Pacific Islands University At-A-Glance
Founded
1976, as the Micronesian Institute of Biblical Studies. On July 1, 2009 Pacific Islands Bible College will become Pacific Islands University.
Supporting Agencies
Evangelical Church of Chuuk
Liebenzell Mission International
Palau Evangelical Church
Yap Evangelical Church
Accreditation
Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS)
Student Demographics
(all sites)
98 full-time undergraduate students
62 part-time undergraduate students
1 full-time graduate student
3 part-time graduate students
Library Holding
14,700 volumes
STRUCTURE
The new university structure will consist of three colleges — Pacific Islands Bible College (continuing all the existing programs), Pacific Islands Evangelical Seminary (MAR program), and Pacific Islands Christian College (the Christian liberal studies programs on the drawing board).
STATEMENT OF FAITH
The Bible: We believe that the whole Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit by verbal, plenary inspiration. It is inerrant in the original autographs. It is the divine authority and infallible rule for faith, life and doctrine.
The Trinity: We believe in one God, eternally existing in three divine persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—equal in nature, power and glory.
The Father: We believe that God the Father is spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His attributes.
The Son: We believe that Jesus Christ is God the Son, that He was begotten of the Holy Spirit, born without sin of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for man’s sins, rose again bodily, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, and that He will return in power and glory.
The Holy Spirit: We believe in the personality of the Holy Spirit, that He convicts the world of sin, regenerates the sinner and baptizes, indwells, guides, instructs and empowers believers for godly living and service.
Man: We believe that man was directly created by God in His own image, that he disobeyed and thereby incurred both spiritual and physical death; consequently, all men are sinners by nature and practice and are in need of regeneration by faith in Jesus Christ.
Salvation: We believe that the atoning death of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground of justification and salvation for mankind. Only those who receive Jesus Christ by personal faith in Him are born of the Holy Spirit and thereby become children of God.
Resurrection: We believe in the bodily resurrection of all the dead, of the believer to everlasting blessedness and joy with the Lord, and of the unbeliever to judgment and everlasting punishment.
The Church: We believe that the universal Church is composed of all persons who, through faith in Jesus Christ, have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and are united in the Body of Christ of which He is the Head; that local churches are established for the purpose of worship, instruction, mutual edification and witnessing to the lost.
Baptism and Communion: We believe that baptism and the Lord’s supper are ordinances instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ to be observed by the Church during this present age. They are visible signs of God’s grace but are not to be regarded as a means of salvation.
Eschatology: We believe that the resurrected Christ ascended into heaven and now appears before the Father as our Advocate and Great High Priest; that He will return again personally, bodily, visibly with great power and glory to bring universal peace and righteousness.
Christian Service: We believe that victorious Christian living includes Christian service, the preaching of the Gospel in all parts of the earth, the winning of souls, and the gracious ministry of love and compassion to all.
Notes: In view of controversy regarding the first eleven chapters of Genesis, it is appropriate to clarify the PIBC Statement of Faith as follows:
We affirm that the people and events of all of the book of Genesis lived and happened, that is, Adam and Noah were actual men of history, and the creation, fall and flood were historical events.
We also believe that the first man Adam did not evolve from simpler creatures, but rather was created by God at a point in time.
PIBC believes that Satan and the demonic beings who follow him are adversaries of God, the Church and all mankind. The destiny of all such beings is eternal destruction in hell, and as such, no repentance or possibility of salvation remains for such as these. Satan and the powers that follow him, although greater in power than any human being, are not sovereign or in any way equal to God in power, and their doom is certain.
PIBC accepts the biblical account concerning Satan and the demonic beings on all the points, rejecting and refuting all attempts to demythologize or idealize his existence.
HISTORY
Pacific Islands Bible College is a recent development in the rich heritage of Christ’s growing Church in Micronesia. Its aim is to support the growth and development of the Church. As a result, PIBC is closely linked with the history of the Church in Micronesia.
The American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions in Boston, Massachusetts was one of the early mission societies in the United States, and sent its first missionaries to Hawaii in 1820.
One generation later, the new Hawaiian church formed its own mission board. In 1850, a team of Hawaiian nationals and American missionaries started work in the Gilbert, Marshall, Kosrae and Pohnpei islands. Eventually, Pohnpeian Christians were trained and transported to the lower Mortlock Islands of Chuuk to plant churches there.
Over the years, the teachers, evangelists and church planters moved farther west. By 1879, the Hawaii Mission Society, American Board, and Pohnpeian Mission Society worked together among the islands of Chuuk Lagoon.
The islands were under Spanish rule during that time. There was considerable strife between the Spanish Catholic priests and the evangelical American missionaries, which led to the expulsion of the Protestant missionaries from Pohnpei.
Later, German administrators promised religious freedom to the people.
They replaced Spanish priests with German priests, and the Protestant church requested German evangelical missionaries to resume the work in Pohnpei and Chuuk.
Missionaries arrived in Micronesia, sent by the German branch of China Inland Mission, which had been founded by Hudson Taylor. The sending organization later became known as Liebenzell Mission.
Japanese gunboats soon arrived and ended German rule. The Japanese restricted the foreign missionaries and national church leaders in the succeeding years. In 1929, Liebenzell missionaries and Chuukese Christians proceeded to Palau to plant churches.
During the Japanese era, a Japanese mission society called the Nanyo Dendo Dang worked in Chuuk, but left the area after World War II.
New American and German Liebenzell missionaries continued the work in Micronesia along with missionaries of the United Church Board of World Ministries.
In 1951, the Palauan church sent two national believers to establish a church in Yap. The UCBWM moved all of its missionaries out of Micronesia in 1972, but continued to assist national churches in significant ways.
The American administration emphasized education through public schools across the islands, while the missions and national churches recognized a need for specialized, professional training for pastors and teachers. The Pacific Teacher Training School opened in Pohnpei. After the PTT closed, theological training was sought in the United States, Philippines and Melanesia.
Church and mission leaders were dissatisfied with the need to obtain pastoral training outside Micronesia, so in the mid-seventies they organized two Bible institutes; in Chuuk, the Micronesian Institute of Biblical Studies, and in the Marshall Islands, the Marshalls Theological College.
The following years solidified Guam as an important hub of life for Micronesians, so a theological scholastic center was sought there.
In 1991, the school formerly called MIBS in Chuuk added a new campus on Guam, and the institute became Pacific Islands Bible College.
Also in 1991 PIBC began to offer the AA and BA degrees, along with the certificate and diploma programs. In 2004 PIBC received accreditation from The Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools (TRACS), which is recognized by the United States Department of Education (USDE), the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE).
This opened up financial aid opportunities for the students and set established quality bench marks for the degrees.
Today, PIBC is committed to respond to the increasingly quick pace of development in Micronesia and beyond, and continues to provide a quality Christian education while serving the growing international church population of the region.
