Frequently Asked Questions

What is CISF?

The Christian International Scholarship Foundation (CISF) is a leadership-development initiative focused on identifying and investing in strategic, national leaders of the Majority-World church. CISF helps increase the capacity of these leaders by investing in their advanced theological education.  CISF graduates often move into positions of senior leadership in their home countries, serving as the presidents of denominations, the executive directors of relief organizations, the principals and senior faculty members of Bible Colleges and Seminaries and the authors of desperately-needed theological books. Our goal is to come alongside key leaders who are faithful to the gospel and attentive to the culutre, so that Majority-World churches to grow strong and fulfill their mission.

Why focus on the Majority-World?

• Because the church in the Majority-World is exploding. In 1800 only one percent of Christians were found in Africa, Asia or Latin America. In 1900 that number had climbed, but only to ten percent. But in the last one hundred years the number has skyrocketed. Today more than seventy percent of the Christians in the world are found outside the West. A study by Gordon Conwell indicates more than 9,000 people come to faith everyday in Brazil. In China, that number is 6,000. On the continent of Africa, more than 40,000 people are coming to Christ every day. This is a reason to rejoice.
• Because the church in the Majority-World needs leaders. The growth of the church in Africa, Asia and Latin America is worth celebrating, but it is also a cause of concern. Although the church is growing wide it is often not growing very deep. In many cases there is only one pastor for four or five churches—and this individual has no theological training. New Christians are not adequately nurtured in their faith. Consequently they do not grow to maturity. The church in the Majority World desperately needs leaders.
• Because the challenges facing Majority-World church leaders are profound. Ministry in a fallen world is always a challenge, but the issues facing the leaders of the church in Africa, Asia and Latin America are often unique: extremes of rich and poor, the spread of Islam and Sharia law, corrupt and exploitive governments, female circumcision, ethnic and tribal conflict, famine, et al. We believe that the leaders of tomorrow's church need to be faithful to the gospel and attentive to the culture. The church needs leaders who have been trained to find biblically-informed and culturally appropriate answers to the unique challenges they face.
• Why focus on national leaders? If the church needs pastors, why not simply train pastors? Our ultimate goal is to build strong local churches—ones where God's Word is proclaimed in power, and Kingdom values are modeled and spread. The question is, how do we best facilitate that? It's our belief that the key to strong churches is strong pastors. And the key to strong pastors is strong training.
• What does strong training look like? As important as nice classrooms are, the critical links in a future pastor's training are the books they read and the men and women under whom they study. That is why we are focusing on educating the educators and developing leaders of leaders. Our goal is to help those men and women who are called and gifted by God to lead Bible colleges and seminaries, serve as senior faculty at those institutions and also write the culturally-relevant and theologically-astute books that are needed.
• Does CISF only support leaders who come to the West to study?  Until just a few years ago, the only options for an evangelical doctorate were in North America and Western Europe. However, that has now changed. New programs have developed in Latin America, Asia, Hong Kong, and Africa. Nearly half of the leaders CISF supports are studying in Majority World schools. Most of those schools have CISF alumni on their faculties. In several instances, CISF scholars are studying under CISF alumni. This is a dream come true. Both models are important. Studying in the West offers greater resources, more established programs and an international community. Studying in the Majority World is often cheaper, more tightly focused on the particular challenges of the scholars' home contexts, and are rapidly developing programs connected to the indigenous church. CISF is encouraged not only that these new programs exist, but also that now there is increasing dialogue and partnership between institutions moving toward partnerships that will allow leaders the best of both systems in the coming years. 
• Are you exclusively focused on developing faculty? No. But developing strong faculty at Bible Colleges and seminaries is not only an end in itself; it's also a means to greater ends. CISF alumni serve as senior denominational leaders, on the faculties of Bible schools and seminaries, and in a number of cases have founded entirely new ministries to meet immediate needs in their communities. In every case they are not only developing people, but also emerging as thought and opinion leaders for their regions. Here are just a few examples of scholars supported by CISF:

We helped Salim Munayer complete a PhD at Oxford so that he could return as the Academic Dean of Bethlehem Bible College. He has done that—and continues to serve as Academic Dean—but additionally he has gone on to found Musalaha, a ministry of reconciliation between Jews and Palestinians and to write five books on the Middle East.

