SAIACS, The First Thirty Years

South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies
SAIACS The First Thirty Years Copyright 2012 South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. Published by SAIACS Press A division of South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies SAIACS, 363, Doddagubbi Cross Road, Kothanur, Bangalore-560077, India ISBN 978-81-87712-28-2 Cover Design & Layout: George Korah, Primalogue Publishing Media Private Limited Printed and bound by Brilliant Printers Private Limited, Bangalore Cover photo: Courtesy Alan Knott For more information about books available from SAIACS Press, visit our website: http://www.saiacs.org Contact us at saiacspress@saiacs.org
ChAIRPeRSoNS NoTe
I feel extremely honoured to be able to contribute to this informative, well written and compact book on the history of SAIACS. The book is a record of the events that took place over the period starting with SAIACS inception down to the present day. I have been a witness to its gradual growth and achievements, ever since I was an MTh student accepted when SAIACS was three years old. Now, with SAIACS thirty years into its timeline, I am glad for the opportunity to place on record my gratitude to its influence over me and my life. SAIACS had its struggles to reckon with, but by the grace of God and the relentless efforts of the Founder-Principal Dr. Graham houghton, it emerged unscathed and stronger. SAIACS has been imparting the divine truth of Gods most powerful Word to receptive minds, leaving every Christian it moulds with no other choice but to have a clear vision for the Kingdom of God. It is my sincere prayer that SAIACS should continue to turn out products of excellence. Let me use the olympic motto to wish SAIACS: May it strive to become swifter, higher, stronger. Dr. A. J. Anandan Chairperson, SAIACS Trust 6 March 2012
PRINCIPALS NoTe
Its a pleasure to invite you into an adventure of faith. The story of SAIACS is an adventure. I remember a friend talking to me about Dr. Graham houghton. he said that he made a surprising impact on hearers. he talked quietly about big ideas. The quiet-spoken delivery, the deft interweaving of stories, and the quickly painted strategic picture left hearers with a clear grasp of the urgent need for training the trainers in India. They walked away pondering a big vision centred on an institution called SAIACS. I knew what my friend was talking about. Coming with my family in the 1990s to study at SAIACS was life-changing. We got a more global vision of what God is doing and found ourselves enthralled, part of the adventure. The place itself seemed to breathe excellence for mission. Graham and Carol had big ambitions for God and for the church in India. This book is about the adventure they began. Its also about the teachers, staff and students who joined in that adventure. Its about the more than 700 alumni who have made such a difference, with sacrificial service for the Lord Jesus. SAIACS is bigger than anyone realized it would be in the beginning. After thirty years its time to celebrate a little. What is far more important is whether and how well SAIACS has served and will continue to serve the adventure of faith. That may depend on how well you and I participate in Gods adventure. Read on Ian W. Payne, PhD Principal SAIACS 1 Mar 2012
ACKNoWLeDGeMeNTS
This project owes much to many. Carroll Ferguson Rader, a friend of SAIACS, set the ball rolling as the initial researcher. She worked through archives and transcripts, and did a preliminary round of interviews. Her draft narrative was the chassis on which the first three chapters and chapter six were constructed. Judith Payne of the Administrative Office helped to gather up stories for the side-bars from both home and abroad. She, along with students Ravella Preethi Krupanidhi and Tabitha Ginelle Philips, patiently sifted through boxes and electronic folders fat with photographs old and new. Rezinald Dayanand, the receptionist, willingly scanned pictures and documents from the early days. Visitor Alan Knott, a professional photographer, did several final rounds of photographs gratis, enough to kill my feet as he cheerfully complained. Others whose flash drives poured pictures into the photograph pool were students Kelhukiesie Savino, Nividi Kevichusa and Benjamin Franklin Daniel, faculty members Drs Nigel Ajay Kumar and Atul Aghamkar, and student spouse Godwin Sunil. We cast our net wide for the first round of test-readers: Tej Paul and Grace Rajan from administration; Dr. Nigel Ajay Kumar from the faculty; Salome Simeon, an alumna; Thanu Oommen, the wife of a faculty trainee; and Susan Bennema, a faculty spouse. Their critique of the first draft gently shook it into final form. Former principal Dr. Graham Houghton and his wife Carol went over the text and layout several times for a final edit of the content. For the painstaking task of copy editing, I owe thanks to visitors Lynn Stapleton and Beatrice osborne, and student spouse Vivan John. Selena George, a faculty spouse, and student Samuel Joseph contributed their sharp eyes to proof-reading. Principal Dr. Ian Payne was the lynchpin that held together the various components of the year-long process of producing the book. Shilpa Waghmare, the press manager, navigated the project through the treacherous waters of production deadlines. George Korah of Primalogue Publishing Media Pvt. Ltd. took on the job of design. Who would have thought that the chaotic jumble of pictures and text could be reordered into so pleasing a shape? The interviews provided hours of most agreeable time travel. The SAIACS gardeners, cooks, watchmen and cleaning ladies gladly trawled their experiences for memorabilia. A site engineer and supervisor had an animated reunion after more than a decade. Tea breaks became livelier as administrative staff and faculty corporately reconstructed events, wrangled about dates and details, and exclaimed over resurrected photographs. Indeed, this project owes much to many. Soli Deo Gloria, who made possible SAIACS and its first thirty years. havilah Dharamraj, PhD head of Department, old Testament SAIACS 29 February 2012
contents
As the Eagle Flies

Prologue
1. Passion ......... 17
Chennai 1981
2. Growth .......... 27
Chennai 1981-1983
3. Risk .......... 39
Koramangala 1983-1987
4. Cost .......... 55
Kothanur 1988-1994
5. Success ........ 95
Kothanur 1995-2003
6. Excellence ..... 113 7. Teamwork .... 123

Kothanur 2004-2008 Kothanur 2009-2012
As the eagle Flies

Prologue
n days long ago when this part of South India was a Hoysala realm, a certain corps of palace guard was named after the garuda, the eagle. In a more recent era, the Wodeyar family of Mysore bore on their coat of arms the mythical ganda-bherunda, the double-headed eagle. Since then, the University of Mysore and the current government continue to use this as their emblem. Thus, it is fitting to apply this motif to SAIACS, an institution located in the capital of a state where the eagle has long been used as a meaningful symbol. Beyond this, there are more significant reasons. In the process of recording briefly this history of thirty years, we cannot but marvel at what God has brought about.
the main foyer. Under the portrait of a fierce-eyed eagle is a legend that those who have been in SAIACS cannot have missed. FOCUS, it advises. And, in smaller letters below it explains, If you chase two rabbits, both will escape. Those who pioneered SAIACS did exactly that. They focused on a special need of the timesa postgraduate theological institution with concentrations in the major disciplines, so as to equip and enable the leadership of the South Asian church. The perceived reason for the existence of SAIACS was Excellence for Mission. It continues to be so these three decades, with undistracted attention. It is the way the eagle flieswith focus. It is the way God leadswith forethought, discipline, and direction. The students of SAIACS, both past and present, will resonate with this image of the eagle. As the crow flies is an idiom for expressing the shortest distance between two points; but, as the eagle flies reminds us of that stirring Isaianic text so often quoted: Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:31) The eagle flies, not seeking shortcuts, but, seeking height. We trust that SAIACS has taught its students the fine skills of soaring and gliding, circling and swoopinggoing from height to glorious height in serving the cause of the mission of God. As we fly into the decades ahead, with the sun warm on our backs and the cool wind streaming beneath our wings, we urge ourselves on with the ringing cry that concludes C S Lewis The Last Battle: Further up, and further in!
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions, the LORD alone led [us]. (Deut. 32:11-12). God, as this Great Eagle, has favoured this fledgling institution with his watchful eye. As we tested our wings, we had no fear of falling. As we continue in flight, we are safe in the knowledge that he flies alongside. The metaphor of the eagle is captured in a poster that hangs at the landing of the staircase leading up from
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HISTORY OF SAIACS : TIMELINE
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Passion
Chennai 1981
Chennai 1981
Dr. Graham Houghton and Dr. Bruce Nicholls had much in common. They were both New Zealanders who had come to India as missionaries. Working in different parts of the vast subcontinent, they carried a common, deep interest in theological education for Indias Christians. Nicholls recalls that at this point, however, Houghton was wondering if his career in India had reached fulfilment, and was thinking of returning to his home country. On the other hand, Houghtons wife Carolborn to missionary parents and raised in Indiawas in no hurry to leave her beloved India.
wo men sat at a green-painted cane table, holding cups of tea. Under a shady eucalyptus tree, they were enjoying the coolness of Kodaikanal Hillsa break from the summer heat of the plains. The year was 1981.
Passion
As they talked ideas began to flow, and soon they were sharing the pain of the brain drain, Houghton remembers. The finest minds would go to study abroad and at that time about seventy per cent never returned to serve their country. The evangelical community in India needed to demonstrate the desire and resolve to develop theological education of the kind that is a credible alternative to similar courses offered both here and overseas.
As for the area of specialization, Nicholls and Houghton agreed that if they were to scratch where it itched, then, missions demanded attention. Across India, missionaries went from their home culture into another, adapting as best as they could to a new language, customs, food and dress. Their field strategies were cooked up in nothing much more than the homely kadai of commonsense. We need a programme in India that offers a Masters in Missiology, Houghton said. There was no seminary that offered it. As for the delivery of this education, Nicholls shared his experience of the modular system as he had seen it in Manilaa string of one-month courses, each taught by subject experts. That day,
The Story of an Arranged Marriage

