‘The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few’; when Jesus talks about this in Matthew 9:37, he shows Christians an important area of need that must be addressed for His Kingdom to come. And it is for all Christians to realise that each one has an important role to play. We all have to become labourers and work the field of souls; so that we bring in the harvest and extend the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth and among all the peoples of the earth. It must be understood that all Christians have been given a mandate by God as can be seen in John 20:21 – “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Therefore there is a great responsibility that has been entrusted to us to ensure that God’s Kingdom is established on the earth and among all the Peoples.
Jonathan Lewis talks about the two forces of mission that are central in fulfilling the missionary task given to us. He says “the first of these was an attractive force … a second force in operation was an active, expansive force.” There will be people who will be attracted to Christ by all that He has to offer as well as looking at the lives that Christians lead; however this is more of a passive centripetal force. It must be realised that we as Christians must exert the active centrifugal force and take the Gospel to the Nations and to all the peoples of the earth just as Paul & Barnabas did by undertaking their missionary journeys.
Our vision at Trinity Theological College is similar to be centrifugal force by seeing the inimical and exiguously reached communities of India impacted through the transforming ministry of the anointed, equipped and exemplary Bible-Teachers, Compassionate-Pastors and Christian-Workers, by being a centre of excellence in Bible and Ministry for the glory of God.
A breakthrough can only happen when new churches/mission organisations become self-supporting entities with local leadership and having the zeal to bring more of their own people to Christ. Only when such ‘viable indigenous churches/mission organisations’ come into existence will the gospel be taken to all the peoples and to the ends of the earth.
In order to achieve this we as an institution hope to be able to –
• Parent the young lives we come in contact with; to be able to train and mentor them in the time they spend with us during their studies here.
• Partner with them once their course is done to try and assist them to put to use all they have learnt into practice.
• Be a Participant in their lives, treating them as fully equipped Christian workers but being alongside them when the need so arises.
In doing so our college aims to be able to offer Diploma as well as Under Graduate courses in Theology. We also aim to be able to offer quality education and training to all those who join - not only in the academic and spiritual realm but also to train them to develop a service attitude and to take up leadership when the need arises.
Among the various initiatives that we have taken up this year, which includes a revamped website, live streaming of various services conducted by the students and faculty as well as a increased social media presence. It is with a great sense of pride and achievement that we present the first issue of our Annual College Newsletter and Yearbook – Darshan: The Vision. Such a venture has been in the pipeline for a couple of years and now to see it finally published and in print is an achievement in itself, for which we give God the Glory. I would like to appreciate the faculty, staff and students of the college for their contributions towards this inaugural issue.
The name ‘Darshan’, for the yearbook, was chosen over a series of other names as the name brought out a multi-linguistic interpretation. Firstly, the Hebrew word Darshan (דַּרְשָׁן) means a professional or qualified expounder of Scripture or in literal terms a ‘teacher or preacher’ and comes from the root word dārash which would mean ‘to interpret or expound’. On the other hand, the Hindi word ‘Darshan’ which comes from the Sanskrit root darshan which can be literally translated to mean ‘vision or sight’. Keeping in mind the dual linguistic interpretations as mentioned above the aim of this newsletter is to be able to take the vision and insights of our college to all who flip through its pages so that they can learn more about our college, the community within, events as well as and all it has to offer.