September 01, 2004 by Ralph D. Winter

Dear Mission Frontiers,

Mission Frontiers ( July-August 2004) accomplished an important service of … counseling students and mission agencies about student debt [incurred] while preparing for ministry. I would have also liked to have seen a prophetic word about the ethics of overcharging students for ministerial training. Jesus did not charge his disciples for their three-year training; they were all supported by a group of “donors.” A careful reading of the Gospels shows that sick that were healed and the oppressed who were liberated were not charged for being served. Obviously costs have to be covered, but why does the North American model put such a heavy financial load on the back of the students? I think student tuition-driven ministerial training institutions is primarily a post-WWII North American para-church phenomenon that has been exported worldwide via the mission movement. I prefer the original denominational and also faith mission model where professors and local institutions raise their own support to cover basic costs and student fees are limited to payable amounts. No financial debt needs to be incurred in ministerial training (Romans 13:8). Hurray for some of the denominational and para-church institutions who are offering ministerial training at low costs…. Ministerial training institutions have the responsibility of providing the church with debt- free servants. When the Church and Christian institutions model such responsibility, its members will not only benefit but extend such ethics worldwide.

-Dr. Neal Hegeman Academic Dean, Miami International Seminary

Dear Mission Frontiers,

I read with interest your latest issue of Mission Frontiers ( July- August 2004); specifically, Dr. Sells’ article on “Student Debt: A Hurdle Too High for ‘Impact’ Missionaries.” I’m the missions director at Derwood Bible Church, in the DC metropolitan area, and we have been struggling with this issue for the past several years. We are very active in global outreach, but we seem to have a paucity of young people from our church that would even consider a career in missions. I’m sure this is for a variety of issues, but student debt has to be among the reasons. Last year I introduced the idea of “Project Infinite Return” at our church to help resolve this issue. Dr. Sells comments on Project MedSend’s program to repay student debt for medical students desiring to go on the mission field. In short, “Project Infinite Return” seeks to do the same with pre-college/ college students in our body. We are exploring opportunities to pay for mission-minded students’ tuition or even consider re-paying their debt for a return of their service on the mission field.

-Patrick Melder Director, Global Outreach Derwood Bible Church Derwood, MD

Dear Mission Frontiers,

Another alternative to saving money, and a benefit to getting into a good college, is to take community-college classes while you are in high school, either in the summer of your junior year, your senior year (I took two cc courses the second semester of my senior year), and also/or your senior-year summer. …[These courses] count for college credit and provide your college application with the benefit of an added GPA, as college courses taken in high school get an “honors point” — an A in a community college course taken in high school counts as a 5.0 instead of a 4.0. … The community-college classes are cheap, [and] they can help you get into a better college or possibly get a scholarship [to] a 4-year college because of your [distinction from] your peers. [Also,] your earning potential as a high school student is lower than as a college student. Working in an internship while in college can get you anywhere from $12 -24/hour. While in high school, most likely the student wouldn’t be able to earn much more than minimum wage. Taking community college courses while in high school instead of working [then] helps a lot. …

-Edward Tsai

Dear Mission Frontiers,

My wife and I have been missionaries in Botswana, Africa for just over 16 years now, and I was interested in your articles on debt and the mission field. I believe that this issue is one of the reasons that the future of the sending force of missionaries in the world will not come from the USA. The USA-based church and mission organizations have adopted a view of debt that I believe does not find its roots in Scripture…. We personally were a part of it all, and came to the field with a debt from college which we paid off in the first year, but I wish there had been someone there to give us the godly advice to not sign for it.

-Bob Genheimer