Chris, along with his wife and two small children, stands before an immigration officer in his home country. They are returning home for ministry after three years of leadership training at ISOT-Asia. His books are not travelling back with them. He has shipped them separately so as not to openly identify himself as a Christian worker. In fact, he has had several of his books recovered so that their Christian content will be less obvious. Chris and countless others have been praying for weeks for this encounter with the immigration officer. We have been praying that the officer will not ask details of what Chris has been studying and what Chris will be doing. Chris is one of our many graduates ministering to the persecuted church.How can we help people like Chris? Celebrate with us some unusual but significant steps in moving forward to assist people like this and to impact the world. Does a name change make any real difference? Is it important at all? And why should I care?
We believe that a name change can be important. Recently our school has begun the process of changing both our name and our structure. For the last 26 years, we have been proudly known as the International School of Theology – Asia. Over that time, we have trained over 600 Christian workers for Asia and the world with over 95% of our graduates continue to minister full-time in Asia, providing servant-steward leadership to the cause of Jesus Christ.
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But the name has caused significant problems because the word “theology” is associated with Christianity. Most of our students coming for graduate level training in Christian ministry are coming from and returning to countries where having a degree in “theology” causes major problems. Christians are persecuted in these countries due to the political system or the predominant religion or both. Showing up with a Master’s degree in theology is a great way to get your name on the list of the secret police or to be restricted in where you can travel. It can also land you in jail immediately. In the words of the Monopoly game, “Go directly to jail. Do not pass ‘Go.’”
So the new name is International Graduate School of Leadership or IGSL. And how do you pronounce it? We pronounce it as one word, sounding like "IG-sell." In many countries, people with Master’s level training in leadership are seen as an asset to nation-building. So now, our graduates will be able to show their diplomas and find that not only will it not hinder their ministry but it may even open doors for effective ministry for them.
But the name has caused significant problems because the word “theology” is associated with Christianity. Most of our students coming for graduate level training in Christian ministry are coming from and returning to countries where having a degree in “theology” causes major problems. Christians are persecuted in these countries due to the political system or the predominant religion or both. Showing up with a Master’s degree in theology is a great way to get your name on the list of the secret police or to be restricted in where you can travel. It can also land you in jail immediately. In the words of the Monopoly game, “Go directly to jail. Do not pass ‘Go.’”
So the new name is International Graduate School of Leadership or IGSL. And how do you pronounce it? We pronounce it as one word, sounding like "IG-sell." In many countries, people with Master’s level training in leadership are seen as an asset to nation-building. So now, our graduates will be able to show their diplomas and find that not only will it not hinder their ministry but it may even open doors for effective ministry for them.
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In a future post, we will tell you about some exciting new developments with the school which will enable us to train a greater number of people.
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