MINISTRY OF MULTIPLICATION: INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
D. E. “Gene” Mills, Jr.
A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE of the Great Commission is perpetual expansion. As each one responds, the law of compounding growth takes place. As missionaries taught the fivefold gospel, the Holy Spirit anointed receivers to reach a cascade of people. Exponential growth is the norm. However, the Church of God soon realized that Spirit-empowered evangelistic expansion must also be shaped by Word-centered formation. Not only must the saved, sanctified, and Holy Ghost-baptized be sent out to multiply, they must also be given the tools and knowledge to rightly divide the Word of God.
Multiplication in and of itself was not enough. It had to be the truth of the gospel. Therefore, in large part, Church of God missionaries filled the roles of apostle and teacher. They were those who dug out new works in previously unreached regions with the motivation to raise up local leaders for growth and nurturing. That goal required a trained and educated local ministry. Missionary Paul Marley stated it this way in 1958: “The trained national is imperative if modern day missions are to advance. Evangelization of these countries must rest to a large extent in the hands of Spirit-filled, consecrated, trained nationals.” To accomplish this, the church began training programs in various formats and contexts throughout the world.
Multiplication in and of itself was not enough. It had to be the truth of the gospel. Therefore, in large part, Church of God missionaries filled the roles of apostle and teacher. They were those who dug out new works in previously unreached regions with the motivation to raise up local leaders for growth and nurturing. That goal required a trained and educated local ministry. Missionary Paul Marley stated it this way in 1958: “The trained national is imperative if modern day missions are to advance. Evangelization of these countries must rest to a large extent in the hands of Spirit-filled, consecrated, trained nationals.” To accomplish this, the church began training programs in various formats and contexts throughout the world.
International Preparatory Institute
The history of the International Preparatory Institute (IPI) is an interesting illustration. IPI started in 1947 as a ministry of the San Antonio headquarters of the Latin American mission under Vessie Hargrave. Alongside the administration’s office was a press for publishing Spanish literature, including El Evangelio, and the Institute. While geographically in the United States, IPI’s vision was to be a missions training institute to prepare ministers for both Latin America and Spanish-speaking fields in the U.S.A. The Institute primarily sought to train students from the pioneered Church of God ministries in Latin America. Thirty-two students joined the first class in 1947, and the first graduation was in 1949. Until its closing in 1954, the school produced good results—training young ministers and Christian workers from 20 different countries and reaching 60 students in 1954 alone. After IPI, the church sought to increase effectiveness by locating training closer to international ministries. As outreach expanded, some schools existed for a brief time and accomplished narrow and focused goals, while others developed into lasting ministries of broad impact, which continue to have promising futures. Organized according to regions, the accounts here essentially tell the same story: God is using Church of God training programs and schools to equip and develop ministers. What these schools and programs have in common is their intentional effort to equip ministers to rightly divide the Word as they labor in villages and cities throughout the world. |
SAN ANTONIO TO CHILE
It was through the work in San Antonio that the Church of God entered the nation of Chile. A Chilean pastor encountered an edition of El Evangelio, prompting him to correspond with Vessie Hargrave. After visiting Chile, Hargrave invited Rosa Vega to IPI, and she became the first Church of God member in Chile. Through this connection, and the affiliation of the ministry of Edmund Outhouse, by the end of 1954, the church had spread throughout the country and opened two small Bible schools. The church was multiplying.
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DIVISION OF EDUCATION
The Division of Education certifies formal educational institutions. Lists of schools are from their website as of April 20, 2020.
