It is our ambition, by God’s grace, to enroll students from Asian countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Myanmar, and others. Although many majors will eventually be offered, the focus of our campus will be on training teachers for Christian school classrooms, thus being used by God to extend the good news of Jesus Christ while helping communities learn to flourish through our graduates.

Editor’s note: Dr. James L. Drexler, a member of the Presbyterian Church in America, is currently Dean of the Education and Social Sciences at Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Georgia, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership at Saint Louis University and served for twenty-three years as a middle and high school teacher, coach, and administrator in St. Louis, Missouri. He has authored two books (Schools as Communities in 2007, and Nurturing the School Community in 2011), and he and his wife Sara (an educator and administrator herself for 33 years) are relocating to Indonesia to lead the International Teachers College at the Universitas Pelita Harapan near Jakarta.

It is not an exaggeration to state that the growth of the Christian church in many Asian countries is at unprecedented levels in the history of Christianity. That fact, coupled with the economic development and the progress in freedoms in many countries makes this a unique time in human history – and the ideal time to launch the International Teachers College at the Universitas Pelita Harapan (ITC @ UPH) near Jakarta, Indonesia.

We welcome you to explore our website which describes this new partnership between Covenant College in the US (www.covenant.edu) and the Universitas Pelita Harapan (“University of Light and Hope” – www.uph.edu) to offer American degrees and programs for all of Asia.

Beginning in August, 2014, undergraduate (tertiary) degrees will be offered in English, Biblical Studies, and Early Childhood (Elementary) Education on the UPH campus located 30 minutes west of Jakarta. In the years to follow, we will add other liberal arts degrees in history, math, the sciences and arts along with a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) to prepare students for teaching in middle grades and secondary Christian school classrooms across Asia.

It is our ambition, by God’s grace, to enroll students from Asian countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, China, Myanmar, and others. Although many majors will eventually be offered, the focus of our campus will be on training teachers for Christian school classrooms, thus being used by God to extend the good news of Jesus Christ while helping communities learn to flourish through our graduates.

I am privileged to be leading this new campus, and am excited to see what the Lord will do in and through us as we pursue this calling. “God is good all the time; all the time God is good” is a phrase we use at our church, and His goodness is certainly in evidence as we begin this exciting adventure. Won’t you come and join us?

For the glory of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

Jim Drexler

President

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