The Many Classrooms of TMAI Europe
This May, international partnerships converged in a classroom at the Theological Bible Academy (TBA) in Croatia, where a visiting Polish lecturer, trained through TMAI’s school in Germany, taught an English-language course on Christ.
This is just one result of the relationships that TMAI’s training centers in Europe have developed, particularly through the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program at the European Bible Training Center (EBTC). The six-year program allows students to take classes from faculty at TMAI schools in the Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia, and Albania.
Kris Brackett is the director of this program, as well as a faculty member at TBA. So when one of TBA's professors was unable to teach a weeklong course on the Life of Christ, Kris thought of graduates of the M.Div. He reached out to a few men and extended the opportunity to come back to TBA's campus—this time to teach.
One graduate responded quickly: Przemysław Piłatowicz, an adjunct faculty member at Logos Bible Institute, a TMAI pre-candidate school in Poland.
“I told him that I would be delighted,” Przemysław explained, “but if there is anybody else, he should go with them."
Przemysław’s response was modest, but he is well-qualified, both through his EBTC training and his profession as a full-time middle school teacher.
Kris took Przemysław’s quick response as a sign of enthusiasm. A few months later, Przemysław was en route to Croatia.
The task was much more than a short guest lecture. For five days, from 8 am to 2:30 p.m., Przemysław would teach through the life and teachings of Christ as shown in the four Gospels. But through the intensity, the students remained engaged and responsive in their questions.
Przemysław, who is an elder-in-training at his local church in Poland, also taught in TBA’s chapel and enjoyed fellowship with the Croatian church. When English was insufficient, he and the Croatians were pleased to find much common ground between Croatian and Polish, which are similar Slavic languages.
“...we are seeing the value of partnership across countries. Those who have been trained in one context can now help strengthen students in another.”
These connections between schools, graduates, and students didn’t come about by accident. Early missionaries at TMAI training centers knew that investing in local faculty was key to extending the impact of their training. Their long-term vision has proved itself over several generations of students who are now crossing national borders.
Kris shared, “Rather than each ministry working in isolation, we are seeing the value of partnership across countries. Those who have been trained in one context can now help strengthen students in another.”
TBA will continue to partner with EBTC to bring select TBA graduates to the M.Div program. The next candidates may be the training center’s students from former Yugoslavia. Faculty anticipate a day when these pupils will in turn become teachers and take their training into other countries in the region such as Slovenia and Serbia.
In a continent often spiritually stifled by either tradition or secularism, partnerships like these reveal the progress of the Great Commission in every generation.
Kris said, “We love that our students find out what God is doing in other countries and that we can encourage our small churches that there are like-minded men all across Europe with the same convictions.”
To learn more about our 20 Member Schools click the button below.