This post is about the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, the place of our present matriculation. GIAL is a place that does not wow with you with location, facilities, huge enrollment, or anything of that sort. What is amazing about GIAL is the people that are here, both students and faculty.
Among my classmates are people from at least five different mission organizations. My fellow students are preparing to serve all over the world on every continent. I'd love to run down a list of where my classmates will be serving, but it turns out that most of them are headed for high-security locations that I shouldn't mention. Also among my classmates are some people that have had interesting careers before deciding on cross-cultural ministry. They include a pharmacist, a speech pathologist, an insurance adjuster, some teachers, a music minister, a film-maker, seminary graduates, a few military veterans, and the list could go on.
When it comes to faculty, that's where GIAL is most impressive. I'm blown away not only by the credentials of these folks, but by what they have accomplished. They all have served overseas in a long list of locations and have some fantastic stories as well as having been involved in many Bible translations. One of the faculty spent more than 30 years in Papua-New Guinea and worked to translate the New Testament into four different languages.
And GIAL is now celebrating a new addition to its degree offerings. A new MA in World Arts has recently been approved. It is a unique program that has been years in the making and hopefully will be training many Arts Consultants to inspire worship expressions across the globe.
This is a great place to be and we are enjoying it very much. It will be hard to leave here when the time comes!
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