Alumni Spotlight
Greg Kay '87
Major: Broadcast/Journalism
Occupation: Assistant Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Office, Pristina
Kosovo
Applying
the Scriptural truth that "as a man thinks, so is he" to Evangel's goal
of integrating faith, life, and learning, 1987 alum Greg Kay discovered
he had found his career niche even before he accepted his sheepskin.
A broadcast/journalism major with a minor in French, Greg began to realize
he had a heart for the world's people - and a propensity for diplomacy
- following a trip to Europe in the mid 1980s.
After walking the line at Evangel, he left for a two-year AG missions assignment at Continental Theological Seminary in Brussels, Belgium. There Greg, a former KECC disc jockey, edited and produced a weekly French-speaking Christian radio broadcast called "Vie Nouvelle," or "New Life."
In addition to being heard in Europe, "Vie" was picked up largely in francophone North Africa by a number of Muslim nations. "Our coordinator in southern France told us that the program elicited enormous response from listeners who had heard the shows and who had questions about salvation and Christianity in general," Greg recalls. "At that point I decided that following my two-year commitment I would expend all efforts to continue planting seeds outside our borders as God enabled me."
In 1990, Greg was hired by the Department of State as an information technology specialist. "Although IT wasn't my initial choice for career-paths, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to serve our nation abroad and delve into foreign cultures through work with the U.S. Diplomatic Corps. The Lord - and my EU communications professors - knew that I had planned to serve in a media-related capacity, but in the Foreign Service it's often a matter of working your way up into a particular position," Greg says.
Greg's technically-oriented assignments took him to U.S. embassies in Vienna, Austria, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Belarus. In addition, he served for two years at the State Department in Washington, D.C., as the Special Assistant to the Chief Information Officer (CIO), head of the Department's IT operations worldwide. During his time as the CIO's policy coordinator and speech writer, his purely technical function began to evolve into a more PR-directed one, changing his career track from IT to Public Affairs. More importantly, however, working in varied climes and places over a number of years ultimately cemented his proclivity for international life and enhanced his desire to serve others.
Drawing on his experiences abroad, Greg says it is especially important for Evangel graduates to consider careers in the international arena because it is possible to make inroads and plant seeds among contacts who may never meet a missionary or be part of a church service. "While living abroad as a friend and colleague of foreign nationals, friendship evangelism takes place constantly," he says, " and the chances one has for soul-winning in some of the world's more remote - and unforgettable - places are endless."
Because Evangel offers future Christian professionals a unique opportunity to combine the vital skills they learn with a high degree of moral integrity, Greg says EU graduates are prime candidates for the field of diplomacy and other types of service abroad. He adds that for the believer, living overseas takes on even greater meaning because, in addition to serving one's country or a specific company, one also represents the greatest Name in heaven and on earth: Jesus Christ. "I don't think the mission field has ever been relegated only to those called specifically to that noble tasking, vital as it is," Greg states. "Believers everywhere have the exciting job of proclaiming the Gospel wherever they find themselves, and being 'on assignment' outside the United States offers one the chance to shine in both the vocational as well as the 'tentmaking' sense. That in mind, I wouldn't trade one minute of the past 11 years for any other kind of life, and I credit EU with providing me with many of the essential tools I needed to start my career."
Greg is currently assigned to the U.S. Office in Pristina, Kosovo, as the Assistant Public Affairs Officer. As one of two U.S. spokesmen at this diplomatic mission, however, Greg hasn't limited his bent for spin to the local newspapers alone. He recently submitted a post-Sept. 11 think-piece to "The Lance," 14 years after he served on staff as photo editor. "My motto is: Once an EU student, always an EU student. I just hope I won't be penalized for turning in an article to the school paper more than a decade late!" he quipped.
Beginning in the fall of 2002, Greg will go on to serve as the primary Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, Albania. Asked why he continued to choose such out-of-the-way and difficult spots as onward destinations, Greg responded that those places offered one the greatest opportunities to positively affect others' societies, and more importantly, their spiritual lives. "The way to personal growth, strength and maturity is often not found on the broad and easy path, but on the narrower, less traveled routes," Greg concludes. "After all, it's only repairing potholes in the dark that one learns to appreciate a smooth, well-lighted road."