went off to New Zealand. Upon his arrival in Virginia, McDearmid apparently told his daughter about his conversation with houghton in the airport and gave Carol the New Zealanders address. She wrote a tentative, friendly letter to houghton who remembers, My mother was shocked one day when a letter turned up for me with a USA stamp on it. She wanted to know what that was about. Well, houghton said, this is a letter from Carol McDearmid, the daughter of missionaries in India. have you written to her? his mother queried. No, I havent, houghton confessed. he explains: My mother was a very proper woman and was therefore horrified that some American girl would write to her son in a chatty fashion without him taking the lead. Not too good a start from her point of view. Home visit finished, Houghton flew off to the States to begin university studies. Carols father had not forgotten their deal, however, and soon invited the young missionary to come to Virginia for Christmas. So, come the holidays, houghton went to Virginia to meet Carol. he found a petite young woman with long, dark hair and arresting hazel eyes. her good mind and outgoing personality didnt hurt first impressions either. experienced in decision-making, houghton soon knew what he wanted to do: After three days, I decided Id better invite this woman to be my wife. After all, she grew up in India. She speaks three or four Indian languages. If things get difficult, she wont want to run home to mama. In August 1968, two people who both had India on their hearts were married.
make good decisions, choices that would satisfy his father and fend off his difficult questions. This is when he left school, without finishing his secondary education. Having become a Christian at the age of nine, Houghton eventually moved from the farm to the mission field. He came to India with Oriental Mission Society (OMS) International. Working in Madrasnow re-named Chennaione particular difference between his home country and this one impacted him. He saw that Indians give a very high priority to education. Often, he was asked if he had a university degree. The truth, of course, was that he had not even completed high school. Though bewildered at first by this emphasis, he determinedly directed his furloughsthe breaks after a set period of servicetowards education. On his first break, taken in America, he gained a bachelors degree, and followed it up with a masters. Significantly, his area of specialization was History. He may not have known then that his inclination for History would stamp itself on the dedication plaques of the buildings of a campuswe will come to that presently. During this period of study, he met and married Carol McDearmid, the sprightly daughter of missionaries in India. As it happens, her father Andrew McDearmid was, for a period, principal of the Southern Asia Bible College in Bangalore, down the road from where SAIACS would eventually buy property and establish its campus.
Passion Chennai 1981
The farmer from New Zealand
Dr. Graham Houghton stood in the Delhi airport awaiting his flight home. It was furlough time, and before going to Azusa Pacific University he planned to visit his family in New Zealand. In the departure area he discovered missionary friends, Dr. and Mrs. Andrew McDearmid, former principal of the Southern Asia Bible College. After hearing about houghtons education plans, McDearmid had an idea: When you get to the States, would you be interested in meeting our daughter Carol who grew up in North India? Weary of his single state, houghtons reply was clear: I would be interested to meet anybodys daughter. I was taking it pretty lightly, houghton admits, but McDearmid was serious. And so thats how we parted. We exchanged addresses and I
declares Nicholls, Graham caught the vision and the rest is history! When Houghton returned to Chennai, he invited a number of Indian leaders from the city, and from Bangalore, to come and consider teaming up under the umbrella of the Association of Evangelical Theological Education in India (AETEI) and offer a two-year Master of Theology (MTh) in Missiology. The deliberations of that meeting birthed what would grow into the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS). Thus, the story of SAIACS begins with Graham
Houghton. And the story of Graham Houghton begins on a farm in New Zealand. Beginning at age eight, his father assigned his young son to feed calves, drive the tractor, and clean pig pens. When Houghton turned sixteen, his father applied and received permission for his son to be tested for a special, heavy-dutytruck drivers licenseNew Zealanders are not normally licensed for this kind of vehicle until age eighteenbecause he needed him to deliver loads of pigs to market, to sell them, and to return home with the proceeds. As he learned how to shoulder that particular responsibility and to sell pigs at a profit, he also learned how to
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The First Thirty Years SAIACS The First Thirty Years
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What a Good Mentor Can Do
A great thing happened in 1977, Dr. Graham houghton remembers. Stanley Wolpert, my professor from UCLA, came to India on a lecture tour. Hed been banned from the country because of his book Nine Hours to Rama, a historical novel about the final nine hours in the lives of the Brahmins who travelled from Bombay to Delhi to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. Wolpert had not been in India for seventeen years, but when the ban was lifted, he came to India, and we met for dinner in Chennai. During the meal he leaned across the table and said, Graham, when are you coming back to finish your PhD? That was a surprise. houghton said to him, I dont think Im going to be doing a PhD, Stanley, because my life is moving in a different direction, you know. So as to shake him off, houghton continued, I dont want to do a political topic for a dissertation. I dont want to write on the life and times of some British governor or on the Madras presidency, because my heart and mind are in Christian mission. No, no, he returned. You could write on some aspect of the history of the church in India. This is a field not greatly researched. That stopped houghton in his tracks. he had no idea that a world-class secular university like UCLA would entertain a distinctly Christian topic for a PhD dissertation. With this, the possibility of a PhD was seeded in houghtons mind. By then the Houghtons had been back in India for nearly seven years completing their first stint as regular missionaries. They stayed beyond the usual four-year term without taking a furlough because there was no one else to take over. (Meanwhile, their daughter Dilkushi was born, her nameone who gladdens the heartdeclaring their delight at her arrival.) Because they had stayed in India for a term and a half, they pondered applying for a furlough and a half, so that Houghton could fulfil the PhD residency requirements at UCLA. Mission approval came and the Houghton family, all three of them, headed to California and houghtons PhD Studies. First day in his new office in the institute building
compass by which he charted the course of his dreams and the tool with which he crafted the content of his sermons. Even the names of the residential blocks and apartments at SAIACS are an education in the history of the Indian church, a sort of Hebrews chapter 11 of Whos Who. It is a practice that SAIACS has maintained well after the baton of leadership changed hands. While other institutions honour their donors and founders, the front doors of SAIACS homes commemorate heroes of Indian church history such as Thangbawnga, the itinerant evangelist who came to be called the Paul of Mizoram, and K E Abraham, who founded the Indian Pentecostal Church of God (IPC). Houghton recounts how his doctoral work impacted his perspective. This research changed my life, he declares, both as a person and as a missionary. The sub-title of his dissertation makes the point: The Impoverishment of Dependency. As he burrowed through centuryold church records, he found reinforcement for his conviction that too much assistance creates dependency. I believe in fairness, he says. Wherever someone needs helpa broken leg, tuberculosis, Downs Syndromethey deserve help. The records proved to Houghton that too much help makes the church dependent. It lacks courage, and all those vitals of character which make it strong, able to trust God, and accomplish great things.
Having grown up in North India, Carol could speak Hindi with the same ease that Houghton had with Tamil. They were married in 1968 mid-way through Houghtons studies, and returned to India in 1970. The UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) campus at which he pursued the MA, and the excellent mentor he found there in Stanley Wolpert greatly enthused him. Why couldnt such an excellent academic environment be created in India, he wondered. This was the seed of a thought from which a spreading banyan of an
institution came into existence. Houghton returned to his responsibilities as principal of Madras Bible Seminary (MBS), in Chennai. Carol introduced a course for the student wives, a concept that would carry over to SAIACS. Seven years later, it became possible for Houghton to resume studies in UCLA with his former mentor, towards a PhD. His research led to a dissertation titled: The History of the Protestant Church in Madras1870 to 1920: The Impoverishment of Dependency. From here on, it would seem that church history became the
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Consequently, one of SAIACS principles is that every student, every future Christian leader who studies there, pays something toward his or her training. Financial aid is sometimes available, but everyone contributes something. There are no free rides. It was shortly after this dissertation was done that Houghton found himself sharing his seed of an idea with Nicholls in the year 1981the idea for an MTh in Missiology. This seed had taken a whole decade to germinate. But here it was at last, a shoot pushing through into the light of day.
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Stained glass window in the Chapel of the Resurrection designed by Dilkushi Houghton
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SAIACS The First Thirty Years
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Growth
Chennai 1981-1983
n request, Dr. Atul Aghamkar will show you a certain yellowing sheet of paper with frayed edges. Carefully preserved, this is the letter he received in 1982 from Dr. Graham Houghton. Now head of the department of Missiology at SAIACS, Aghamkar was then one of the sixty or so applicants for Houghtons new MTh programme. This document was part of the admissions correspondence. Somewhat like a cuckoo in a crows nest, the new programme hatched in borrowed space. The understanding was that the programme was to be run in Madras Bible Seminary (MBS). What is more, the paper is stamped with the AETEI letterhead. SAIACS, when it began, had neither name nor home.
Growth
Chennai 1981-1983
The Association of Evangelical Theological Education in India (AETEI), organized in the late 1970s, was intended to strengthen the efforts of evangelical training institutions all across India. AETEI board members and interested others gathered in Chennai at Houghtons invitation to discuss his idea for offering, under the auspices of AETEI, a one-time MTh degree course with an emphasis in Missiology. The response to the whole thing was rather enthusiastic, Houghton remembers. But, as it happens, enthusiastic approval sometimes vaporizes and you may be the only person left standingwhich is what happened in this situation. The beginning of SAIACS is on the record as occurring in the summer of 1981. Houghton and a cluster of interested leaders began putting together the necessary parts of their dream postgraduate programme, the dream that had been incubating for ten long years.
As they began to draw up a likely curriculum of courses, they realized two things. First, the incoming students may not have either the language skills or the prior foundation necessary for a masters level. Secondly, the course instructors would have to be borrowed, and may not have more than a couple of weeks time to offer the programme. We felt we could get almost anybody for three weeks
Thank God Its Friday!
Among the earliest Faculty
The little booklet produced for use at SAIACS first graduation service18th october, 1985lists the following as included in its faculty over the last two years. Dr. Samuel Bhajjan, henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies Rev. P T Chandapilla, St. Thomas evangelical Church of India Dr. Thomas Daniel, Madras Christian College Dr. James Gamaliel, Concordia Theological Seminary Dr. T C George, Southern Asia Bible College Dr. Ken Gnanakan, ACTS Institute Dr. Narendra John, Yavatmal College for Leadership Training Rev. Vishal Mangalwadi, TRACI Dr. Bruce Nicholls, World evangelical Fellowship Rev. ezra Sargunam, evangelical Church of India Dr. Sunand Sumithra, World evangelical Fellowship Dr. John Thannickal, Nava Jeeva Ashram Dr. Theodore Williams, Indian evangelical Mission Dr. Miss A. Zachariah, South India Biblical Seminary
By the end of the 1990s, the Friday evening community time in the student lounge was bursting at the seams. So, in 1997, we formed four cell groups. They were called Promise Keepers, More Than Conquerors, Jars of Clay and Forever Friends. These groups consisted of students and their families, and would meet on Friday nights after the community meal for a time of relaxed fellowship after a busy week of academics. Within the cell group there were pot lucks and picnics. Between cell groups there were hotly contested volley ball tournaments, with croquet and cricket added in later. on the Sports Day, the tug-of-war became the grand finale and was the reason for sore throats and bodies the next day. As the numbers grew, two more cell groups were added, and then another two bringing the number to eight. During these years new names were
added to the mixGodzone, Kristu Parivar and Aroma. The eight cell group experiment lasted only a year and SAIACS reverted to its current six groups. Meanwhile, some old ones changed names. Jars of Clay was thought to be too fragile and was exchanged for eklektos. Forever Friends must have reminded people of language they had left behind with their schooldays, and was reinvented as The eternals. The current six groups retain two of the original ones (More Than Conquerors and Promise Keepers), alongside the newer ones (Aroma, Godzone, The eternals and eklektos). In the course of time, cell group chapel was instituted. other than the family social night on Fridays, students began to meet on one of the weekday mornings for sharing and prayer. At one time, third-year students were reassigned to a different cell group. however, group loyalty proved
too strong, and students now devote themselves to one cell group throughout their studentship. over the calendar year, cell groups get to showcase themselves as a team in several events. on and off, cell groups have organized the annual Prayer Day, the food festivals leading up to the Mission Conference, and the Christmas service. More consistently, each group leads the community in morning chapel for one week every year. Creative juices are stirred up, and the Chapel and campus bear signs of the weeks theme. You might find a river flowing down the aisle with real live fish splashing about in it; you might find a wall at the Commons inviting your comments on a particular theme; the congregation might be temporarily blindfolded to make a creative point; choirs with painted faces (and hair) may lead the worship; groups may offer free hugs. With a cell group, you can never be sure what to expect. Atul Aghamkar, a student in the first batch1982
or a month, and almost nobody for a whole semester, Houghton reflects. The solution to the two-headed dilemma was the modular systema system that was to become a SAIACS distinctive. Thus, rather than a semester framework for the academic year, the 2-year MTh ran courses consecutively, month-by-month. Later, at the graduation of the first batch of students, Houghton would be able to report: We have discovered that students appreciate giving their undivided attention to one subject at a time. It has, they tell us, greatly assisted them in
achieving competence in a given subject. On that same occasion, Trustee Dr. Ken Gnanakan would commend Houghton as key to the effective functioning of this whole new concept of modular education in India. This confidence that even well-known teachers would help out for short stints proved well founded. Some were available to visit MBS, some offered their services from Bangalore. Thus, it was decided to let the students alternate residence between Chennai and Bangalore. We get an idea of the range and standing of these early contributors with this small sample:
From overseas:
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Rev. Jim George, Grace Community Church Dr. Paul hiebert, Fuller Theological Seminary Dr. Ronald Sider, eastern Baptist Seminary Dr. hathway Struthers, Columbia Bible College Donald McGavran, Dean of the School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary J. oswald Sanders, General Director,overseas Missionary Fellowship
Dr. Paul Heibert, world-renowned anthropologist; Drs Vinay Samuel and Chris Sugden, vicars at St. Johns Church in Bangalore; a leading Indian bishop, Ezra Sargunam; Dr. Donald MacGavran, internationally known church growth guru; Dr. J O Sanders, director of OMS, Singapore; Dr. Ron Sider, a social justice advocate; and frontline Indian leaders and thinkers such as P T Chandapilla and Vishal Mangalwadi. The first batch ended up taking the first four months in MBS, the next three months in EFICORs (Evangelical Fellowship of India, Commission on Relief) training centre on Hutchins Road, Bangalore, the next five months back in MBS, and the last three months at the Southern Asia Bible College (SABC), Bangalore. After these nomadic fifteen months the studentsgratefully, we presume!returned home to complete their theses. Interesting to note is that this MTh programme was to be run periodically, with breaks. Houghton recalls that they thought that after this first batch, they would disassemble the scaffolding, shall we say, and wait for two or three years, after which we might reassemble the programme again. Things were to turn out differently, as we shall see. Eventually we had the thing assembled, Houghton says. Brochures and advertising went out, stating that we would have classes in OMSs Madras Bible Seminary, where I was still
the principal. We felt hopeful that we would get maybe twelve students. More than sixty students applied from all over India. Sixteen were selected, and on the day we beganJune, 1982we had twelve students. Houghton would humorously refer to them as his twelve disciples. Among them, one had been a Catholic priest, another, a classical dancer by profession. From them, one went on to become the head of SAIACS department of missiology, and another, a bishop in the Lutheran church. Even in this earliest of batches, there was the cultural and international mix so characteristic of the institution todaytwo were Indonesian, one was Burmese, three were from the northeast of India, and the rest from mainland India. The students, all men, bunked in with MBS students. Aghamkar, as the only family man, found a residence nearby. Two to a room, the remaining eleven occupied the ground floor of the student dormitory. They used one classroom in the administrative building. Not only did we teach the students in that one classroom, Houghton recalls, we also had the library therea two-door almirah, a steel cupboard, which held about 150 books, SAIACS first library. That cupboard is still in the Library today. Something like the Israelites and the pillar of cloud in the wilderness, whenever the students moved from Chennai to Bangalore
Back row (LtoR): Michael Chonglui, Ch Ph Prakash, Raja Mohandass, Suntosh Mathew, Lal Khwalian, NKP Nathaniel, Kezhasetuo Terhuja (Zabu) Front row (LtoR): Samuel Sidjabat, Atul Aghamkar, Graham Houghton, (resource person), Imnanuklu Longkumer, Victor E V Ehrhardt, (absent: Noah Bright)
or back again, the library moved with them. Aghamkar recalls that the library neatly fitted into the back of an Ambassador car, and that when he had the responsibility of this library, one of his tasks was to manually count all the books every night. Later librarians should be grateful that this did not become a part of their job description! A practice distinctive to SAIACS seems to have sprung from the necessity of these times. Fridays, at MBS, were a day of fasting. In compensation, Carol Houghton hit upon the idea of a Friday community dinner, followed
by games. This took place at the Houghton residence on the Gurukul campus. Once a month, Atul Aghamkars wife, Suman, would add some Marathi flavourspuran poli and kheerto Carols eclectic menu that included fried fish and Chinese fried rice. The Houghtons continued the Friday night tradition at their home, which grew as the institution grew. It became the big social event of the week. We invited everyone connected with the institution, Carol says. None of us had television in those days. Many of our students had never watched one, and
so they were great at making up their own entertainment. We had all kinds of hilarious fun, everything from charades to skits to mimicking people for the others to guess who. The number of students continued to grow and when they moved to the Kothanur campus, the tradition continued even though Carols kitchen could no longer manage the job. As she says, When the number got past forty, I had reached my limit. The task then passed on to the Commons. Several significant events happened in those first two years, 1982-1983. To begin with, the
Growth Chennai 1981-1983
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Anonymous
Samuel Sidjabat belongs to the first batch of students. he sends his memories from Indonesia:
It is interesting to remember that the name SAIACS did not yet exist when I joined the MTh program. The Prospectus 1982-1984 said that the MTh in Missiological Studies was organized by the Association for evangelical Theological education in India (AeTeI). When I went to Colombo, Sri Lanka for my visa renewal, a Christian leader asked me the name of my theological school in Madras. All I could show him was the prospectus. how is it that an MTh programme is launched by an institution without a clear identity? he questioned. During the second semester in 1982, Dr. Graham houghton said we needed to name the institution we were students of. Some of my friends made suggestions. eventually, Dr. houghton informed us that the name of our school was the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS). A new letterhead was printed. In the beginning it sounded strange to me. It was an unusual name. Nevertheless I was glad that finally the institution where I was pursuing my studies had an identity!
idea of offering the MTh periodically met with resistance. Christian leaders in India, both Indian and expatriate missionaries, urged that they not discontinue. Yielding to these voices, the committee decided to continue, even though continuing meant finding a place in which to do so. Here, the consensus was that that place was not Chennai, but Bangalorethe cooler climate was the clincher. With the programme moving away to Bangalore, the Houghtons wondered if the time had come for them to terminate their work with MBS and return home to New Zealand. Their mission agency, OMS, found what Houghton calls a divinely inspired alternative. They offered that the Houghtons could go with the MTh missiology programme to Bangalore, and make it their mission assignment. Meanwhile, the programme cut its umbilical cord with AETEI. Frankly, AETEI had been rather lukewarm to the MTh programme, and Houghton saw that they wouldnt get very far under their umbrella. He brought up the matter, suggesting that AETEI release the project to make its own way. They agreed. On the heels of this shift, there was a need to find the project a name. Drs Graham Houghton, Ken Gnanakan, and John Thannickalthe ones who drove the enterpriseset their minds to the task. An obvious early suggestion was graduate
school of theology. This bit the dust because, in India, a school is associated with primary and secondary education rather than anything higher. This could cause confusion as to the level and purpose of their project. Houghton recalled there was an Indian Institute of Advanced Studies in Shimla, in North India. His option lay in that direction. He also wanted South Asia to appear in the name. I was anxious that what we do would embrace the whole geo-political area of South Asia, which would include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. And so, they floated the name South Asia Institute of Advanced Studies. At this, someone raised a question: What about calling it a Christian Institute? No, no, came the protest. Lets keep a low profile. Whats the problem? others countered. The Buddhists have an institute. There is a Hindu University in Varanasi, and a Muslim University in Aligarh. Why cant we have a Christian institute? So we finally decided, Houghton says, that we would have the courage to add Christian. In a context in which Christians are a small minority, and are sometimes perceived as a threat, it was a risk to take. With this decision, the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies was approved as the official name of the institution
for the programme of MTh in Missiology Gnanakan, who became one of the three founding board members, first pointed out the resultant acronym. Well, in that case, it says SAIACSsigh-axe. And so, the Institute continues to be known as SAIACS. There are some people in India who could not tell you the meaning of the acronym, Houghton admits, but SAIACS has become, I think, a brand name. Then, on 23rd May, 1983, SAIACS agreed to seek accreditation for the MTh in Missiology programme from the Asia Theological Association (ATA). Houghton was appointed principal. And, remarkably, the minutes reveal their decision to draw up PhD guidelineseven in these early days. The accreditation came within the year, even as the second batch of students was admitted. SAIACS now had an identity and a name. However, with its studentsand its library! moving between Chennai and Bangalore like a clocks pendulum, it had yet to find a home.
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Growth Chennai 1981-1983
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Houghton family prayer card

