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Some years ago, after several years in various activities such as radio broad

casting, Sunday schools, student Bible clubs^and general evangelism, all of which .
were successful in themselves, we saw that the paramount need in further church de

velopment in Korea was the training of church leaders such as evangelists and ministers.

As a means to this we spent-16 years in teaching in an undergraduate sem

inary. During these 10 years we were constantly frustrated by the fact that we
were not able to attract the best students to the seminary and that many (iiK>st7) of

the students came to the seminary with no intention of going into full-time Christ
ian service but rather for the prestige that a "college" education would give them
in their society. These students were for the most part those who could not get in

to the more prestigious schools, as seminaries in Korea are regarded as "the bottom
of the heap" antf, in truth, they are. It occurred to us that if we could help to
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train those who had graduated from undergraduate schools.and-had been successful in
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ful^time Christian service^ and sadly needed additional training we would be making
a better contribution to the church in Korea. Thereforey in 1972 we began a gradu
ate theological program in conjunction with Berean Christian College and Seminary of
Wichita, Kansas. We began with one class, or center, in Pusanj'the second^city of

Korea, a city of 2'^and-'a~half million people, vhere Wd have lived and worked>^for the
past 20 years. As only a very small portion of the 119 seminaries in Korea are rec

ognized by the government and able to grant degrees, the fact that we could give a
Master's degree through the American school proved very attractive.

We resolved from the beginning to make this a self-supporting programmes we have

been appalled by the amount of money that has been drained from the American church

es to invest in properties, teachers' salaries^etc. for such training here in Korea.

In the first two years small amounts of mission funds were necessary to get the pro
gram started but since that time the program has been totally self-supporting. To

keep down the costs we have used rented properties and part-time teachers and a min
imum of part-time clerical help.

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The students meet on Mondays during the school year and we have an 8^ hour program
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during that one day. This means that it takes them 4 semesters to complete their
Master's degree requirements. Our classes follow the regular curriculum of such pro-

grams in the U, S. Our requirements are high and the students are carefully selected.

year we turn away a number of applicants who simply are not qualified .unlike
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most Korean seminaries who accept almost anyone.

We keep our enrollment low in

order to cut down on the space required and in order to give the teachers better
teaching opportunity.

The students enrolled are from most of the denominations in

Korea in addition to our own.

We simply do not have enough qualified students among

our own brotherhood here to make such a program feasible for them exclusively and
on the other hand we are able to present Restoration teachings to those who are com*
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pletely unfamiliar with our stance. ^Dr. Bert Ellis teaches all the New Testament
classes and Dr. Shinn Lee, one of our own ministers, teaches theology.

We employ

various outstanding denominational teachers in other departments as we have not had

men of our own brotherhood qualified to teach in such a program.

Our students av

erage about 40 years in age and are able to come in from their churches because of
our one day program.

The teachers are among the best available in Korea.

Of our

eight teachers, three have earned doctorates and the rest have a minimum of a Mas
ter's degree.

States.

With one exception, all have studied abroad in Europe and the United

They hold degrees from such schools as Drew, Vanderbilt, Princeton, Dallas,

Trinity (San Antonio), and others.

We have also begun a center in the capitol city of Seoul. This year(^ 1978^ we
have 43 students enrolled in Pusan and 49 in Seoul.

We have achieved a good reputat

ion because of our good teachers and our strict policies. For example, more than 45
students applied for admission this year in Seoul and we enrolled 23.

Our graduates now number 100^ and among thesey more than 30 are teaching in various seminaries.^ our teaching has the opportunity to filter into the education of
ministers of all denominations here in Korea.

Of all the things that have been done

by our own church here it appears to us that this program has done more to make known
the mesage of the Restoration movement than anything else that has been done.

Among the graduates and those enrolled this year are a number from our own church

which tends to greatly upgrade the overall educational picture of our own ministers.