This is part two of this article. Click here to read part one.

1. The Biggest Influence You Will Have as a Missionary Is the Preachers You Have Trained

There are countless illustrations we could use such as C.T. Studd and Bob Hughes. When they died, their ministry lived on because they had trained men of God.

I hope and pray that when I die, Iloilo Baptist Church will be a soulwinning church for many years. But one thing that will go on regardless, is the ministries of many of the pastors and workers who have been trained at Iloilo Baptist College.

2. You Can Be Used of God to Train Men that Otherwise Would Not Be in the Ministry

Sometimes missionaries start new churches by having a new missionary fresh out of Bible college come help them. I am not saying it is wrong to do this, but that new missionary would have been in the ministry even if the older missionary had not been there.

If you start a Bible college on the foreign field, you will have the privilege of training men that would not have gone to the States for Bible college and probably would not have entered the ministry.

3. You Will Usually Do More with Men You Train than Men Someone Else Trains

When we started Iloilo Baptist College, a new graduate from a Bible college in the States helped us the first year. Then he left and started a church. The second year of our Bible school another new graduate helped us and after a year and a half, he left and started a church. These two good men have remained my friends, and both are still pastoring today.

During the second semester of our third year, we had eighty-seven students in our Bible school. I was the only male teacher, so I had to combine some of the classes. I ended up teaching twenty-three hours a week plus doing other things in the college and pastoring the church. I was both president and janitor. I did not believe in Purgatory until that semester.

I knew I could not take another year of that while we waited for our first graduates. I also knew I did not want to bring in anyone else that was not a product of our school. So I allowed two of our seniors to teach some of the first year classes. It turned out to be a good decision as these men gained valuable experience.

The point I am making is that usually a man you did not train will not stay with you a long time. There are exceptions to this, but as a general rule it is true on the mission field. It is far better to have a long-term goal of taking four years to train someone through your Bible college and then ask him to stay with you.

By having a Bible college you can train men on your own for the ministry. Jesus did the same. He took twelve men and personally trained them for about three-and-a-half years and look what happened! Those men turned the world upside down!

Remember that Starting a Bible College Is a Long Term Process and Results Are Not Seen for a While

There are no shortcuts in life. When I was younger I used to think there were, but there really are not. Every once in a while I am tempted to believe there are, but the earlier a missionary will come to terms with this fact, the more useful he will become.

Results in starting churches are slow at first. The first six years we were in the Philippines, the Lord allowed the graduates to start a total of four churches. In the following six years, they started seventy-three churches. It takes time to train men, but after years of waiting it is exciting to see new churches getting started on a continual basis.