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Latin America
In the mid-twentieth century, El Salvador was one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Yet, there we find a school that has had lasting and disproportionate effect in the Church of God. In Santa Tecla, a school with a relatively small enrollment has trained ministers and Christian workers from every Central American nation. While the mantle of primary regional training passed to Pentecostal Bible Seminary of Central America (SEBIPCA) in Guatemala, the region owes a debt to the Church of God Bible Institute in Santa Tecla. A 1957 Church of God Evangel reports a homecoming celebration in Guatemala for the students sent for training in Santa Tecla. In El Salvador itself, a trained clergy became a priority: “Many of the pastors are making it a local church project to support at least one student in the school. One of the smallest, poorest churches set such a wonderful example during the past term that it has made everyone more determined to do his part.” Currently, Argentina is home to two, Level III institutions and two, Level II candidates. It was also the first home to the South American Ministerial Seminary (SEMISUD), now in Ecuador and a primary educational institution in Latin America. Short-term Bible courses among the Toba in 1953 serve as the roots, yet leadership had a vision for something more substantive. By 1959, plans had been approved, a director found, and a building was under construction. Hiram Almirudis, a Mexican graduate of IPI, built a foundation for ministerial training while he and his wife labored in Mexican and Central American short-term Bible schools. The Missions Board approved them for the Argentine school in Sáenz Peña. The ripple effects of ministerial training, specifically here from IPI, show the invaluable investment which had been made. |
Caribbean
The Mission Board built a 2,300 sq. ft. building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 1950 for a Bible school. However, the greater success came in 1956 when James Beaty answered the call to begin a training school of ministry in Haiti. Construction of the Evangelical Institute on the Church of God campus began after receiving a legislative franchise to import materials without duty. The cement from Venezuela, doors from Belgium, and steel from Germany started arriving and staff housing, an administration building, a classroom building, a chapel, a dining hall, and a dormitory began rising. As the primary educational institution for Francophone Caribbean, the school offered a Diploma in Church Ministry, including three years of coursework interspersed with a year of practical experience. The 1980s saw a different kind of expansion, as those of like faith outside the church saw the quality of education and began attending. To better respond to the needs, in 2002 the school began offering degrees in both church ministry and theology. They strengthened the faculty and curriculum, as well as constructed a new building for classrooms, offices, and an expanded library. The school adopted its current name, Theological Seminary of the Church of God in Haiti (STEDH), in 2004. Since then, the school has developed continuing education and extension programs and has achieved Level III certification. By graduating from STEDH, hundreds of pastors and evangelists are better able to interpret and utilize God’s Word for the building of God’s kingdom. Puerto Rico has grown one of the largest schools in the Church of God. In 1956, a local church started a Bible school in the Santurce region of San Juan that would blossom. By 1965, the school had relocated to Saint Just in a modern structure with administrative offices, classes, and dorms. They had become a central hub of Spanish-language education, drawing students from Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Honduras, and the U.S. mainland. Known as the Interamerican Bible Institute since 1958, it changed to Interamerican Bible College in 1976, offering bachelor’s degrees and gaining recognition by several agencies. In 1980, it became Pentecostal Bible College, and by 1988, enrollment topped 450. Since 2008, it is the Theological University of the Caribbean (UTC) and has recently begun offering its own M.A. in Christian Ministry, as well as a Doctor of Ministry in cooperation with the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Ambitious in its drive for growth and expansion, UTC’s culture is expressed in its nickname, the “Potter’s House”—a community of faith where God shapes the members into ministers of His Word. |
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Africa
The Church of God’s history in Africa began with the 1938 arrival of Pearl and Edmond Stark in Angola. However, while Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria started Bible schools, and the church in South Africa had a number of Bible schools, most of the continent had no comprehensive ministerial training. A 1980s survey revealed that more than 90 percent of the ministers in eastern and central Africa had never been through a training program.
Given the financial and logistical complications on the world’s second largest continent, leaders chose a modular education program. The church began the Ministerial Formation Program, soon changed to Training of Teachers (TOT). The efforts of Peter Thomas, Africa education director, and Phillip Morris, president of European Bible Seminary, strengthened the curriculum so that it could be offered for certificates and diplomas. One imperative was contextualization to the African church environment which includes addressing specific doctrinal particularities, such as the nature of being a New Testament church within a culture more similar to the Old Testament. Over time, the original curriculum was adapted by incorporating elements from the Ministerial Internship Program and the School of Ministry. Currently, there are almost 1,000 students working through the curriculum in semiannual meetings at various locations improving discernment of God’s Word.
