Our mission is to provide Biblically-based, Reformed teaching and training worldwide to indigenous church leaders for ministry

What Is ITEM?

ITEM is a religious, charitable, educational, non-profit corporation serving in the countries of the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe, and worldwide. It is tax exempt and donor deductible. ITEM assists denominations and local churches by offering pastoral training at no cost to nationals. ITEM sends professors to teach at local institutions at regular intervals to equip pastors, teachers, and laymen and women to accomplish their God-given callings.

WHAT IS ITEM?

ITEM stands for International Theological Education Ministries. It was also known as Christ for Russia, Christ for Ukraine, etc.

mission

to provide Biblically-based, Reformed teaching and training worldwide to indigenous church leaders for ministry

philosophy

we send pastors and professors to the students to minimize cost and to maximize learning opportunities in their own contexts near their families and ministries

ITEM MAKES SENSE

ITEM doesn’t pay salaries to instructors but recruits instructors who receive their income from other sources.  Pastors are already paid by their churches; professors are paid by their educational institutions; and retired instructors receive income from their pensions, savings, or Social Security retirement.

 

ITEM brings instructors to the students, not vice versa.  This saves time and money for the students and removes family hardships experienced when leaders move to the U.S. for training.

 

ITEM trains national leaders in short terms of 1 week in their own locales so they need not leave jobs to get training.  We are now offering 3-day Preaching Conferences.  That means that much of what has been taught can immediately be transferred to their families, congregations, and communities without being forgotten.

 

ITEM encourages and equips national Christian leaders who can quickly reach their people with the gospel and plant churches.  By contrast North American missionaries must first learn the language and/or culture, which consumes time and limits the impact of western missionaries during their first years on the field.

 

ITEM provides work experience and part-time employment to national Christian professionals: administrators, translators, office staff, hospitality services, and event organizers.

 

ITEM provides opportunities here for pastors, professors, and elders to share their training with the world.  ITEM blesses churches here with opportunities to partner with Christians worldwide.

ITEM believes that the most effective evangelism, discipleship, and church planting is done by nationals

strategic investment

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economical

ITEM provides a very economical education for students in other countries where income is so much lower than in America, for instructors to experience missions, and you to truly support.

 

Depending on the institution served and the number of students attending, ITEM delivers excellent theological education and ministry training at a very low dollar per student class hour.

 

 

effective

ITEM sends the instructors to the field so the students can remain and minister in their own families, churches, and cultures. These students, when trained, will be more effective in their own countries when planting churches and spreading the gospel.

 

And given our schedules of one, two, and sometimes three week classes, students can return to their work to support their families and to their churches to share what they’ve learned. They pass on God’s eternal truths effectively and immediately

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efficient

ITEM operates efficiently by bringing the instructor to the students, not vice versa, as most educational institutions do. That saves travel, time, money, and family hardships.

 

ITEM uses instructors who receive their normal income from other sources such as their churches, where they pastor, their educational institutions where they teach, or even as they are retired. Hence they are not hired or paid by ITEM.

 

 

OUR Mission WORK

Croatia

India

Latvia

Rev. Tom Smith works with the Protestant Reformed Christian Church in Croatia.  more...

Presbyterian Church in India, Reformed, requested that ITEM send professors to help train their current pastors. more...

ITEM has been providing training since 1998. The study program now offers the equivalent of an MA in Theological studies degree. more...

Lithuania

Romania

Ukraine

Some of the Lithuanian Christians have started taking classes at the Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary supported by ITEM with funds and professors. more...

ITEM continues sending instructors to Romania in 2016 and 2017 and working with Maranatha Bible College. more...

In Ukraine, ITEM provides solid Biblical teaching    through Kiev Regional Bible College (KRBC), a young Bible college approximately 8 miles outside of Kiev.  more...

INDONESIA

KENYA

ITEM's newest mession work in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. more...

ITEM is now partnering with ALL Nations College in Kenya.  more...

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eXPANDING

ITEM helps expand God’s kingdom through discipling reliable men and women.

 

ITEM is truly a multiplying ministry, multiplying your gift in America to bring God’s truth to many students in other countries who then take what they have learned in the classroom to their homes, their churches, their culture, and to the world.

eTERNAL

ITEM sends instructors to train men and women in other countries such as the Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania, Indonesia and India in the eternal truths of God’s Word.

 

We teach these eternal truths from a Biblical reformed perspective. We know God’s Word when accompanied by God’s Spirit brings eternal life and eternal transformation to individuals, churches, and whole cultures.

ITEM INTERACTIVE MAP