Glen and Rita Chapman — longtime missionaries to Democratic Republic of the Congo — received the Meeker Award from Ottawa University, Ottawa, KS, on Thursday, April 12, 2007 during the university’s "Celebration of the Arts and Campus Ministry" weekend. The award is named after Jotham and Eleanor Meeker, missionaries who were appointed by International Ministries (IM) to what were then western territories of the United States. Glen Chapman attended Ottawa — an American Baptist-affiliated school — from 1973 until 1975.

"We are pleased that Ottawa, a respected American Baptist institution, has chosen to recognize an outstanding missionary couple with an award named after another tremendous couple," said Reid Trulson, executive director of IM. "Glen and Rita are from multi-generational missionary families," said Trulson, "who have exemplified the pioneering and sacrificial spirit that made the Meekers' work so important over 150 years ago."

Glen Chapman’s parents (Orville and Virginia Chapman) and Rita Chapman’s parents (Arley and Ruth Brown) served in D.R. Congo when it was still under Belgian colonial rule. Glen and Rita Chapman were commissioned in 1987 and have served nearly 20 years in D.R. Congo. They both teach at the Kikongo Pastors' Institute. Chapman teaches Old Testament, African religions and Baptist distinctives, while his wife works with the spouses of pastoral students to prepare them for ministry partnership in rural areas.

The Chapmans have three children.

The Meeker award, presented annually, is designed to recognize persons, who like the Meekers, live lives of sacrifice, serve the disadvantaged, work with ethnic minorities or the underprivileged and who are persons worthy of emulation. The Meekers served almost 30 years in various regions with American indigenous populations, including 18 years with the Ottawa Indians.

Ottawa University was founded in 1865 and is based in Ottawa, KS. With an overall student enrollment of nearly 8,000, the school has satellite locations in at least seven sites in the midwestern and southwestern United States.

IM is a Baptist mission agency, established in 1814, which serves the more than 5,800 churches of the American Baptist Churches USA. Globally, IM relates to more than 500 educational institutions and 125 hospitals and medical facilities. Missionaries work in partnership with some 15,000 trained national workers, who serve about 22,000 congregations and nearly 3,000,000 baptized members.