The Church of God entered Kenya in 1976 at the invitation of pastors searching for an international covering. In response to the expressed need of the Kenyan ministers, Gordon Bloodworth, having arrived in Kenya in 1986, developed the Discipleship Training Center, which hosted a series of biannual meetings. After several years, Discipleship College began February 2, 1999, on a seventeen-acre campus in Eldoret that had been purchased by Church of God Ladies Ministries. Students enrolled in Lee’s External Studies, and Lee-approved faculty taught courses in Kenya. Approximately 150 received bachelor’s degrees in Christian Ministries through this partnership. Since 2006, the college has offered the Certificate In Ministerial Studies (CIMS) through the School of Ministry with scores completing the program in residency at the college or through extension centers. The school has also awarded two-year diplomas in Bible and Theology, as well as hosted numerous ministry seminars and the TOT program. With training for pastoral ministry at the center, the college has also offered programs in early childhood education, computer training, and specialties in business. Director Benea Alukwe and Dean of Students Christopher Chiveyia are both graduates of the college, as are National Overseer David Bwire, and Denis Pamba, the Youth Ministries coordinator for eastern Africa. Its alumni are Christian workers from diverse backgrounds, including business people, farmers, goat herders, and an orphaned street kid who is now the pastor of governmental officials and university professors.
The Church of God’s history in Africa began with the 1938 arrival of Pearl and Edmond Stark in Angola. However, while Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria started Bible schools, and the church in South Africa had a number of Bible schools, most of the continent had no comprehensive ministerial training. A 1980s survey revealed that more than 90 percent of the ministers in eastern and central Africa had never been through a training program.
Given the financial and logistical complications on the world’s second largest continent, leaders chose a modular education program. The church began the Ministerial Formation Program, soon changed to Training of Teachers (TOT). The efforts of Peter Thomas, Africa education director, and Phillip Morris, president of European Bible Seminary, strengthened the curriculum so that it could be offered for certificates and diplomas. One imperative was contextualization to the African church environment which includes addressing specific doctrinal particularities, such as the nature of being a New Testament church within a culture more similar to the Old Testament. Over time, the original curriculum was adapted by incorporating elements from the Ministerial Internship Program and the School of Ministry. Currently, there are almost 1,000 students working through the curriculum in semiannual meetings at various locations improving discernment of God’s Word.
The Church of God entered Kenya in 1976 at the invitation of pastors searching for an international covering. In response to the expressed need of the Kenyan ministers, Gordon Bloodworth, having arrived in Kenya in 1986, developed the Discipleship Training Center, which hosted a series of biannual meetings. After several years, Discipleship College began February 2, 1999, on a seventeen-acre campus in Eldoret that had been purchased by Church of God Ladies Ministries. Students enrolled in Lee’s External Studies, and Lee-approved faculty taught courses in Kenya. Approximately 150 received bachelor’s degrees in Christian Ministries through this partnership. Since 2006, the college has offered the Certificate In Ministerial Studies (CIMS) through the School of Ministry with scores completing the program in residency at the college or through extension centers. The school has also awarded two-year diplomas in Bible and Theology, as well as hosted numerous ministry seminars and the TOT program. With training for pastoral ministry at the center, the college has also offered programs in early childhood education, computer training, and specialties in business. Director Benea Alukwe and Dean of Students Christopher Chiveyia are both graduates of the college, as are National Overseer David Bwire, and Denis Pamba, the Youth Ministries coordinator for eastern Africa. Its alumni are Christian workers from diverse backgrounds, including business people, farmers, goat herders, and an orphaned street kid who is now the pastor of governmental officials and university professors.