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The 1985 batch
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early years in Koramangala
SAIACS first official home-1983
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Dr. Sunand Sumitra teaching
Early correspondence to Atul Aghamkar
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Koramangala1983-1987
Students and Tej Paul outside the Principals garage office in Koramangala
Students outside SAIACS house in Koramangala
ushi Houghton was standing by her father with their dachshund, Tahi. A student came by, and paused to admire the dog. Very sweet dog, he said. And then added, perhaps just to tease, And tasty. Dr. Graham Houghton explained to the bewildered child that in some parts of the country dog meat was not uncommon. Of course, the girl picked up her pet and fled the scene. For a while thereafter, whenever she wanted to visit her fathers office, she would first enquire if that man was anywhere in the vicinity!
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Koramangala 1983-1987
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This melting pot of cultures that was SAIACS trademark continued as fresh batches were admitted. Meanwhile, in late 1983, the institution relocated from Chennai to an upcoming suburb on the south side of Bangalore, called Koramangala. In the half-decade following this significant move, SAIACS operated out of six houses, all in close proximity. One house had a kitchen and dining space, another had the classroom, and eventually, another, the library. As for the garagesof which there were twoone was for the principal and one was for his secretary. The accountant had his office in the kitchen, since it was the only place convenient enough for his ledgers! In 1984, the first class of students completed their courses. For practical convenience, their graduation was delayed till the following year, and merged with the graduation of the second batch. On 18th October, 1985, SAIACS held its first ever graduation ceremony. Of the ten graduates, nine received the Master of Theology degree, and one, a Master of Christian Studies. Five of these were awarded in absentia.
Kari Longchar and Imnanuklu
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First graduation ceremonyOctober 1985
Even if the event was held in a borrowed venuethe parish hall of Bangalores St. Marks Cathedraland the number of graduates on the ground was no more than five, the quality that marks the institution today was well apparent on that first graduation. The guest of honour was no less than the principal of Madras Christian College, Dr. Mithra G Augustine. He rounded off his address with an emphasis on hope: The Christian ministry is one of hope and optimism and the minister must never let the seed of hope and the hint of a future thrust be lost in the layers of
The Goring ox (exod. 21:28-32)
of the many overseas adjunct faculty that have faithfully partnered with SAIACS over the years, the trophy surely goes to Dr. Dieter Kemmler. Beginning in 1989, he has come every year (but one) to teach New Testament and hermeneutics. This incident goes back to the Koramangala days:
The Tamilian Cowboy

