnessing the way God has illuminated the lives of others. Students will have a chance to respond to these stories with a written reflection or prayer for the nations.

 

Ice Cream & Chill

• Times: Wednesday, 12-1 pm
• Location: Veterans Center
• Description: There will be an ice cream buffet set up near the Veteran’s Center with blankets laid out on the lawn. Missionaries are invited to come and talk with the students, share what they do and why they chose missions work.

 

Light and Fluffy — Waffle Bar

• Time: Wednesday, 5-6:30 p.m.
• Location: Bardwell Patio
• Description: This will be a waffle bar buffet where students have the chance to meet and talk with missionaries about their experiences serving. There will be questions provided by our Surprise Event team to make conversation and connection flow a little easier!

 

Live Interviews

• Time: Wednesday, 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.
• Location: Fireplace
• Description: Stop by the Fireplace to participate in live student interviews and share how the Lord has worked in your life during Missions Conference. We would love to hear your story!

 

Coloring & Convos with Missionaries

• Time: Thursday, 5-6:30 p.m.
• Location: Fireplace
• Description: There will be coloring pages set out on tables at the fireplace, so students can come and color. Missionaries are welcome to come and meet students! There will hopefully be live music, and this will provide a welcome atmosphere for students and missionaries to interact in a low-key environment.