Asia and the Pacific
Robert F. Cook arrived in the Kerala region of India in 1913 as a missionary from post-Azusa Los Angeles. By 1936, when his group amalgamated with the Church of God, there were 66 missions, 43 pastors, 2,537 members, and the Mt. Zion Bible College. The college began informally in 1922 and relocated to Mulkuzha in 1927. . Almost all Pentecostal works in southern India during the twentieth century were born out of and nourished at the wells of Cook’s ministry and Mt. Zion Bible College. In the 1950s, the school improved administrative procedures and took an academic turn, without neglecting the pragmatism and mission focus injected by Cook that had led to church planting and apostolic ministries. As a result, we know that between 1956 and 2008, more than 920 were graduated from the school. Mt. Zion is now one of three Church of God schools offering graduate degrees in Asia and the Pacific.
Ministerial education in the Philippines was not a new thing when the Asian School of Christian Ministries (ASCM) took up residence in the new Youth World Evangelism Action project building in Makati City in 1986. A 1954 Church of God Evangel reported the Northeastern Bible Institute in Cabatuan with 32 students. A 1962 Church of God Evangel reported two Bible schools with a combined 44 students graduating. ASCM itself began as a provincial Bible school in Quezon City in 1973. However, joining together with the regional superintendent’s office, the Word for the World church, and the World Evangelism Action Center at the new Asian Center for Christian Ministries launched the small school into rapid growth and program development. Quickly, the students coming from every region of the Philippines, as well as Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia, and Australia tripled the student body. By the late 1980s, ASCM and the School of Theology in Cleveland were working out the details for hosting a master’s degree extension. By 2016, in addition to its students in Asia, ASCM graduated a cohort of a dozen denominational leaders in Africa from its own M.A. program in Christian Leadership.
Robert F. Cook arrived in the Kerala region of India in 1913 as a missionary from post-Azusa Los Angeles. By 1936, when his group amalgamated with the Church of God, there were 66 missions, 43 pastors, 2,537 members, and the Mt. Zion Bible College. The college began informally in 1922 and relocated to Mulkuzha in 1927. . Almost all Pentecostal works in southern India during the twentieth century were born out of and nourished at the wells of Cook’s ministry and Mt. Zion Bible College. In the 1950s, the school improved administrative procedures and took an academic turn, without neglecting the pragmatism and mission focus injected by Cook that had led to church planting and apostolic ministries. As a result, we know that between 1956 and 2008, more than 920 were graduated from the school. Mt. Zion is now one of three Church of God schools offering graduate degrees in Asia and the Pacific.
Ministerial education in the Philippines was not a new thing when the Asian School of Christian Ministries (ASCM) took up residence in the new Youth World Evangelism Action project building in Makati City in 1986. A 1954 Church of God Evangel reported the Northeastern Bible Institute in Cabatuan with 32 students. A 1962 Church of God Evangel reported two Bible schools with a combined 44 students graduating. ASCM itself began as a provincial Bible school in Quezon City in 1973. However, joining together with the regional superintendent’s office, the Word for the World church, and the World Evangelism Action Center at the new Asian Center for Christian Ministries launched the small school into rapid growth and program development. Quickly, the students coming from every region of the Philippines, as well as Japan, South Korea, India, Malaysia, and Australia tripled the student body. By the late 1980s, ASCM and the School of Theology in Cleveland were working out the details for hosting a master’s degree extension. By 2016, in addition to its students in Asia, ASCM graduated a cohort of a dozen denominational leaders in Africa from its own M.A. program in Christian Leadership.
Europe and the Middle East
While approximately 75 percent of Europeans identify as Christian, some countries show 2–10 percent church attendance rates. With a 23 percent atheist/agnostic rate in Europe, the Czech Republic has reported up to 59 percent in that category. In such a context, “rightly dividing the word” takes on a completely new meaning. European Theological Seminary (ETS) is the central Church of God standard in this spiritual battle. Originally, a German Bible school, it started with 25 students in Krehwinkel in 1958. Their histories of location and name changes reflect an expanding mission: a move to Heilbronn in 1962; Switzerland as the International Bible Seminary in 1965; Rudersberg, Germany, in 1973 as European Bible Seminary; then to its current location in Kniebis as ETS in 2002. A practical approach to ministerial education is central to ETS with students pairing classroom education with real-world ministry. Whether it is a choir tour ministering in various locations in Europe where dozens were saved, the 2010 team of students who ministered for three weeks in Ethiopia, or leading youth ministry conferences, ETS students are doing the actual work of ministry, not just gaining a belief system. Since its move to Kniebis, the school has graduated over 450 traditional and 1,275 extension students— multiplication.