he looks more like a cowboy than a missionary, Anita Anthony said to herself. She was seated across the table from her prospective employer, Dr. Graham houghon. her aunt sat by her side, intending to help her niece get the job. The cowboy in jeans began to ask questions, and the inexperienced young lady found herself repeatedly confessing ignorance. The helpful aunt passed her some quick advice in Tamil, Tell him you are a quick learner and
Mr. Tej Paul joined SAIACS as finance officer on 7 May, 1987
th
Kemmler had stayed behind from attending church this particular Sunday morning. he had wanted to take the bicycle to the bakery and buy some eats for the students. When he arrived back at the house, he was putting the bicycle away when a cow wandered into the front yard and began to enjoy Carol houghtons plants. Kemmler tried to shoo the cow back out on to the road. however, the cow had only just begun its breakfast, and was unhappy at being disturbed. Lowering its head, it charged at Kemmler with both horns blazing. Kemmler just about managed to turn sideways before the cow caught him with its horns and threw him up into the air, landing him into a wall. he suffered bruises and a wound. however, in retrospect, he knows that if he had not had the presence of mind to turn, the damage would have been much more serious. During this time, one of the young students sitting in church sensed something was wrong and felt the urgency to return to the house immediately. He and a friend arrived in time to find Kemmler in this situation and get help. We never found out what happened to the eats from the bakery. Perhaps the cow enjoyed them as well!
(l to r): Dr. John Thannickal, Dr. Sunand Sumitra, Dr. Ken Gnanakan, Mr. A J Anandan, Dr. Graham Houghton
that you will learn on the job. houghton turned his attention to the aunt. In fluent Tamiland with a very straight facehe suggested that the niece be allowed to answer for herself. The embarrassment of the unfortunate aunt can only be imagined. how was she to have known that this white man had spent the better part of the last couple of decades in Chennai!
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cumbersome and confusing reality. And then he added, Hope means a number of things, and one of these is the ability to wait. It includes fortitude and endurance beyond the merely rational. It appears that his message was as well-taken by the Institute as by the graduating students indeed, hope and optimism were the staple of SAIACS in these Koramangala years. As for fortitudesheer couragethey could not have moved to the present Kothanur campus
without it. On 25th October, 1985, SAIACS was registered in Bangalore as a religious and educational trust. Lokendra Rao, lawyer and public chartered accountant, helped the three SAIACS trustees through the multi-layered process. When they asked him to draw up a document for the registration, Rao said, Ken Gnanakan, you be the chairman. John Thannickal, you be treasurer. Brother Houghton will be what we call the managing trustee. These three were the
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Risk Koramangala1983-1987
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John Stott and SAIACS

