On the southern island of Mindanao, tucked away in the middle of the bustling city of Davao, is a small seminary, Koinonia Theological Seminary (KTS), which has had an amazing impact on a woman called Amy. She has finished both the Master of Arts in Missions and the Master of Divinity. As part of the elder team of her local church, she enjoys coordinating the Sunday School programs and also doing street ministry to prostitutes a couple of nights a week. Coming from one of the local unreached tribal people groups, she admits that she would be less confident in her abilities to serve the Lord in these church and para-church capacities if it were not for her training at KTS.

Edna has been equipped and mentored by her KTS professors to lead a local congregation in downtown Davao City together with her husband. Having earned her Master of Arts in Missions she is now returning to pursue the Master of Divinity degree. In the past in order to get training at an accredited school, future pastors had to go to Manila or Cebu and preferred not to return to the southern island of Mindanao. Koinonia Theological Seminary, www.kts.ph, was started to prevent this "brain drain." Now in its 15th year of operation it has more Filipino staff and faculty than missionary expatriates, which was the goal of KTS all along.

There are many types of missionary callings. Some are called to be church planters, others to be development workers, and some to train and teach at a seminary. Equipping Filipinos to become pastors in local churches, as well as to become missionaries to unreached peoples at home or abroad has been rewarding. While the goal is to indigenize the seminary staff, there are still needs for expatriate teachers and administrators. Please pray for continuing effective training of Filipinos for ministry on Mindanao.

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If you are a seminary prof who is interested in serving overseas, take a look at some of the opportunities SIM has for you!