An Open Letter to UPCI Bible School Alumni
Dear Bible School Alumni:
As I sat in my Oklahoma City hotel room thinking about the future of Christian Life College (CLC) and the other UPCI Bible Schools, including the current students, my own department, and those who are not yet students at Bible colleges but will be in the future, I started wondering what good can one person do?
My job at CLC includes traveling to camps and other meetings, where I know no one and no one knows me, to tell the kids there that the best plan for their future is Bible college. I have sat in service after service behind a table at the CLC booth and have begun to wonder--just what is the best way to recruit young adults for the study of Scripture and pursuit of the ministry?
I also wonder who the best Bible college recruiter is. What’s the best way to tell prospective students about Bible college? Is it flashy brochures, DVDs of the college, or footage of missions trips?
We’ve learned, from past experience, that a steady face at the CLC booth at the same events, year after year, brings in new students (see Dannie Odle’s theology of recruiting). Also, the past tells us that if we don’t go to these same events year after year, people seem to forget us. That has been a proven formula for successful recruiting through the years. Bible college recruiters are now fighting against a new enemy, however, besides just reminding young people that we’re available. That new enemy is common sense.
Consider this. Our UPCI Bible schools now have extraordinarily talented graphic designers and the newest computers to help us make the most eye-catching informational recruiting tools ever. But is all that actually helping students make their decision in favor of Bible college? Kids are no longer just trying to decide which Bible college they’re going to attend. Now they’re wondering if they should attend at all.
We are living in a time where more and more Apostolic young people are pursuing secular educations and vocations. Now don’t get me wrong, attending secular colleges and universities can be the right choice for some students. Yet many students who plan to be involved in ministerial leadership are getting a secular degree so they will have a vocation to help them when they pastor or become a missionary. They believe that they will be able to live off their secular income and put offerings back into a new or small church. That is a valid plan for many students, but whatever happened to the belief that God will take care of those in the ministry?
As a recruiter, I continually battle the mentality that says that students need something to fall back on if their ministry doesn’t work out or if God doesn’t take care of them. The number one question I get is, “What can I do with a Bible school degree?” It’s more and more obvious that we aren’t vying with other Bible schools for new students, but rather working together to convince young people that Bible school is not only a good place to go if you’re a Holy Ghost-filled young person, but also the most important place you can go if you have a call from God on your life.
Another consideration is that since Bible Schools work to bring their students closer to Jesus Christ, we must expect the enemy to fight us. Jesus did tell us that if the world hated Him, they would also hate us. The enemy has been working overtime to convince people not only that Bible School is no longer relevant, but, in this fast-paced world of technology, the life of a minister and his family will be lonely, dull, and unimportant. He tells them that they will always struggle to have enough money to feed their family and their children won’t be able to have best of everything; the things they never had. And it’s obvious, from my conversations with young people and their parents, as well as from reading blogs and articles about Bible school, that the enemy is convincing a lot of them. He tried to convince me of these same things when I was making the decision whether or not to go to Bible school.
When I felt the call to go to Bible school, I was at a completely different place in my life than 99 percent of Bible school prospects. I was 26 years old and married, with two young children. The enemy tried to convince me that leaving everything I was comfortable with was the worst thing I could do. He told me that my wife would be unhappy and bitter towards me. He told me that my children wouldn’t have the things they needed, and that I would live a miserable life because of a neglected and unhappy family.
Daily I fought the enemy until I was physically exhausted and seemingly more confused than when I first felt the call to go. I also had some close friends and relatives tell me that I shouldn’t pack up my family, leave my job, friends, other family and move to a place where I didn’t have a job, and where the rent was more than we could pay. Also, they reminded me, what would I do after graduation? How would I provide for my family then? The worst part about it all for me was that they brought up valid points for which I did not have the answers, and their questions were based on good, common sense.
Daily, for two months, I heard nothing but questions, and I had no answers. I only had one thing to cling to in the early-morning, tear-filled hours. I knew my calling was real; that God was leading me to Bible school; and that He promised, if I gave everything to Him, He would always take care of my family.
So has God’s promise to me been worth standing on? All I can say is that, during the past two years, while I’ve been studying His Word in Bible school, His promises have come to pass and are still happening. We have always had gas for our vehicle, food for our kitchen, clothes, diapers, birthday and Christmas gifts for our kids, and even some to spare. Both my wife and I are happy and busy with the work of the Lord. The same words Paul wrote to Timothy work for me too, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (I Timothy 1:12).
So who is the adversary, you ask again? We are fighting the enemy of our souls, and he is using common sense against us. Of course, it makes more sense to get a secular degree, be assured of a job, and then, after your life is on track, decide whether or not to go to Bible school than it does to just give your whole life and ministry to God, trusting that if He called you, He will take care of you. Yet when did God start operating in the realm of human common sense? Never, as far as I see in the Bible. His ways are above our ways.
I heard Proverbs 3:5-6 preached a lot when I was kid growing up, but I have not heard it preached in a long time. Instead of trusting in the Lord and not leaning on our own understanding, we have started to rely on what we can provide ourselves rather than what God will provide if we will do what He asked us to do in those verses.
More and more I realize that our Bible schools aren’t competing with each other, but rather we are fighting the enemy of our souls, and his main weapon is common sense.
So, Who is the Best Recruiter?
Now, the Bible college situation may seem bleak, but I believe I have a simple answer to the question I started with, regarding who the best recruiter is. You are – the men and women who have graduated from Bible school and are currently in ministry, full or part-time.
I’ve found that the best way to answer a question is not with words but with lifestyle and action. The prospective students may not know me or feel a connection with me, the guy at the Bible college booth at their camp or youth convention, but they do know you--their pastor, youth pastor, music minister, camp speaker, parent, or friend. You are the best recruiter for Bible college. Prospective students see you year-round. They see you in ministry, preaching, singing, teaching, and showing everyone how God has transformed your life and how you are being used of Him.
I ask you to promote attendance at UPCI Bible schools to the Holy Ghost-filled young people in your life. Promote it from your pulpits, in your homes, and in everyday conversations. Ask your youth pastors to promote it. The young people of our churches see you, their pastors, the camp speakers, the evangelists, the ministering men and women of God, and they want to be just like you. I know this is true because when I was growing up I was always in awe of the camp speakers, evangelists, and the visiting speakers I heard. I wanted to be used like they were and be a part of the ministry like they were.
The kids who see your God-given anointing need to know that the best place to cultivate and pursue their ministry is at Bible school. No secular college will help them in this area. They listen to the words you say and to the passion with which you say them. They will hear you, the men and women of God who themselves went to Bible School and are benefiting from the sound teaching and instruction you received.
Recruiters can travel everywhere and talk to everyone, but our most important--and best--recruiters are you, alumni of UPCI Bible schools everywhere.
Shocked? I hope so. Challenged? Please be. My request to you is simple--let’s win back our own young people by showing them that the place they can pursue their calling, learn the Word of God, and enjoy an environment for spiritual growth is real and available to them: Bible school!
You are our best recruiters, so please don’t forget about us out here trying to help young people fulfill their calling in God. Everywhere you go and preach, sing, and minister to people, please promote UPCI Bible schools. Then, we can watch, and future generations can be blessed, as the attendance at our Bible schools goes through the roof and well-equipped young people take this world by storm!
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