“Rightly dividing the word of truth.” The Middle East Theological Institute (METI) opened in June of 1965 with that published motto. Middle East Superintendent Robert and Nancy O’Bannon moved to the West Bank of Jordan and directed the Bible school meeting at the Mount of Olives church. While the school had a typical Bible school curriculum, METI offered something no other Church of God school could: they dedicated each Saturday to visiting and studying the biblical sites in Jordan. In 1967, Robert O’Bannon reported in the Church of God Evangel that they had sent two of their promising students for more advanced study at the International Bible Seminary. He also reported that the next term of the school would be meeting in Lebanon to allow Syrian students to more easily gain visa approvals. However, some of the deepest struggles were spiritual and doctrinal. As O’Bannon stated it, "Several major doctrinal problems encountered throughout the Arab lands were also found to be evident to some extent in our institute…[students] were almost convinced that speaking in other tongues was one, but not the only, sign of being filled with the Holy Ghost. Through strong and deliberate teaching, accompanied by sincere prayer, God helped us to overcome…the doctrinal errors."
One can remember that these types of struggles are not rare in the lives of Bible school instructors around the globe. METI no longer functions as it did. Recently, however, the church on the Mount of Olives launched the Margaret Gaines Center for Ministry in Israel where a partnership with ETS serves to train missionaries and ministers.
While approximately 75 percent of Europeans identify as Christian, some countries show 2–10 percent church attendance rates. With a 23 percent atheist/agnostic rate in Europe, the Czech Republic has reported up to 59 percent in that category. In such a context, “rightly dividing the word” takes on a completely new meaning. European Theological Seminary (ETS) is the central Church of God standard in this spiritual battle. Originally, a German Bible school, it started with 25 students in Krehwinkel in 1958. Their histories of location and name changes reflect an expanding mission: a move to Heilbronn in 1962; Switzerland as the International Bible Seminary in 1965; Rudersberg, Germany, in 1973 as European Bible Seminary; then to its current location in Kniebis as ETS in 2002. A practical approach to ministerial education is central to ETS with students pairing classroom education with real-world ministry. Whether it is a choir tour ministering in various locations in Europe where dozens were saved, the 2010 team of students who ministered for three weeks in Ethiopia, or leading youth ministry conferences, ETS students are doing the actual work of ministry, not just gaining a belief system. Since its move to Kniebis, the school has graduated over 450 traditional and 1,275 extension students— multiplication.
“Rightly dividing the word of truth.” The Middle East Theological Institute (METI) opened in June of 1965 with that published motto. Middle East Superintendent Robert and Nancy O’Bannon moved to the West Bank of Jordan and directed the Bible school meeting at the Mount of Olives church. While the school had a typical Bible school curriculum, METI offered something no other Church of God school could: they dedicated each Saturday to visiting and studying the biblical sites in Jordan. In 1967, Robert O’Bannon reported in the Church of God Evangel that they had sent two of their promising students for more advanced study at the International Bible Seminary. He also reported that the next term of the school would be meeting in Lebanon to allow Syrian students to more easily gain visa approvals. However, some of the deepest struggles were spiritual and doctrinal. As O’Bannon stated it, "Several major doctrinal problems encountered throughout the Arab lands were also found to be evident to some extent in our institute…[students] were almost convinced that speaking in other tongues was one, but not the only, sign of being filled with the Holy Ghost. Through strong and deliberate teaching, accompanied by sincere prayer, God helped us to overcome…the doctrinal errors."
