November 16 1998

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Few evangelical organizations I hear about in my role with this magazine surprise me since most fit into ready-made categories—prison ministry, humanitarian relief, crusade evangelism, and so on.

So when I learned about Overseas Council last year, a 25-year-old ministry whose mission and scope was unlike any I had encountered before, I wondered how I had missed it all these years. Under the leadership of John C. Bennett, president of its American division (based in Indianapolis), this organization has set out to help local churches establish "flagship" graduate-level theological schools or training programs in 17 strategic regions in the Two Thirds World. These indigenous programs provide the caliber of theological and pastoral training for local churches that historically has been available to non-Western Christians only by traveling at great expense to Western institutions.

A big part of the council's role is raising funds by establishing partnerships with individuals and organizations in Western countries. The funds they generate (the goal is $46 million by decade's end) not only help local churches with the capital they need for buildings and faculty, but also allow needy students to meet tuition expenses. This year alone the council will provide over $1 million in student scholarships.

Two of the contributors in this issue of CT—Antonio Barro in Brazil and David Kasali in Kenya—are the direct recipients of the council's good work. The schools they serve as presidents, the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology and the South American Theological Seminary, are able to run in part because of the partnership program.

Overseas Council's current newsletter gives updates from schools in over two dozen ...