VISITING FACULTY VIEWPOINT

"With Our Own Eyes" — A Dream Fulfilled

By Dr. Christopher Hancock, Dean, Bradford Cathedral, UK

Yesterday I read the beginning of 1 John in a class on New Testament Christology. 'That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you.' Nothing so strange about that – John's battle against docetism (that Jesus only 'appeared' to be human) in the early church features in most courses on primitive Christianity. The topic wasn't remarkable. The students were.

They were a class of bright, highly-motivated MTh students drawn from across India (including the North East Regions bordering China and Burma) studying in what is rapidly becoming the foremost evangelical theological institution in India – if not in Asia – The South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies. In the story and work of SAIACS, the missionaries' dream is fulfilled.

Having begun in the early 1980's in a few rooms in scattered houses and garages on the south-side of the city of Bangalore, SAIACS sits today in an enviable parkland setting thirteen kilometres to the north of the city. Surrounding a central lawn, its award-winning buildings – cloistered offices, faculty homes, student dormitories, a simple chapel, a computerised library – blend well with palm fronds and tropical flowers in well watered borders. Bright flashing parakeets and serenely circling brahminy kites remind me this definitely isn't Britain! Most importantly, this is God's place for God's work. You feel God is here.

SAIACS has set itself a limited student body of 90 and a faculty and staff of about 40. Visiting faculty from around the world come to receive as much as give, to share in what God is doing as well as to add to it. By the main gate stands a large boulder in a neat flowerbed. On it two inscriptions prepare you for what you will see. On one side Psalm 118 verse 23, 'This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.' On the other side, China-missionary Hudson Taylor's words, 'God's work done in God's way will not lack God's supply.' Both could not be more true than here at SAIACS.

But why is the story and ministry of SAIACS worth celebrating?

Perhaps most obviously to a visitor, SAIACS is the tangible realisation of a sharply-focused vision. Bangalore is a fast-growing, cosmopolitan city on the Deccan plateau in central South India, with an enviable climate year-round because of its altitude (the British used to retire here during the Raj). It has emerged as a major hi-tech centre in 'new' India. Most of the major multinationals have a presence here. The city has grown to six million people in recent years.

SAIACS fits well. It prepares evangelical leaders for tomorrow's India. The campus with its well-kept grounds, impressive library, finely polished floors, growing academic achievements, publishing program and thoroughly Christian atmosphere, would be the envy of many a Western institution. I am reminded of my colleges in Oxford and Cambridge as I stroll its paths and admire its lawns –oh, that they shared the spirit of SAIACS!

But this is India, new India, self-confident, creative, well-motivated, self-critical, preparing for its role as the most populous nation in the world in c.2020. SAIACS students know they have work to do for God, shaping this rapidly-emerging Asian super-power. If it's not docetism they'll face, it's religious pluralism and progressive secularism, the power of invasive cable networks, the pressures of rapid social transformation and growth.

Courses are honed to prepare them for this world on their door-step. And remember, some in India would like to see the country adopt a politicised form of Hindu fundamentalism, already sealing their intentions in threats and violence against Christians. Others look to its development as an international, military force with, as the renewed tension between India and Pakistan over Kashmir have reminded the world, an active nuclear capability.

So a school for tomorrow's world. But the vision behind SAIACS is sharper still. Its founders saw the need to establish a first-class graduate theological institution outside of the Western world. There are many Bible schools and colleges in India, some long established, like Serampore College founded by Carey, United Theological College in Bangalore dating back to the early twentieth century, and Union Biblical Seminary in Pune founded mid-century, but SAIACS is unique in its evangelical ethos and in its graduate status.

SAIACS is the only institution in the Asia Theological Association which does not offer undergraduate courses or an MDiv, but does offer specialist MA, MTh, DMiss, DMin., and PhD Degrees. With students drawn from many different states, denominations, teaching institutions, missionary agencies and pastorates, SAIACS knows that it is directly resourcing the leadership of the Indian church in this and succeeding generations. Of the 300 SAIACS graduates to date, one is General Secretary of the India Missions Association (with 145 member societies and some 25,000 missionaries), six others head mission agencies, forty serve on the faculties of Bible schools and colleges (including six Principals and a number of Academic Deans), one is head of the Baptist Church in Nagaland and another a Lutheran Bishop, others are senior figures in India's mega-churches, such as the 20,000-member Assemblies of God New Life church in downtown Chennai (Madras).

The financial wisdom behind SAIACS is clear. It costs a fraction of what it would anywhere in the West to build this striking place, and now its annual budget is a remarkable mere $200,000. Crucially, too, while it may cost anything up to $30,000 per annum for an Indian to undertake graduate work in the US or UK, at SAIACS it costs just $3,000 per annum. As potential donors are often reminded, '$30,000 will pay for one student in the US or ten at SAIACS. You choose.'

Few need further persuading. The sums make good sense! What is more, if the student is married, family life is not disrupted nor subjected to the ambiguous pressures of Western affluence. How sad when capable Christian scholars from the two-thirds world remain in the West after graduation. SAIACS addresses that problem head-on. It is all about training of the highest level in India for India.

That's not to say generosity from friends overseas has not been a major factor in getting SAIACS up and running. Nor does it mean exposure to the West does not still have value or relevance for the students and faculty. After all, to raise the level of its educational standards SAIACS Faculty, Faculty-in-training, and PhDs are educated wholly or in part in USA or UK. But it is to say the days of dependence are passed, and the missionaries' dream has been fulfilled.

When the prestigious, old State University of Mysore (situated 150 kilometers SE of Bangalore) took the innovative step some time back of accrediting the SAIACS PhD Programme, it was clear to all that SAIACS meant business and offered a product to be proud of. Not surprisingly, its graduates are now sought out to fill key positions nation-wide.

As a direct expression of the Gospel SAIACS takes a stand against class stratification. Meals in 'The Commons' (the dining room) are shared, gardeners and cleaners sit with Faculty and students – something some have not experienced before.

As ever in an institution, the people make the place – and SAIACS simply takes people seriously. It's a dynamically Christian place. Daily chapel, regular prayer, cell groups, special programmes, keep the mission and purpose of SAIACS centre-stage – to develop and train leaders who are men and women of God before all else. Long may it continue to do so.

top of page

© Copyright SAIACS 2007

Site updated: February 5, 2008