At SAIACS inception, the late Reverend Dr. John Stott, one of the foremost voices of evangelicalism in the last hundred years, wrote this commendation: I have long held the conviction, born of observation in many parts of the world, that the church in every country is a reflection of the theological institutions where its leaders are trained. one of the most strategic developments of the last quarter of the twentieth century is the growth of evangelical [post]graduate theological education. I am therefore extremely thankful for the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies, and for its pursuit of excellence in the three fields of biblical theology, culture-sensitive mission and personal godliness. Stott later visited SAIACS at its present campus in 1994.
L Johnson Jagannadham began by typing students assignments and theses
Anita (Anthony) Jusia with her family visiting her former boss
custodians of the dream. It would be up to us, Houghton remembers, to make it come true. Meanwhile, the programme was well under way, still offering the MTh, using an effective mix of Indian and foreign faculty. The Houghtons were the only residents and the only full-time employees. The search began for an accountant, a secretary, and all manner of staff including someone to look after the bookssomeone for the double-doored, three-shelved, 150-volume library. Beyond these immediate needs, they also needed land on which to build themselves a campus. As it happened, Houghton was in a printers
Dr. Graham Houghton with the late Rev. Dr. John Stott and Dr. Noel Jason
shop ordering materials for SAIACS when the woman in charge asked him if he was looking for a finance person. Taken aback, he answered, Yes, I am. She said she knew a certain Tej Paul. Houghton asked if he was a Kannadiga. This would be a bonus, since government documents would come in Kannada, the state language, and SAIACS needed someone who could read, write, and communicate in that language. It turned out that Tej was a native of the state. He was in transition at the time, and Houghton grabbed him. I found it immensely providential, Houghton remembers, that while we were
searching for land we had somebody with us who spoke the local language. When asked about memories of this job, which he started in 1987, Tej says, I had a commercial job in accounting, but my call was to ministry. When he learned that SAIACS needed a man with his education and language skills, it felt right. Its how God plans, is the way he describes it. The secretarys position was filled by young Anita Anthony. A Catholic, she came looking for a job, armed with a BA and some secretarial training. Expectedly, there was some resistance
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our own Anna (hazare)A J Anandan

Unauthorized Construction Unit had visited the building site asking questionswho owned the property, where were the documents, who had made the approvals, who had signed off. he rounded it off with a You come and see me on Monday morning and bring all your documents. This was aimed at the site supervisor Theodore Christanandan. Christanandan reported the incident to Tej Paul, the SAIACS finance officer, and to Dr. Graham houghton, and then the trio went to Anandan with the story. To his great credit, Anandan looked houghton right in the eye and asked, Graham, are all our documents in order? Yes, they are. he then asked Tej and Christanandan to come again on Monday morning en route to the question-asking official, which the two duly did on the appointed day. Anandan sent along with them one of his staff. When they got to the office of the official, he brusquely asked to see all the documents. he systematically found fault with each piece of paper. Finally, looking up, he noticed the third person in the room, who had been standing very quietly. he asked, Who are you? Are you the principal? No, I am not the principal, the Vigilance man replied. Im from Anandans office. At that point the poor man realized that he had come paper-thin close to falling into the hands of the Anti-Corruption cell. Tej later told houghton, Doctor, it was as though he was having a heart attack. he went completely white. he couldnt think of what to say. It seemed like a whole minute before he reached over and rang his bell. his peon came in, and he said, Bring some tea and eatables for these gentlemen. With that, SAIACS never saw the man again. The bonds of mutual support continued across the years. Anandan was appointed to the SAIACS Trust and later became the Director General of Police for the state of Karnataka. Later, he was elected Chairperson of the SAIACS Trust. Anandan regularly and effectively untied many a bureaucratic knot for SAIACS, and warded off many an illegal attempt to gain from the new institutes development. Anandans quiet demeanour well camouflages his position. once, when he was introduced to an overseas visitor to SAIACS, the visitor asked the usual question: What do you do? Im a police officer, he replied with his customary modesty. Ah. how many police are you responsible for? the visitor continued, quite unprepared for the answer. Hmabout forty-five thousand, Id say.
from students who found it hard to understand why the job must be given to a Catholic rather than to someone of their own stripe in matters of faith. As it turned out, Anita stayed on for eleven long years, till she married and moved on to the Netherlands. She thrived professionally, and became a believing Christian. Eventually, when SAIACS moved to the present campus, hers was the first marriage to be solemnized in the newly constructed Chapel of the Resurrection. Carol Houghton even baked the three-tiered wedding cake. One more addition at this time was Johnson Jagannadham. It appears that right from these early days, SAIACS insisted that student assignments be submitted typewritten. Johnson was the fledgling colleges typisthe typed up all manuscript assignments of the dozen or so students, day after day and module after module! It was a very tiresome task, he confesses. Still, he would make corrections to the grammar as he thought necessary. Word limits to essays came to be instituted at this time, perhaps out of consideration for the unfortunate typist. At this time, a certain A J Anandan applied for admission to the MTh programme. He introduced himself as a policeman. Houghton questioned the quiet would-be student on whether or not he could coordinate his working
hours with academics. I can do that, came Anandans calm reply. So the application process commenced. Anita was working with Anandan to complete the paper work, when suddenly she scooped up the documents and burst into Houghtons office. Look! she exclaimed. Hes not just a policeman, hes the Deputy Inspector General of Police for the state of Karnataka! If Anita could have looked into the future, she would have been even more amazed. Anandan would one day become the Chairperson of the SAIACS Trust. Meanwhile, from his garage-office, Houghton not only kept the fledgling SAIACS functioning, but conducted an intensive search of Bangalore property for sale. They needed land, and they needed it now, though they had not even one rupee with which to buy it should the land show up. How did the money happen? In 1985, a friend and former OMS colleague, Charlie Spicer, came to India for a visit. Spicer was then the chief executive officer of Overseas Council, an OMS arm that specializes in promoting and aiding
theological education in the majority world. He came accompanied by several people interested in the same thing. The group turned up in Koramangala, full, of course, of questionsbut also asking, How can we help you? Houghton took Spicer and his friends out to the property they hoped to purchase. It was fourand-a-half acres situated on the north side of Bangalore. There was an adjacent lot of oneand-three-quarter acres which they wanted as well, if it should become available. One of those in the group was the American Ronnie Parker. He had come to India, while grieving over the recent plane-crash death of his father. After asking the dreamers endless questions about the purpose of the Institute, he decided this would be a fitting memorial for his father, Clyde Parker. Their interest resulted in a very significant giftenough to buy land, pay tax, and build the administration building that now anchors the spreading campus. Wienrich Schafbruck of Hilfe fr Brder, Germany, sent a gift designated for the operational budget. During the early stages of construction, Bruce Smith, a New Zealander, visited while in India on business. He was affiliated with the Caleb Trust, which majored in Kiwi charities, and made a significant contribution to the SAIACS dream. Then, there was the Australian Robb Kerr,
Dr. A J Anandan completed his MTh in Missiology while directing Karnatakas police force. As he moved on up the law enforcement ranks, he continued his affiliation with, and support of, SAIACS. During these transitions, he played a major role in at least one episode of the SAIACS story. As Anandan was awarded promotions, at one stage he was Inspector-General of Police in the Vigilance Cell, known as the Lokayukta, which was an anti-corruption unit. SAIACS told him that an official from the Prevention of
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Dr. John Oswalt, OT professor
Mr. Bruce Smith and Dr. Idicheria Ninan
Dr. Robert Coleman, professor and graduation speaker
another friend of Spicer. After being hosted by the Houghtons, he said he would like to leave a little gift. This turned out to be anything but littleand more came later. The names of these and all other donors appear neither over the entrances nor on the dedication plaques on the buildings they helped erect. The buildings are dedicated, as the plaque of the Institute Building reads, to the glory of God rather than to human glorya policy followed from the beginning. To emphasize this policy,
Dedication of the new land, now SAIACS campus1987
Houghton warned that if you ever put up a statue of me with my hand in the airhe had seen plenty of thoseIll come back in the dark and remove it. But, we are getting ahead of the story. Let us return to the land as it was when SAIACS first set eyes on it. It was bare, dry land. Thirteen kilometres out on the edges of Bangalore, it lay among farms. Crops grew in every direction, with no houses in view. Beyond the fields was a ring of small villages, the closest being Kothanur. It was something of a mystery to most of those watching these developments that SAIACS
should invest in this property out in the back of beyond. However, there was method in the apparent madness. This Kothanur site was more affordable than property in the heart of the city. Further, though it was on the outskirts, surprisingly it was not agricultural land. Agricultural land, by law, cannot be built on. This piece of property had been legally converted into urban land as far back as 1969, by the owner. This was a certain S Krishnamurthy, an ayurvedic doctor who wanted to build an ayurvedic hospital on it. When that did not work, he divided it up and attempted
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Presentation drawings by Davis Design Group. Mr. Davis Moses has been SAIACS designer and architect extraordinaire since 1987
to sell it piecemeal as eleven housing plots, with no success. As Houghton declares, It was sitting there waiting for us to turn up! Without having to bribe anybody in the government for conversion, SAIACS could start building straightaway. The SAIACS trustees agreed to register the land in the name of the SAIACS Trust. The land became SAIACS in May, 1987. Next, was the matter of making building plans. Houghton had a dream for the SAIACS campusone which conveyed a specific spirit of place. Grounds and buildings, inside and out, are important, he would say. They are a silent, material witness to the kind of place it is. They provide a powerful statement. SAIACS, in order to fulfil its purpose, must be beautiful as well as academically respectable. This meant finding the right architect. James Gamaliel, one of the adjunct professors and formerly principal of a theological college himself, attended the same church as did a certain Davis Moses. One day, Gamaliel asked Moses what he did for a living. Im an architect, Moses answered. Oh! Gamaliel exclaimed. Our principal is looking for an architect! He promptly arranged for Moses to meet Houghton. Later, Houghton would let it be known that his first impression of Moses was a positive one
with unexpected modesty for an Indian of his position, the architect arrived on a bicycle. The two discovered that they were neighbours, both residents of Koramangala. Moses had lived abroad for fourteen years, practicing his profession. While in Nigeria, designing university campuses became his specialty. When Houghton suggested that the Institutes administration building should be built first, along with the principals residence adjacent, Moses thought differently. Lets look at the master plan, he suggested. What is a master plan? Houghton wanted to know. Moses could see that some explaining was needed before they could proceed further. I call it blue sky thinking, he replied. We need to dream about the campus as a whole. What other buildings do you want? Where should they be built? The two men began to talk about residence halls, a library, a student centre with a dining room, faculty homes, and Houghtons desire to dedicate some space to a large, green lawn within a quadrangle of main buildings. Houghton asked Moses to do some drawings to illustrate what he envisioned for SAIACS. Later when he saw these, he knew they were on the same wavelength. His site plan sold me, he says. As he inspected the design for the
administration buildingthe open foyer and verandah, the curved chajja or overhang of the roof, and the graceful staircasehe knew he had found someone who understood the spirit of place. He offered Moses the job. In the Koramangala garage-offices, Anita received a surprise. One day, Houghton came in with some blue prints under his arm. He rolled them out on her table and began talking about four acres of land and big plans. Anita listened patiently. However, I told myself that the good old doctor was a bit of a dreamer. I was touched by his enthusiasm and faith in Godbut I did not really believe it would all happen. In retrospect, she says ruefully, Well, if anyone has to eat their words, it is me.
1987Mrs Houghton and Tahi venturing on the first piece of undeveloped land on which SAIACS stands today
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Students planting trees

