TRAINING NATIONALS to TRANSFORM
COMMUNITIES Asian Seminary of Christian Ministries by Scott C. RAINS
T
HE ASIAN SEMINARY of Christian Ministries (ASCM) in Manila, Philippines, has been training Pentecostal ministers and leaders for
37 years. Serving as the Church of God regional school for Asia and the Pacific, men and women from across Asia come to receive the equipping needed to fulfill the calling that God has placed on their lives. As a result, many of our key Asian leaders today are graduates of ASCM. Founded in 1973 by Arthur Pettyjohn as a Bible academy, the school was born out of a crucial need to train the next generation of ministers in Asia. Since then, ASCM has done just that while achieving accreditation at the highest levels in Asia and the Philippine govern- ment. ASCM now offers a full spectrum of training from grassroots-level seminars and certificate courses to bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Much has changed since 1973, but the mission remains the same: ASCM exists to train nationals to reach their own.
Having served many years as a career missionary in Europe and Asia, I have seen firsthand the importance of the Church of God regional schools. The most productive and effective minis- tries on the mission field today come
14 EVANGEL • JULY 2010
from nationals who have been properly trained. They already know the language, the culture, and the people; all they need is the best possible equipping to answer God’s call. In country after country, I hear an ongoing cry for ministerial training. Training remains the single most request- ed and the most vital aspect of global missions to date, and ASCM continues to answer the need in Asia and the Pacific. This year, ASCM initiated a new vision called the Community Transformation Initiative (CTI). This initiative focuses on two areas—local and global. Locally, students are involved in three areas of hands-on ministry: civic social work, local church ministry, and evangelistic outreach. They not only gain vital min- istry experience, but are involved in the strategic planning required to transform a community. Once a community has been targeted, they identify the specific needs of the community, work to meet those needs, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ, thereby bringing real transforma- tion.
Globally, CTI focuses on reaching the Unreached People Groups (UPG) across Asia. According to Joshua Project statis- tics, there are currently 6,644 UPG in the world, of which 5,156 are in Asia. Of the 2.75 billion people living in unreached
or least-reached areas of the world, 2.45 billion live in Asia. Each week, a differ- ent UPG is studied and prayed for by the ASCM students. Through this emphasis, God has given the student body a strong passion for the lost and has already called some students to go and minister among those who have never heard the name of Jesus.
With this type of training and vision, ASCM endeavors to raise up a new gen- eration of ministers that are both global and local, or as the term has been coined, “glocal.” Asia’s future evangelists, pastors, teachers, musicians, and leaders must understand the church’s missional man- date and put it into practice. The coun- tries and communities to which these students return desperately need men and women of God who have been equipped with a clear vision and the right tools to bring holistic transformation through Jesus Christ.
Two of our 2010 graduates, a married couple from Mongolia, have recently returned to their homeland. Oyuntsetseg Ariunbold and Batbold Baigalkhu (Ari and Sarah) came to ASCM after pastoring in Mongolia and then obtaining their bach- elor’s degrees from the Eurasian Theologi- cal Seminary in Moscow. They have now each completed their master of divinity
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