To Change a Nation…

Think of the three most influential people in your life. More than likely one of those three was an educator. Henry Adams once said “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” If this is true then how can we truly measure the value an educator has on a student? After all, lessons learned from an educational institution will determine who a person becomes. It is estimated that over 90 percent of world leaders and heads of state attended a university or an institution of higher learning. Imagine the difference in our world if these leaders had been taught by Christians presenting their disciplines from a biblical worldview. It was for this very reason that I chose to teach college in Romania. And it is why I continue to serve with the International Institute for Christian Studies as a member of the board.

I just returned from a wonderful weekend spent with my fellow IICS Board Members. It is always so refreshing to spend a few days with my friends and fellow servants. As always my favorite part of our time is reflecting upon the stories of lives changed the previous semester. Currently, more than 41 IICS professors from a broad range of disciplines teach in 18 nations around the world. As Dr. Charles Malik said, “The university is a clear-cut fulcrum with which to move the world. Change the university and you change the world.” To my knowledge IICS is the only organization in the world dedicated to using Christian professors in secular universities to shape these future leaders of the world.

The Vision of IICS
The IICS vision is that someday every university student in the world will have at least one instructor who will articulate and demonstrate the love and lordship of Jesus Christ for them.

The Mission of IICS - Develop Godly Leaders
The Mission of International Institute for Christian Studies is to bring glory to God and impact the world by developing godly leaders for every sector of society - government, business, home, church, the arts, law, the sciences, education - as we provide key universities and academic institutions with educational services and Christian faculty who teach and live in such a way as to draw others to faith and transformation in Christ.

The Method - Thinking Outside the Box
In a nutshell, IICS places college professors in secular universities (outside the U.S. and Canada) to teach in their discipline with the hopes that they will impact the future leaders of that country by leading them to Christ. In this world of “post denominational missions,” IICS is a mixture of “outside the box” missions that empowers future leaders of the world to have an impact on their own country via professors serving as career missionaries. To my knowledge there are no other agencies doing missions this way. According to Os Guinness, “The IICS work is one of the most extraordinary mission movements in the world today. It is costly, and often it will not see huge immediate returns, but it is a rare, farsighted and remarkable work that is sowing seeds of unimaginable significance.”

No doubt the harvest of the future is contingent upon the seeds we plant today. Thank you IICS and my 41 plus friends for doing your part. Is God calling you to be a seed planter?

To Change a Nation, Teach the Leaders.
To Teach the Leaders, Go to the Universities.

Aspire to new heights.