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Married student apartment blocks on the new land
Ground-breaking for CEO Centre
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Cost
Kothanur 1988-1994
Photo CAPtIon Inum alis asit voluptas quiaeri squiat. Fersperro optasim senet. Itati seque restiis debitibus eos magnim vidunt abor soloria spellab orerupt aquaerio. Untiunt.
Kothanur 1988-1994
he construction workers called him the umbrella man. Theodore Christanandan was retired and in his sixties when Dr. Graham Houghton hired him to be the site supervisor. Christanandan agreed to give SAIACS fifty per cent of his time, and a maximum of a year. He wished to devote the other fifty to the Indian Evangelical Mission (IEM). On the day he first reported to the site, the foundation of the first building was being laidthe Institute Building. It was, as he describes it in Kannada, adhvana! Loosely translated, it was atrocious! The workers were laying the courses of stone exactly on top of each other, without alternating the stones in the rows as a bricklayer would doa sure recipe for a shaky foundation. He called off his commitment to IEM, bought himself a sturdy umbrella, and stayed on for the next ten years.
Cost
If there was not an inch of shade outside that umbrella, it was because the site had not a single tree on it. The land was as dry as a bone. Thus, the first task before any building could start had been to bore a well. In 1988, Tej Paul and Houghton took themselves to the offices of the Geological Survey of India to request a survey of the land, so as to identify a spot for the borewell. Having paid the princely sum of ten rupees for this service, they took back with them an elderly gentleman who claimed three decades of experience in the field. On the journey, somewhat like Isaac asking Abraham where the wood for the sacrifice was, Houghton kept enquiring where the geologists equipment was. The geologist did not quite say, The LORD will provide, but something close. He said he did surveys by observation alone. Understandably, this made Houghton anxious.
At the site, the old man took a look at the lay of the land, and identified two potential spots in the area where later the principals house would be built. He even predicted some two thousand gallons per hour. Houghton was noticeably less than enthusiastic. Tej felt similarly.
Shadow Play
Vinod Patil and Theodore Christanandan met briefly while being interviewed for this book. The first thing they recalled good-naturedlywas their constant bickering. More than fifteen years have passed since they worked together. over a decade of building activity, Patil was the site engineer reporting to the contractor, while Christanandan was the supervisor representing Dr. Graham houghton. The formers job was to ensure that the costs were kept down. The latter was employed to ensure that the quality did not suffer. It is easy to see why they bickered. They laughed together when they recalled one particular sunny day. Christanandan was berating the workers for being lax about proportions for the concrete. Instead of the 1:2:4 for the cement, sand and gravel, they had substituted some of the cement with sand. Christanandan only had to look at the colour of the mix for it to fail quality control. As he urged the workers to add in cement, he realized that Patil was standing behind him. Without turning around, he figured that Patil was making vigorous hand signals to the workers to go easy on the cement. how did he know? The sun behind cast Patils animated shadow onto the wall before Christanandan, giving the engineer away.
The principals house and the Institute Building were the first to be constructed
A month later, Dr. John Thannickal brought along a well-boring team. Just as they were about to start digging, Thannickal asked them to wait. Stretching out his hand over the spot, he prayed. Tej confesses he was not at this event. Skeptical about the outcome of the enterprise, he was too scared to participate. After less than a day of drilling, the drillers hit water at a mere 240 feet. Try as they might, they could not go more than ten feet beyond this because the water overwhelmed the rig with its force ofnot two, butfour thousand gallons per hour. Afterwards, the neighbouring
villagers remarked that Gods water flowed out from the well into the adjacent grove of trees, like a river. Short on water themselves, they attempted a couple of bore-wells across the fence, less than thirty feet from the SAIACS one. None of them succeeded. For the next fifteen years, while a slew of buildings came up on the site, this single bore-well gave a plentiful supply. In addition to providing for the building work, it supplied the communitys needs for fresh water. This included growing that expansive rectangle of grass, SAIACS signature which now gets only a recycled substitute. At
this time Vinod Patil was the site engineer, contemporaneous with the umbrella man. He becomes lyrical when he recalls this well. He says it turned a barren land into Switzerland a place as green as an alpine meadow. In the seven years of construction that followed, buildings came up thick and fast. In order of appearance they were: the administration building, now called the Institute Building; Bethany, the principals house and its twin, Bishop Heber House; in proximity to these, residential blocks for students; Tyndale and Macedonia, meant as faculty housing; the
Cost Kothanur1988-1994
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The Washroom That Isnt There
While discussing plans for the layout of the administrative offices, architect Davis Moses asked where Dr. Graham Houghton would like the principals private washroom. Houghton frowned. What for? he wanted to know. This is usually included in the executive suite, the architect replied. Houghton stopped the conversation with, Theres a mens toilet down the corridor, isnt there? Site engineer Vinod Patil recalls Houghton discussing this with him later. Money doesnt fall from the sky, Patil, Houghton said, and went on to explain that using the common toilet would give him the added advantage of inspecting it for cleanliness every day.
dining complex known as the Commons; the Mens Residence Hall; the Library; another residential block alongside the previous ones; and finally, the Chapel of the Resurrection.
The weekly site meeting
was 38.6 lakhs (USD 77,200)the cost of a modest flat nowadays. This is the building that best shows off the confluence of Indian architectural traditions. Standing across the lawn, the viewer will appreciate that its central section is reminiscent of the ratha or temple chariot. The front of the chariot protrudes from the main building, and the body is topped by the 18-foot diameter dome or the gopura. The ratha effect is meant to convey a dynamic, continuous forward movementa fine statement of the ethos of the institution. Using this gopura topped with
the Institute Building (1989)