We helped Jacob and Esther Kibor complete their degrees at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago and they went back to teach at Scott Theological College in Muchakos, Kenya. But Esther not only became the first African woman to join the faculty and Jacob not only went on to become the President of Scott and the Chairmen of the Board for ACTEA—The Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (the group that helps design the curriculum for all of the Bible Schools and seminaries in Africa)—but together they have been working to stop female circumcision. His doctoral studies focused on this problem.

We helped Atul Aghamkar complete his doctoral studies at Fuller so that he could go back to India to teach. He is doing that at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, but he is also setting up a center to reach Hindus with the Gospel.

We supported Rose and Bulus Galadima who earned their doctorates at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Bulus now serves as the Provost at Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS) in their home country of Nigeria. In addition to teaching at JETS, Rose is the head of Christian Education for the ECWA denomination (the first woman to hold a denominational level leadership position), developing curriculum for the training of leaders in the church, and continues to oversee the Awana Rescue Mission, a ministry she founded to support widows and orphans in the Plateau State of Nigeria. 

We helped David Kasali complete a PhD at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago. After graduating, he went back to Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology to teach New Testament but quickly became President of the school: a school that is, in many ways, the premier African seminary on the continent and helped position them to launch the first evangelical PhD program in East Africa. 

We helped Antonio Barro, a man who grew up in abject poverty in Brazil, complete his degree at Fuller. His parents had to borrow clothes, books and pencils for him to go to school. At the age of three he was digging through the dump to find anything of value so his parents could sell it. (His mom and dad were loving and hard-working people who had moved into Sao Paulo with no understanding of what they were going to find and ended up in the slums.) Antonio made it through school and ended up at Fuller Seminary with $200 in his pockets. He found us and we started to help fund his studies. When he was finished he went back to Brazil to teach, but ended up starting a seminary—South American Theological Seminary in Lodrina, Brazil—which is now one of the fastest growing seminaries in South America and has expanded to three campuses. Additionally he founded a church and started a publishing house, translating theological works from English into Portuguese. The list of his achievements could go on.

The main point is: while the faculty at US seminaries may not typically have broad ministries, the faculty of Majority-World schools often do.

• How long has CISF been in existence? CISF was founded in California in 1984. In 2009 we will celebrate our twenty-fifth anniversary. We continue to push toward a time in the next two decades when a critical mass of leadership will exist in the Majority World and the development of pastors, teachers, and leaders for the church will be in a sustainable place for the church in the Majority World. 
• Are there priority areas of the world that you are focused on? Yes. Our strategic plan calls for an intentional focus on the areas where the leadership gap is the greatest: China, French-speaking Africa, English-speaking Africa, and Brazil. The rest of Latin America follows closely behind. While we do support scholars from a broad range of countries, these regions are our highest priority.
• How is the organization run? CISF has an active board of directors who have historically covered 100 percent of our administrative expenses, allowing us to promise donors that one hundred percent of the money they give will go directly into scholarships. In the summer of 2007, CISF invested in its first full-time president in order to increase the capacity of the organization to better identify and support new scholars and continue to invest in the ongoing development of CISF alumni who are serving in strategic roles around the globe. Even so, CISF remains a lean organization with less than three full-time employees, living and working in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
• Where do CISF scholars study? In the US, of the students we help study at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California or at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School outside of Chicago. CISF also supports students studying at Trinity Theological College in Singapore, the China Graduate School of Theology in Hong Kong. In Africa, we are supporting scholars in new PhD programs at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate Schoool of Theology in Kenya, Bangui Evangelical School of Theology in Central African Republic, Akrofi Christaller Institute in Ghana, and select programs in South Africa. We also support several scholars studying through a consortium PhD program known as PRODALA in Latin America. In addition, CISF has supported scholars at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies, the University of Edinburgh, London School of Theology and Oxford in the UK, and Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the past we have also supported students at schools such as Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard University, Dallas Theological Seminary, St. Andrews, Cambridge, et al.
• What happens if a student completes his or her degree but then does not return home? Our mission is to build up the national leadership of Majority-World countries, not deplete it, so we work very hard to ensure that our graduates return home. Leaders who apply for a grant from CISF make a commitment to return to their home country to serve for at least ten years following their graduation. During their annual review they re-sign their Scholar Covenant, thus recommitting to return upon graduation. If a leader fails to return home immediately upon completing their degree, or if they do not stay in their home country (or a surrounding country) for at least ten years following the completion of their studies, they are required to pay back their CISF grant. To date we have helped over 150 leaders. More than 95% have returned home. Of those who did not, most have made repayment on their loans. 
• Who decides who will receive a CISF grant? Our selection includes senior academic leaders including: Dr. Kerry Dearborn, who is a professor at Seattle Pacific University; Dr. Steve Hayner, the past president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the current professor of Mission and Evangelism at Columbia Theological Seminary; Dr. Doug McConnell, Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary; Dr. Paul Pierson, the Dean Emeritus of Fuller School of World Missions; and Dr. Tite Tienou, the Vice President and Academic Dean at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
• Does CISF cover all of the student’s expenses? No. CISF believes that God's calling is confirmed through a community of support.  CISF grants typically cover one-third to one half of a scholar's total need. Grants typically range from $5,000-$18,000 depending on the location of studies, etc.  We value the partnership of other groups such as denominational leaders, Western seminaries, the national leaders from the scholar-leader's home country and other foundations to fully fund the student's training.
• What degrees do you support? We are focused almost exclusively on doctoral studies in theologically related degrees (Theological Studies, Educational Studies, and Intercultural Studies).  We do not support masters' degrees or doctorates of ministry. We also do not support studies in non-theological fields.  
• What countries are you working in? We are currently supporting forty-four leaders from more than a dozen different countries. They are studying at 15 institutions in 11 countries. We have over one hundred CISF Scholars who have returned to over 35 countries.

