Free Methodist World Mission People I Oct. – Dec. 2012
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Jill and Darin Land minister in the Philippines.
Partnership’s rewards
by Jim Wilson
W
hen I was a boy, reruns of “The Lone Ranger” played
every Saturday morning. I wanted to be like the hero
depicted in the program: come in, save the day, and
ride off into the sunset. While illusions of grandeur still stalk
my daydreams occasionally, time has revealed to me that a lone
individual can accomplish only so much. If that individual will
partner with people of like mind, however, the rewards can be
exponential.
Two people who exemplify what can be accomplished through
partnerships are Dr. Darin and Jill Land. Darin and Jill are
FM associate missionaries teaching at Asia Pacific Nazarene
Theological Seminary (APNTS) in Manila, Philippines. While
a majority of the students are Nazarene, they come from at least
eight Wesleyan-oriented denominations, including the FMC.
Having served as APNTS New Testament professor for the past
three years, Darin was recently appointed to carry out the Dean
of Students role in addition to his teaching load. Jill is the Student
Visa Officer working with international students; she also assists
in the library.
Darin and Jill’s presence at the seminary is especially beneficial
because of an agreement between APNTS and the FMC: every
semester the FMC provides a professor, five FM students receive
free tuition. Consequently, people who financially support Darin
and Jill are supporting not only the Lands’ ministry, but also
underwriting the education of Asia FMC leaders for decades to
come.
In 2013, Rev. Ron Bating will become president of Light and Life
Bible College (LLBC) in Butuan. Having graduated summa cum
laude from APNTS in 2008, Ron is just one example of the FM
students who have benefited from this partnership with APNTS.
Dr. Nativity Petallar teaches alongside Darin Land. A
graduate of LLBC and APNTS and an FM elder, Nativity now
heads up APNTS’s newest offering, a doctorate in holistic child
development. Because HIV and human trafficking are major
global issues, this program puts APNTS on the cutting edge of
finding solutions for these challenges. Not only is APNTS blessing
the FMC in the Philippines and throughout Asia, but the FMC is
blessing the seminary and the children of Asia as well.
Offering a master of ministries degree, APNTS has often been
the next step in our FM pastors’ continuing education after Light
and Life Graduate School of Theology (LLGST) based in Butuan
City. Rather than requiring three years to graduate, APNTS gives
one year’s credit for the LLGST degree.
The effective partnership between the Asia FMC and APNTS
demonstrates the rewards that can result from such a relationship.
en
g age
Many FM pastors enter APNTS earning an annual
salary of $1,200, but more than four to five times
that amount is required to sustain a family there.
Since government loans are not available, students
are left to pay as they go. As a result,
the number of students able to enter
seminary is extremely small. You can
partner with FMWM to help change
that situation by contributing to the
Asia Pacific Scholarship Extra Mile
Project: http://bit.ly/LZcap6.