BWGI International Institute Faculty

Founder & President, Professor

Pastored for 16 years. Former Dean and Executive Vice-President for Western Seminary in San Jose and Portland. He holds a B.A.(Philosophy), M.Th., M.Div., and Doctor of Philosophy (Hebrew Studies and Old Testament). He studied at Oxford University in England from 1982-1986 to work on his doctorate, and received his Ph.D. in Old Testament and Hebrew from Golden Gate Seminary. Dr. Eckman was supervised by Professor James Barr at Oxford University. He is a contributor to the Thomas Nelson New King James Version Study Bible.

Teacher

Pastor Ming holds a Master of Arts in Bible Study from Dallas Theological Seminary. He went to the University in Melbourne in Australia for a doctoral degree in Chemistry. He started his full-time ministry at a church in the San Francisco Bay Area for 6 years before moving back to Melbourne to shepherd his current congregation in 2019.

Teacher

Dr. Kimberly Grassi is a professor of Old Testament studies at Western Seminary. She has her M.Div. from Western Seminary and her Th.M., and Ph.D. from Gateway Seminary. She is the author of two Bible studies: Proverbs and Hebrews as well as small group study guides on 2 Corinthians, Apologetics, and Topical Studies for High School students.

Teacher

Gary pastored for 14 years. Gary has a Master’s degree from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He received a Doctorate in Preaching from Gordon Conwell in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He is a CEO and President of an Executive Coaching Company. He was highly decorated as the youngest Drill Instructor in the U.S. Army’s history at age 18. He was also awarded the Silver Star (the nation’s third highest award for valor). Gary authored two books, “Stranded in the Wild” and “Purpose Centered Public Speaking.”

Executive Director, Teacher

Gayle graduated from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Biological Sciences and University of San Francisco for her M.B.A. in Management & Marketing. She was the Operations Manager for the Services & Support Division of North America for ThermoFisher. In 2017, she left her career to serve as Executive Director for BWGI. Gayle is attending Johns Hopkins University for an M.S. in Distance Education & Technology.

Director, Australian Ministries & Teacher

Olivia has a Graduate Diploma in Theology, and a Diploma in Financial Planning. She is from Hong Kong and speaks English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. After a decade or so in business she became a church worker, led in the founding of a church plant, and became the Executive-Pastor of that church. Because of her family background she has a great interest and compassion for those who have become Christians from such backgrounds.

Director, Mandarin Ministries & Teacher

Jijian has a M.A. in International Relations at Marshall University in West Virginia, and is trained as an English interpreter. She served overseas for decades and during that time she met and translated for Dr. Eckman. Jijian has translated almost all of Dr. Eckman’s material in order to serve Chinese people globally.