One can remember that these types of struggles are not rare in the lives of Bible school instructors around the globe. METI no longer functions as it did. Recently, however, the church on the Mount of Olives launched the Margaret Gaines Center for Ministry in Israel where a partnership with ETS serves to train missionaries and ministers.
Educación Internacional
La Iglesia de Dios comenzó programas de entrenamiento en varios formatos y contextos para equipar a los ministros a interpretar rectamente la Palabra a medida que obran en pueblos y ciudades de todo el mundo. Algunas instituciones existieron durante un breve período de tiempo y lograron metas específicas, mientras que otras se convirtieron en ministerios duraderos de amplio impacto. Santa Tecla, El Salvador, es el hogar de una pequeña institución que ha tenido un gran impacto. A mediados del siglo XX, el Instituto Bíblico de la Iglesia de Dios funcionó como institución regional, formando a estudiantes de todos los países de Centro América y produciendo muchos líderes efectivos. La Universidad Teológica del Caribe en Saint Just, Puerto Rico, es una de las instituciones más grandes de la Iglesia de Dios. Fundada en 1956, ofrece licenciaturas y maestrías propias y un doctorado en cooperación con el seminario de Cleveland. Entre sus ex alumnos se encuentra el exdirector adjunto de Misiones Mundiales, Víctor Pagán. La más antigua de nuestras instituciones fuera de los EE.UU. es Mt. Zion Bible College en India. Originalmente fundada en 1922, se convirtió en parte de la iglesia en 1936. La institución es una de las tres instituciones de la Iglesia de Dios en el campo Asia / Pacífico que ofrece un título de postgrado. |
Finishing…
Frances Olsen, missionary educator in Jamaica in 1957, pointed out that, “without education the ministers cannot hope to take their places in this modern day of change and progress in every field.” There is not enough room in this chapter to tell the many stories of that attempt, such as the hands-on training at Berea Bible Seminary in Colombia founded by Wayne Wozniak, the intriguing story of the 1960s Bible school in Japan started by Ed Heil, or the indigenous-born Bible school established by Paul Cheboswony in Kenya. Even the broad reaches of Bethel Bible College of the Caribbean, Bethel Theological Seminary in Indonesia, and Evangelical Seminary of the Church of God in Brazil gain only this mention.
Nevertheless, these examples point at some of the successful ways in which the Church of God has worked to fulfill a specific vision: to nurture women and men who can rightly divide the Word and lead to spiritual and numerical growth. Largely due to this focus, the Church of God has more than seven million worldwide members and a missional presence in 185 countries and territories. It is a movement operating 132 certified and candidate colleges, seminaries, and Bible schools and institutes; certainly exponential growth from our founding in 1886 at Barney Creek and a small Bible training school established in Cleveland, Tennessee, just over a century ago.
Frances Olsen, missionary educator in Jamaica in 1957, pointed out that, “without education the ministers cannot hope to take their places in this modern day of change and progress in every field.” There is not enough room in this chapter to tell the many stories of that attempt, such as the hands-on training at Berea Bible Seminary in Colombia founded by Wayne Wozniak, the intriguing story of the 1960s Bible school in Japan started by Ed Heil, or the indigenous-born Bible school established by Paul Cheboswony in Kenya. Even the broad reaches of Bethel Bible College of the Caribbean, Bethel Theological Seminary in Indonesia, and Evangelical Seminary of the Church of God in Brazil gain only this mention.
Nevertheless, these examples point at some of the successful ways in which the Church of God has worked to fulfill a specific vision: to nurture women and men who can rightly divide the Word and lead to spiritual and numerical growth. Largely due to this focus, the Church of God has more than seven million worldwide members and a missional presence in 185 countries and territories. It is a movement operating 132 certified and candidate colleges, seminaries, and Bible schools and institutes; certainly exponential growth from our founding in 1886 at Barney Creek and a small Bible training school established in Cleveland, Tennessee, just over a century ago.
D.E. “Gene” Mills, Jr., Th.M., is archivist at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center and former president of Discipleship College-Kenya.