Construction of the Institute Building and Bethany began in 1988, with the former situated where Houghton had suggested, and the latter at the other end of the property. The contractor was Keshava Murthy, whose services continued for over a decade. It may be of interest that the cost of the Institute Building
the cross, Davis Moses designed the logo of the institution. The stylized graphic recalls Islamic architecture, of which the focal point is often the gumbaz or dome. In a city that was once ruled by Tipu Sultan, the SAIACS dome is comfortably at home. Also at home in a city that accommodated a British cantonment are the pillared verandahs and the terracotta tile cladding on the exterior walls. Moses thought the exposed brick effect of the terracotta recalled the universities of England, and thus, well suited this academic institution. What was achieved architecturally was an Indian
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View looking North from Bethany house
Hand-hewn granite being carried to the site
Christian identity that simultaneously balanced aesthetics with contextual relevance. Houghton had never wanted something that looks like it was picked up in California by a helicopter and dumped down here. On the other hand, he was wary of ending up with something like Madurais Meenakshi koil, complete with tiers of idols. He was not disappointed. Moses found the golden mean. On 20th January, 1989, the Institute Building was completed, with offices on the ground floor and classrooms on the first. It was finished in eight months, two months ahead of
schedule. The plaque sets out its purpose in a few simple words: This building was dedicated to the glory of God and the training of men and women for Christian ministry. In March, 1989, SAIACS moved out of the rented houses in Koramangala and into its Kothanur campus. Fifteen students came along as well, although this was not in the original plan. The Houghtons had thought to occupy the just built Bethany House, and keep commuting back and forth between Kothanur and Koramangala till the apartment blocks were built and the students could move into their
own quarters. As it turned out, the students wanted to be part of the pioneering effort, including the three ladies, the first women to be enrolled. Further, the rent saved by moving out of Koramangala came in helpful at a time when SAIACS was counting every paisa. All the furniture was moved by one small truck making four trips. The men, including Houghton, did all the lifting and shifting. No hired help was used. The three women had their room on the ground floor of the Institute Building, next
to the ladies restroom. The men students were housed, dormitory style, in what are now classrooms on the upper floor. At first, the library was accommodated on the first floor. When the engineer found out, he was horrifiedthe first floor was not intended to hold this kind of weight. So, the library moved to the ground floor on the opposite end of the building from the girls room. Then, as now, the dome accommodated a little circular prayer room, the Fishermens Chapel. The cross atop it was originally a small wooden
one till it was replaced by the present larger neon one. It blazes ethereal blue against the night sky, a declaration of faith by brick and mortar. Metaphorically speaking, the very stonescry out!
sometimes 7 pm on long summer days. For every new building, the material would be procured and stocked well ahead of its use. The clay tiles for the wall cladding and roofs were brought in from Kerala because they were of better quality, better fired, and thus, more durable. The flooring stone for the foyer and verandahs came from the well-known quarries of Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh, and later from Kota in Rajasthan. With Christanandan keeping watch like a hawk, there was no compromise on quality. At least once, he cautioned that a particular load of bricks was of poor quality,
the Ethos
With the Institute Building done, a pattern fell into place. The core team would meet every Wednesday for reporting and planning. The foyer of the Institute Building served as its conference venue. Work began promptly at 8 am every morning and finished at 6 pm, or
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Granites are Forever
Granite is a local stone. There are quarries within walking distance of SAIACS. If you look carefully, you may recognize that the grainy gray is not all the same. SAIACS granite was sourced from three different places in Karnataka. The parapets use granite from Satharahallia stone easy to work on because of its relative softness. It is expensive and typically used for temple pillars and arches. The granite fins separating the windows are from the quarries of Sira. They have a bluish tinge, and are harder, making it the choice for slabs that needed an exact cut. The third variety is sourced locally, and provides the pathways between the buildings, the paving of the courtyards and the cladding of the residences. This cladding uses the random stone assembly, rather than an ordered laying of the stone, to give an attractive and less institutional look to the buildings. What is more, it is a permanent and lowmaintenance exterior. Nearly all of the granite work was done by hand and displays a variety of shapes and textures. The parapet posts are all right angles and straight lines; the fins let their lines end in a flourish of curves. The walkway slabs were left rough; around the altar in the Chapel chancel the floor was machine-polished to a fine finish, as were the silk-smooth altar rails. Who would have thought gray could be so elegant? 64 SAIACS The First Thirty Years
and sure enough, they dissolved in the rain before they could be used. Payments were prompt and correct down to the last paisa. For those responsible for keeping the cash flowing, the situation demanded that every fibre of faith be exercised, and that every ounce of courage be brought into action. Houghtons testimony of his wife demonstrates this: I must say that Carol never wavered. She never wanted to go home, and she didnt choke on it when I told her one day, All we need is a million dollars. She didnt even say, Youre being silly.
The construction workers were not only paid, but well cared for. Christanandan recalls that some odds and ends of building material including a disused windowwere put together to build a little place for one of the needy women on her small piece of land. For another worker who had asthma, the umbrella man brought medicines from his wife, who had the same ailment. A third one had a wife with a problem of demon-possession. He had his pastor deliver her, and they subsequently became Christians. The practice in India is that after every roof-
laying, which is a whole days labour of group effort, the workers have a community meal. At first, they made their own arrangements for it. Houghton noted the practice, and offered the meal on the house. For their part, the workers responded by not putting up the customary effigies on the buildings under construction to ward off the evil eye. The Christians assured them that God would protect both them and the buildings. Over the long years of building, only two workmen suffered accidents, and even those were minor. Significantly, several of the construction
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The Commonsits Cooks and Cutlets
We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no costalso the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic (Num. 11:5). The Commons certainly does not serve boring manna every day, but those who have been in SAIACS long enough recallwith watering mouthsdishes that have disappeared from the menu as the numbers grew. We would have meat every day, enthuses one of the cleaning ladies, unlike now. The meat turned up on the tables in scrumptious avatars such as kebabs, cutlets and fried chops. In those days the whole community not only ate dinner together on Friday nights, as we do now, but also gathered for lunch on Tuesdays. Without fail, a dessert accompanied these communal meals. Gooey payasam, sometimes of rice and sometimes of semiya, with cashewnuts and raisins mercilessly drowned in it. harking further back, diners recall Milton the chefs caramel custard. This was the Milton who made the first contribution to the building of the Library. Much like the widow of Jesus day, he willingly offered two rupees. Maybe the Library should consider shelving a cookbook or two in his honour. one other dessert that has vanished is the chocolate cake Michael used to bake for Friday nights, to be eaten at leisure after cell group activity was done, and washed down with a cup of hot coffee. In later years there was a curry made of greens, that went wonderfully well with both chappatis and rice. It never failed to move faculty member Dr. Christopher Gnanakan to try out his question on unsuspecting newcomers: Do you know that we get this green curry every time the lawn is mowed?
workers stayed on after the building phase was done, and are part of the services staff today. They recall the old times with a laugh about one of the gardeners, Honnappa Hanumanthappa, who had a baby added to his family with every building that came up! Following the example of the Institute Buildingand significantly for a project in Indiaevery building in this phase was completed on schedule. What is more, the estimate and the final costs nearly always matched. The greatest compliment to the ethos of these seven years perhaps comes from site engineer Patil, a Hindu. To express how pleasurable he found his daily task, the work ethic and the sense of community, he uses a phrase from his worldview. It must be his poorva janmada punya, he
sayscredit from a previous life that he enjoys in this reincarnation!
the Commons (1991)

At this time, the kitchen operated from what had been built as a storage shed, near the front gate. With its asbestos roof, it was rather primitive and certainly very temporary. How temporary it was was demonstrated that first year. One morning, as the students waited between classes for the cook to bring their coffee over from this kitchen, a howling wind lifted the whole roof off the shed. Even as they watched in consternation, the roof sailed through the air and made a less-thangraceful landing. There is no information available on what was served for lunch that day! It must have been with relief that the building known as the Commons
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The Mighty Multipurpose Matador

In the days before the present white mini-bus, there was a beige-coloured van, a Matador. Tej Paul found a driver for the van. Vijay remembers Tej coming to his house and writing out a letter of resignation for him to submit to his current employer, so that he could switch to the new job immediately. Vijay was not too sure what he was getting into. As Tej took him to SAIACS, further and further out of the city and into the jungle, he became even less sure. however, Vijay is still around nearly a quarter century later. he recalls how, for a whole decade, 1990 to 2000, the Matador was SAIACS only vehicle. once a week it made a trip to Pottery Road for vegetables. once a fortnight it went right into the city, to Johnson Market, for meat. In the early 1990s, SAIACS would buy some fifty kilos of meat each time, with Vijay waiting patiently for a couple of hours while it was trimmed of fatDr. Graham houghtons express instructions. once every month, the Matador went off to the wholesale market at Yeshwanthpur for the dry groceries. Not only did the van bring back plant produce, it brought whole plants complete with shoot and root. In the early years, when SAIACS was mostly a barren waste, Carol houghton would set off once a month to the nurseries at the botanical gardens of Lalbagh. The trees that came back in those van trips are the ones in whose shade we hold many a conversation today. These were the years of the first and busiest
phase of building. once in a while, the Matador carried some of the weight of the projects. Vijay would unscrew the seats and make room for sand or stones, as the emergency demanded. The van would then pretend it was a lorry. There were other emergencies in which it had to morph into an ambulance at short notice. Sick students would be loaded into its care and waved off to CSI hospital on Queens Road. Its more planned outings were as a pick-up for arrivals at the airport, or as a leisure vehicle taking visitors on a day-trip to soak in the sights of Mysore. More prosaic were its daily trips into Lingarajapuram. Till the mid1990s, SAIACS had an office there looked after by Marcia Michael. With SAIACS telephone lines unreliable, this office kept SAIACS in touch with the rest of the world via faxes. on Saturdays, the Matador had to hold its nose for a bit while it functioned as a garbage disposal van. It ferried the communitys waste to the local dumping ground. More acceptable goods included the daily mail, which had to be collected from Southern Asia Bible College, because the postman refused to venture off the road into the mud track leading to SAIACS. even more dignified were the trips to the Hutchins Road post office, where crates of books would await collection. For things like settling the electricity bill, Vijay let the Matador have a rest and took his old two-wheeler all the way to hoskote where the payments had to be made. With only one bus travelling the hennur-Bagalur route, the SAIACS Matador was the king of the road in these parts. It was even more so at nights, when once a week, after dinner, it took the students to hennur to make long-distance phone calls. have we listed all its roles and functions? Not entirely. It once served as a driving school for Michael of the Commons when, for a wild moment, he suggested to houghton that he preferred to drive rather than cook. Nothing came of it, however. Michael returned to the Commons, while the Matador returned into the care of its trusted mahout.
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was inaugurated with the plaqueThis Student Centre was dedicated for Christ and his kingdom on the 5th April, 1991. The Commons incorporated a mandala as its featurethe central courtyard open to the sky, so typical of South Indian homes. For practical reasons, the opening was closed with fibre glass. The mens and womens halls of residence and the faculty quadrangle would show off the mandala to greater effect. It made possible a central community space, since all the rooms open out onto the courtyard. In the tropics, it serves to let the breeze into the heart of the complex of rooms, and what is more, allows a garden that can be watered by the rain. Besides housing the dining hall and kitchen, the Commons had a little convenience store that shared space with the bookshop. It stocked things like soap and toothpaste, notebooks and sweets on its couple of shelves. Adjacent was a phone booth for students to call home from. This was a great relief from having to make a trip up to Hennur Cross, paying a return bus fare that often exceeded the cost of the phone call. It was also a relief not to have calls from family and friends taken in the principals house, with the principal first subjecting the hapless caller to a thorough interrogation.
Sugumaran Ebenezer of the administration recalls the transparent plastic honesty box that sat by the payphone at all times of the day and the night. Students could make calls at any time, and pay into the box. He recalls that money never got stolen, not even by any of the workers on the successive building projects. On the first floor of the Commons was the student lounge, with its movie room, which for many years was the theatre in which Friday night entertainment was screened.
original trio came apart, the threesome who had thus far been the custodians of the dream. The Chairperson Dr. Ken Gnanakan and the Managing Trustee Houghton began to have differences. The problem had to do with the authority and role of the ATA, the South Asia accrediting instrument of which Gnanakan was also the chairperson. By this time SAIACS wanted to start offering PhD degrees, at least in Missiology to begin with. Gnanakans counsel was to wait. Another matter had to do with the text of the SAIACS diploma awarded to students at their graduation ceremony. The ATA recommended that the diploma add accredited by the Asia Theological Association to the text. In some quarters, this was thought superfluous.
Mens Residence Hall (1992)

