Dr. Jacob Pursley
Biography
Dr. Jacob Pursley is a native of Northwest Arkansas, and has been a missionary in the Muslim world since 2002. He has resided in Yerevan, Armenia since 2017. Dr. Pursley is an elder and co-founder of IBCA. Since 2008, he has been bringing Christian Turks, Kurds, and Armenians together and helps facilitate reconciliation over the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Pursley’s ministry focus is to mobilize, equip and send missionaries to the Muslim world, and plant new churches in the Muslim world.
As an outsider who has lived in the Middle East and Caucasus regions since 2002, Dr. Pursley has a unique perspective, and has been a bridge and voice for the Armenian people to the western world. He has been interviewed by Charlie Kirk, One America News Network, Christian Broadcasting Network, the Daily Wire, Christianity Today, World Magazine, and Breitbart News among others, and was also featured in the documentaries The Armenian Spirit and Armenia, A Love Story.
Dr. Pursley received his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies from Columbia International University. He is also an M.A. graduate of Muslim Studies from the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies. His second master’s degree focused on Muslim Apologetics from Reformed Theological Seminary. Dr. Pursley’s dissertation was concerning Reformed Presuppositional Apologetics as a model of discipleship for believers from a Muslim background.
Dr. Pursley is married to Lisa Pursley and they have two children who have grown up in Armenia.
Areas of Ministry at IBCA
- Pastoral leadership and eldership
- Mobilizing, equipping, and sending missionaries to the Muslim world
- Church planting in the Muslim world
- Armenian–Turkish–Kurdish reconciliation ministry
- Public witness and media engagement on behalf of Armenia and the persecuted church