The Sunset Church of Christ has been in the ministry training business since 1962. It all started with Cline Paden and a Spanish school of preaching. By the mid-1990s the school was a major force in preparing preachers for the English speaking world. However, it became increasingly apparent that bringing international students to Texas was not the best way to train non-English speaking students for ministry.
Thus was born the International Studies Department with a vision of training able spokesmen of the Word in their own language, in their own culture, in their own environment, and therefore, in their own country. Not only is this more cost-effective, but experience has shown that the majority of foreign students coming to the United States to study stay in the United States instead of returning to their native countries.
Under the leadership of our International Deans, the International Studies Department has grown from its humble beginnings in South America and Europe to a partnership of over 90 schools on 4 continents.
SIBI's involvement in schools ranges from fully managed to providing only such mentoring and help as is needed. Each school follows a similar curriculum to SIBI and benefits from teachers grounded in the Word of God.
The future for International Studies looks bright as a steady stream of existing and potential schools consider applying for partnership. The need is tremendous, the opportunities are manifold, and the resources are stretched tight waiting for the Lord of Harvest and faithful brethren to provide.