Project Description
2016/03
Considering Missionary Service?
Why Bible College?
The Whitefield College two year diploma course provides an ideal training for missionary candidates and also for those wishing to work in child evangelism or who desire to be better equipped to help in their local congregation.
Perhaps some have the impression that our college is particularly geared to the training of young men for the ministry, but has less to offer those who wish to serve on the mission field or engage in Christian service on the home front – they are mistaken! Yet another misconception is that our course leans too much towards the academic side rather than the practical, and that this emphasis would not necessarily be of great value to someone when he or she reaches the mission field. But surely a good Scriptural and theological basis is an essential for every missionary! Practical training is most important but it must not take precedence over a thorough grounding in the ‘things which are most surely believed among us’.
We cover a wide range of subjects: Bible Survey, Church History, Christian Doctrine, Ethics, Personal and Child Evangelism, Cults, English Grammar, Missionary Principles and Practices, Greek, Hermeneutics; as well as those subjects which might apply more specifically to ministerial training – Systematic, Historical, and Pastoral Theology, Exegesis, and Homiletics. One of the great advantages of tackling difficult subjects in college is the preparation it gives students for the many difficulties and trials they will have to face on the mission field. Over the years our college has trained missionaries who have served the Lord long and faithfully in other lands. Miss Margaret Russell is a shining example, having worked in Kenya for over 30 years.
Of course I would not want to give the impression that our course is a hard, joyless grind. Students enjoy happy fellowship while training and many close friendships have been formed – some even resulting in marriages between students. The father of one student told me that his daughter really loved coming to college and looked forward to returning every Monday morning.
To find out more, obtain a copy of our Prospectus. Please write to: 356 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8GL. Our telephone number is: 028 9045 6169.
Rev Gordon Ferguson.