A new kind of missionary: Bible, Missions, and Professional Education all in one school
There was a time when missionaries would pack all of their possessions in a coffin-sized box as a sign of their commitment to the life-long task of evangelism. Another era of missions had believers deeply entrenched in the most challenging work of translation so the Bible could be read in countless languages around the globe. Others had to utilize business as a way to enter countries not welcoming to Christian missionaries. Yet today, missions are packaged and sold as an ‘easy’ task that anyone can do without any training at all.
While trendy versions of doing missions are available, would it be possible to get back to missions as God intended them? Is it possible in this modern age to be a missionary like Paul the Apostle? Traveling with teams of trained laborers to serve communities of need, to build them up to be a healthy, local expression of the kingdom of God. Can this still happen?
The apostolic missionary requires deep biblical understanding, extensive agility with cross-cultural challenges, and a professionalism that makes them an asset and a blessing to the people and places they minister. That is the new kind of missionary we are producing at The Institute.
Institute Founder and President Gregg Garner spent portions of his childhood as a missionary kid in the Philippines. Since his late teens, he has led hundreds of people abroad and founded a missions/development agency with campuses in Latin America, East Africa, India, and The Philippines. These global experiences regularly find their way into his teaching.
Deep biblical understanding:
Our undergraduate degrees cover 90% of the biblical canon, where the Bible is included in every class. That means no filler classes, no courses where you’re saying “what does God’s word have to do with blank?” From Communications to Professional Skills to 60 of 66 books of the Bible, our goal is to produce graduates you are biblically literate, and as such, ready for confronting the challenges of cross cultural ministry with the mind of Christ.
Even amidst the pandemic, Institute students were able to carry out mission trips to progress their development as servants of God acquainted with the struggles of the poor through regular exposure.
Agility in cross-cultural ministry:
Students travel back and forth between the U.S. and the third world a minimum of three times throughout their undergrad, completing 20-40 weeks in the third world before graduation. Our ‘there and back model’ allows students to process their experience in the classroom and go again, having learned and developed even more of a capacity, and gaining an endurance for the difficulty of cross-cultural immersion.
Institute alumni Geoff Hartnell helps GOD International cooperative in Uganda test the quality of their local water source. Geoff manages our Nashville on campus farm. With the skills he gained at the Institute, he was able to provide regular training in organic farming, organic pesticide use, and here, water testing.
Professional skills that translate anywhere:
At The Institute, you can gain professional development through jobs, internships, and ministry training that complement and give groundedness to your biblical education. At one point I asked a lifelong missionary to the Philippines what was the most important skill a missionary could possess. Without a seconds thought he answered “plumbing!”
We are trying to create the kind of compassionate missionaries who aren’t only teaching God’s Word, but also have a translatable skill that benefits people in third world environments. These skills are not something additional a student will have to learn after graduation. Students grow in their practical skill right alongside, in the midst of, their biblical education through our job promise, internships, volunteer opportunities, and more.
These skills are vital for obeying Jesus’ command:
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you (Matt. 28:19).
Without adequate training, we run the risk of failing to carry out this commission.
A group of Institute students facilitate children’s ministry during a mission trip to Uganda, 2019. Institute students have the opportunity to grow their skills and practice them as they study abroad.
