Colleges
Preparing Students
for Sacrifice

Ishaya, a recent Gospel for Asia Bible college graduate, was handing out Christian literature when he was attacked and beaten by antiChristian extremists. Of the three missionaries witnessing that day, Ishaya received the worst beating and suffered several serious injuries.

“I remember them ripping the tracts out of my hand, and then they started hitting, kicking and tearing my clothes,” he recalled later. “I had about 200 rupees (about US$4.50) with me. . . . They took those too.

“It started to hurt a lot, and I could see myself bleeding in different areas. Eventually I fell down, and that’s when they left me.”

“You know,” he added after being released from the hospital, “I am so glad that at least in this small way I could partake in Christ’s suffering. I feel so privileged!”

If missionaries are to be effective in the tough spiritual battlegrounds of Asia, their training must go far beyond just academic preparation. Their Bible college curriculum must include hands-on training for ministry in the face of hostile resistance and increasingly overt oppression.

To effectively prepare for reaching the lost in Asia, students receive three years of rigorous Bible college training. Most of the students are first-generation believers— coming from various non-Christian belief systems—so this training under the leadership of godly pastors

and teachers is vital.

After two years of full-time study in a regional Bible college, the third year is spent on the mission field itself. There, the students’ will is tested as they face firsthand the persecution that awaits them. In fact, students themselves have been attacked and beaten during their school days. Yet they remain strong in their commitment to reaching the lost.

Most graduates choose to minister in places where the Gospel has never been proclaimed. Almost immediately, they face opposition. Often they are beaten by radicals,