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Broadening Horizons in Theological Education

Allan Cuthbert, president of Horizon International Schools

Of the 2.2 million evangelical churches worldwide, an overwhelming majority is being led by men and women who have little or no theological training. Whether the issue is financial, geographical, or ideological, the result is the same: hundreds of thousands of church leaders do not have access to local ministry training in their own language that addresses the uniqueness and needs of the church within their own culture.

ABWE is committed to providing part of the solution to this significant need through the development of distance education. Horizon International Schools (HIS) was established to prepare men and women around the world, in their own language and culture, for effective ministry. The approach is to use the flexibility, accessibility, and simplicity of modern technology within a framework of more traditional face-to-face teacher/student interaction.

Each course offered via the internet will also be offered on a CD-ROM, as well as in book form, providing interactive training. The student is responsible to spend at least 51 percent of his or her class time personally interacting with the material in preparation for guided interactive discussion with the faculty. This approach allows students to fit their studies into their own schedules, while also allowing faculty the flexibility of using a variety of training approaches, such as local church institutes, ministry centers, computer labs, or internet classrooms. The students and church leaders can continue to serve within the context of their local church ministries without becoming temporarily, or as is often true, permanently displaced from their ministries. Instead of bringing students to the classroom, HIS is able to take the classroom to the students.

HIS is committed to helping national schools around the world expand their present training programs by offering a distance learning curriculum, both locally and in other areas of the world where traditional education is not possible.

Distance learning is changing the way students study all over the world. Online universities outside of the United States have together enrolled some 2.8 million students. China alone produces more than 100,000 graduates a year through distance learning.

HIS is now providing theological courses in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian. By 2008, a full program of study will be rolled out. Partners are also working to develop courses in French, Romanian, Italian, and Farsi. We are praying for donors and partners willing to invest in the production of courses that will be used by thousands of students around the globe.

Won’t you pray with us regarding this remarkable opportunity? Unlike any prior time in history, God has opened wide a door for training Christian leaders in every corner of our world.