During the 57th Commencement Exercise  held at Korean Nazarene University on Thursday, February 13, 2014, Asia-Pacific Regional Director Rev. Mark Louw, was presented with an honorary Doctor of Divinity. This is the first honorary Doctorate degree in the history of KNU.

There were two separate graduation exercises due to the number of graduates, with over 1,000 in total from undergraduate to doctoral degrees.  Dr. Alexander, President of Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) was the Commencement Speaker for the day.

In a separate event, Dr. Shin, President of KNU, Dr. Alexander and Dr. Louw participated in the ribbon cutting  ceremony marking the start of the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of KNU.

They also attended the “Pinning” of 33 graduates from the nursing program who are now Registered Nurses with guaranteed jobs in good hospitals.

Louw, who was ordained as an Elder on the Sacramento U.S. District in 1997, has been serving as the Asia-Pacific Regional Director since 2012. Prior to this assignment, Louw served as West Africa Field Strategy Coordinator, Africa Region Education Coordinator, and in roles as youth pastor and senior pastor on the Sacramento District.

Mark, his wife Linda, and their youngest daughter Alexandra, are currently residing in Singapore, home of the Asia-Pacific Regional Office. Since his appointment as Regional Director in September of 2012, Louw has been emphasizing the intentional development of local and national leaders, district and local church development, cohesive education, and the pursuit of creative initiatives to promote going beyond the walls in taking the church where it has not yet been.

Louw, a native of South Africa, received a Bachelor of Arts in Letters, Arts and Sciences from Pennsylvania State University. He completed his master’s at the University of Manchester/Nazarene Theological College-Manchester. His MA thesis was titled, “Character formation through learning in community.” Mark and Linda have served as Global Missionaries since 1999.

Louw has been chosen for this honorary doctorate because of the dedicated service and outstanding leadership he has displayed as Regional Director and throughout his lifetime.

The Louws have four daughters: Kathryn, Kirstin Henger (son-in-law Pascal Henger), Johanna, and Alexandra.

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