Do people really need a PhD?

Big heart and a big mind: Theological education is not without its detractors. But this misses the point. We are called to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, which means that the question is not between sending someone out to serve with a big heart or a big mind. The question is: how do you send out someone with both?

Level Four Leaders: A second way to understand the need for doctoral studies is based on the observations of the late Donald McGavern, a career missionary and leading thinker about mission strategy. Dr. McGavern noted that for every one hundred new Christians in a region you need someone who can provide basic follow-up, offer assurance of salvation and help a new believer get established in a local church. He called these people level one leaders and suggested that they could be trained quite quickly through seminars and workshops. He went on to note that for every 1,000 new believers you needed someone who could pastor a church. He called these people level two leaders and suggested that they would ideally have at least a college degree. He went on to suggest that for every 100,000 new Christians in a region you needed a level three leader. These men and women—often called Bishops—were expected to pastor the pastors and to be thinking strategically about an area. Ideally level three leaders would have a master's degree. Finally, McGavern noted that for every one million new Christians in a region you need a "thought and opinion" leader. Someone who can think biblically and strategically about the issues of the day and help provide senior leadership to the church. He noted that a person can have a PhD and not be a level four leader or can be a level four leader without having a PhD, but the best way to train these men and women is through doctoral studies.

Practical Considerations: Additionally there are some very practical reasons for men and women to pursue theological studies. In most countries a government will not approve a seminary or Bible College that does not meet basic educational standards. These standards demand that some of the faculty have advanced degrees. In some settings, such as Viet Nam, the formation of Bible Colleges are on hold pending the training of people recognized to lead them.

• How many Level Four Leaders are required? In 2000, CISF developed a strategic plan that would indicate that over the next 20 years, the Majority-World will be about 400 more Level Four Leaders short. This is fairly encouraging news, because with the exception of the fact that 150 of those leaders need to be in China, it's very possible to imagine how we could effectively close this gap in our lifetime.

• I am interested in a CISF grant, how do I find out if I qualify?  Our mission is to help men and women from Majority-World countries who need further training to increase their capacity in order to fulfill God's calling on their lives as senior leaders in the church.  Click here to learn more about our qualifications. Please understand that the competition for an award is very keen. We regularly receive over 100 qualified requests. On average we are able to accept fewer than ten new students each year.