One Scholar Reaches Thousands
”The Langham Scholarship program exposes church leaders from the Majority World to the highest standards of Biblical and theological scholarships, and in doing so strengthens the foundations of the church in the developing world” –Ivan Satyavrata, India
JSM/Langham Scholar, Ivan Satyavrta is an excellent example of Langham Scholars bearing fruit. He completed his Ph.D. in 2001 and is currently serving as a principal of the Southern Asia Bible College (SABC) in Bangalore, India. In this position, he has a major impact training the next generation of preachers and teachers in India, while equipping and strengthening the church. Each year, many students complete their studies at SABC and begin to serve in church planting, frontier mission, compassion ministry and pastoral work in South Asia.
Ivan spent the early years of his ministry as a pioneer pastor in downtown Bombay, in street evangelism and outreach in the city slums. He has served on the teaching faculty and in various administrative capacities at Southern Asia Bible College since 1985. Even as principal of the school, Ivan continues to be faithful to his first love – teaching Theology and Mission, and his chief interest has been in issues relating to the Christian witness to people of other faiths.
After receiving his Th.M. degree from Regent College, Vancouver, Canada, Ivan was supported by John Stott Ministries and the Langham Partnership for his Ph.D. through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, U.K. He has published a number of articles, is working on a book, and his Ph.D. thesis on the Christian understanding of other religions, is due for publication.
Ivan plays an active role in evangelical theological education in India as Chairman of the Asia Theological Association (India), consisting of over 75 member institutions. He also serves on the Governing or Executive bodies of Union Biblical Seminary, SAIACS, TAFTEE, ATA and the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He is a committed churchman and has a part-time ministry role in a 7,000-member congregation of the Assemblies of God in Bangalore. Ivan and his wife are deeply engaged in a variety of compassion and development ministries, most closely with Bombay Teen Challenge, a Christian NGO involved in the rehabilitation of street children, drug addicts and commercial sex workers in the city of Bombay. Ivan credits his Ph.D. training, made possible by the JSM/Langham scholarship:
“My doctorate has greatly enhanced my contribution to the leadership roles within which I function here at the college, as well as my wider responsibilities in national theological education.”
This is the aim of the Lanham Scholars program. Because of support provided by JSM and the Langham Partnership for three to five years, a single scholar is able to obtain his Ph.D. and return home to train a new generation of preachers and teachers for the church, who, in turn, go on to impact thousands.