April 01, 1984 by Ralph D. Winter

Filling in the Gaps

Dr. Ralph Winter: Why WCIU is Needed

William Carey International University (WCIU)  a brainchild of the U.S. Center for World Mission, and major user of the campus being purchased by the Center, Is envisioned as a special laboratory in the educational firmament.

Dr. Ralph Winter, General Director of the Center says, "We are not in the business of building an institutional empire. I am always amazed at the surprised looks on people's faces when I say this.

This is a pilot project whose lead we hope other schools will want to follow. "Our primary concern is not to sell our wares, our courses. We're trying to provide a strategic supplement to the conventional missions training process. The only university in the U.S. owned and operated by missionaries, WCIU is bound to be different.

Says Winter, "You wouldn't expect seventy missionaries to he interested in setting up just "one more Christian college."

For that reason the William Carey International University has virtually no functions or purposes you could call "conventional."

Says Winter. "The purpose of WCIU is to probe in a creative fashion those ways in which the mission 'industry' in site U.S. can be better served by new or improved educational programs."

"We set up WCIU precisely for the purpose of filling in the gaps."

A few of those gaps are highlighted in what follows.

What Christian school offers a Master's degree In the Teaching of English to Speakers or Other Languages?

What school offers a P.A. program that puts students in missions contexts overseas six months each year?

What school has doctoral programs specifically tailor td for missionaries and national workers who may never live on campus 7

WCIU is such a school.

International Development: The Whole Gospel for the Whole Man

Jesus commanded us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

"Development' seeks to bring the gospel to bear upon each and every aspect of a community's life.

The goal of International Development study as William Carey International University is to motivate and equip Christians who are already able and willing to meet the spiritual needs of those around them to help meet people's physical, mental, and emotional needs as well.

International Development courses Include:

Community Health.Diarrhea is the leading cause of death among children in developIng countries, yet a simple solution of water, sugar and salt can virtually eliminate the effects of this scourge.

There is a great need In many developing nations for basic nutrition and health education. People need to learn about parasite and disease control.

Sanitation, inoculation, and other preventive activities are also discussed in classes dealing with Community Health.

Appropriate Technology.

Affecting both its health and agricultural output, water is often of highest concern to missionaries who seek to better the life of a community.

Over 50 million people (many of them children) die each yeardue to the effects of bad water and crops are often destroyed by lack of sufficient water supplies.

Students in Appropriate Technology classes learn about means for Improving water quality and delivery systems. "Appropriate Technology" also covers agriculture, resource conservation, fuel production, basic industry, labor training and management.

Jerry (a pseudonym) is planning to go to the mission field. His target: a Muslim state.

The country is "closed" to gospel witness.

According 10 Patrick Johnstone in Operation World "There are no known Christians" in this country.

But Jerry has a plan: he hopes to enter the country at the government's Invitation in order to teach the people how to farm more effectively.

WCIU's International Development program is giving him the skills necessary to do so,

TESOL: Using English to Cross Cultural Barriers

William Carey International University is the only school in the world known to offer a Masters degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) with preparation for tentmaking missions as its chief end.

People in many countries feel that acquiring English language skills is one of the most important things they can do to improve their economic or social status.

There is almost no country in which there are not hundreds  even thousands  of people avidly trying to learn English.

TESOL can help a missionary pay his own way in a foreign country.

It can help to establish strong personal relationships between the missionary and the people to whom he wishes to preach the gospel.

And, perhaps most important, it can help the missionary gain entry into even the most "closed" countries, Dozens of WCIU TESOL graduates are now working in Muslim and Communist countries around the world.

INTER-CULTURAL STUDIES: Investment for Fruitful Ministry

Taking time to study the history culture, religion and felt needs of a people group is the only safe way to develop strategies for sharing the gospel with them.

Studies dealing with these topics can be a valuable investment toward the fruitfulness of a missionary's labors.

Aided by the input of many of the U.S. Center for World Mission's missionary staff, WCIU offers short training courses focusing on the major blocs of unreached peoples.

Research programs toward M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in more specialized areas are also offered.

If you are interested in any of the above programs, for yourself or someone you know, please call or write: William Carey International [Inim mty, U.S. Center for World Mission, 1605 Elizabeth Street. Pasadena, CA 91104 phone: 797-1111, ext. 148.