Dr. Derek Cooper has been teaching at Missio Seminary since 2007. Before arriving at Missio, he taught Spanish at Phil-Mont Christian Academy and Eastern University. Derek’s primary teaching areas at Biblical are world Christian history and world religions, but he also teaches ancient languages. Derek is an enthusiastic teacher who seeks to instill his passion for history into the classroom. He delights in asking the big questions of life and in exploring thoughtful and gracious responses to them with students.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Cooper has served on the pastoral staffs at two churches and he regularly leads students and pastors on international trips. Most recently, he has led groups to such places as Israel, Palestine, Turkey, and Greece. On these trips, students not only experience the lands of the Bible and church history first-hand, but also the complex political and religious dynamics of life in the twenty-first century. MEJDI Tours has been a great resource for enabling this kind of travel.

A native East Texan, Derek enjoys watching the Dallas Cowboys and cooking and eating Southern and Tex-Mex foods. He loves traveling and exploring new cultures, and is the author of ten books.