The Residence Hall was dedicated on the 6th March, 1992 with the prayer that all who live here will come to know him and be enabled to effectively make him known. This plaque came under mild rebuke from a purist grammarian. When that great spokesperson for evangelicalism, Dr. John Stott, visited SAIACS in 1994, his eye caught the split infinitive on this stone tablet. Properly, it should have read to make him known effectively. Significantly, more than infinitives were split in the early 90s. It was at this time that the
Houghton, as the principal, carried the burden of these academic matters for a period of time, without bringing the SAIACS trustees into it. But he did wonder if he was getting it wrong, and was persuaded he needed help. So, just as
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In the Steps of the Jewish Carpenter
Nathan Killen of New Zealand has a hobbycarpentry. he also has a passion, and that is to serve Christ in missions. The two came together when he came to SAIACS in 1989. At this time, the property was still a bare piece of land with the Institute Building standing at one end and some housing at the other end. Nathan and his team built cupboards, wardrobes, kitchen and bathroom cabinets and all sorts of small furniture.
Houghton was deciding to lay it out before the trustees, Gnanakan wrote to Houghton suggesting that he was behaving unilaterally, and beyond his given powers. At the next meeting of the trustees, Gnanakan indicated he was unable to attend, and shortly thereafter, submitted his resignation. The trustees were relieved that neither confrontation nor continued conflict ensued. However, a valued relationshipbetween two men who had pursued the same goalswas broken. Another split happened at this point that had nothing to do with either grammar or governors. What is now the Mens Residence Hall was built as a twin cluster of rooms, each with its own courtyard. This was not only for the sake of architectural aesthetics, but because the architects original plan was to house the single men around the larger courtyard, while the rooms around the smaller courtyard would accommodate the single women. However, the number of girls was much lower compared to the men. So, it was thought more practical to let them share the family apartments that had come up at the south end of the campus, towards the principals house. With this decision the idea came to naught, and the single students residence blocks were split gender-wise from then onand possibly, for all time.
Nathan first came to India in 1976, with an oMS International team that worked six weeks doing heavy construction work for Madras Bible Seminary. That is where the lifelong friendship between Nathan and Maida Killen and the houghtons began. As SAIACS began to take shape, he caught its vision to train the trainers. With this, Nathan literally rolled up his sleeves and set to work. over the last two decades he has come on carpentry work to SAIACS some nine times, staying for a month each visit. What is more, he has trained a group of our service staff to wield the saw and the plane. Collaged in his memories are a riot of images, all part of his learning experience: the Taj Mahal; threshing and winnowing in the villages around Kothanur; the faces of his many good friends; the ghats at Varanasi; the colourful silks in the markets; Sunday service at a local church. He recalls too, the practical tricks the teams boys got up to. In the early days, ox carts would go past SAIACS to Kothanur, bearing construction material. Watching through the wire fencingthis was before the boundary walls came upthey noticed that when the cart returned at dusk, the carts driver was invariably asleep. his trusty oxen obediently took the cart home. one such evening, the young carpenters quietly managed to turn the oxen around, setting the cart trundling back into Kothanur. A little later they saw the cart coming back again. This time the driver was sitting up alert, warily looking from side to side, and clutching the reins very firmly! Stepping back from the worktable, the Killens look at the range and depth of SAIACS influence in South Asia. They are happy to have been part of this work. It changed our lives even just by befriending a missionary, they say. Anyone can become part of Gods mission in the world. There is always the way.
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The Deutsche Mark and the Rupee

Early in 1992, Andreas Rudolph visited SAIACS. He represented a German charity by the name of Indien Hilfe. As he went around the campus, he was particularly impressed that the dedication plaques did not carry the names of those still living. He even had Dr. Graham Houghton write up a couple of samples for his organization. At this time, the central lawn had been built up on three sides. The fourth side was open, filled only in Houghtons mind by a library. His secretary, Anita Anthony, proposed that if the charity should offer to close this gap with a two floor library, their generosity would be much appreciated. A few months later, Indien Hilfe had a strange situation on their handsmore money than they knew what to do with. This came about because of the devaluation of the Indian rupee. After disbursing the allocated amounts to their various projects in India, they had a handsome sum left over. Some on the Board wondered if they should channel this excess towards their work in South America. Others insisted that since these deutsche marks were originally dedicated to India that is where they should go. And so it happened that SAIACS became the beneficiary of a most unexpected windfall. In June 1992, it received as a donation the princely sum of 30.36 lakhs. When the Library was completed and dedicated a year later, about three-fourths of the cost of the building had been paid for because the rupee had taken a tumble!
the Library (1993)

Let there be light, declares the plaque of the Library. Indeed, when you walk through the main door in the evening you will find the panels of glass opposite the front door radiant with sunset orange. The dominating feature of the Library is that its three levels are open to each other. While the other buildings were designed with spaces sealed off as rooms, the Library interior was conceived as a single volume of space. Short flights of steps connected the basement with the mezzanine floor and the latter with the upper floorthe stairs now converging, now diverging. The granite balustrades that edged the verandahs and roofs of the other buildings were imported into the interiors of the Library, increasing the effect of an outside invading the inside. As much as its books encouraged the free flow of ideas, its design allowed a circulation of air and permeation by light. When the light faded at the end of the day, night invaded the campus from the surrounding countryside. In the early and mid 90s, there were not as many lamps to light the pathways as there are today. What was more, for a long time Houghton resisted installing a generator. He believed that when the power failed, the community should be no better-off than the villagers around. It was at these times that
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James the watchman came into his own. On his beat around the buildings, he would turn many a dark corner. To warn potential thieves of his coming, he would converse loudly with himself. This took on First LibrarianJ M B added value because Sudhakaran James was a mimic. He would speak in a variety of voices, giving the impression that he was a whole group of students. Later watchmen fell back on the monotonous whistle to announce their beat or thumped a stick on the pathwaysonly James could fill a dark night with lively conversation. The SAIACS Library was dedicated on the 12th March, 1993, with the prayer that all who read here will come to be determined to preach nothing but Christ and him crucified and risen from the dead. Speaking of rising from the dead, the dry and dusty land was coming alive with green. This was the time the large central rectangle was grassed over and nurtured into a lawn. Rigorous planting effort had resulted in small, hopeful trees. Some stood in random isolation, some were ordered into neat rows. There was even the promise of
an avenue of trees along the lane that led from the gate to Bethany House. Ordinary neem trees were neighbours with sandalwood, mango trees grew alongside teak. Between the volleyball court and the principals residence was a little vineyard which yielded grapes for a couple of years. In more ways than one, SAIACS was bursting with sap, flowering and fruiting.
the Chapel of the Resurrection (1994)

The last gap around the quadrangle of the lawn was filled by the Chapel. Tucked into a corner between the Commons and the Library, it harmoniously balanced the dome with its spire. The site engineer recalls that in this building it was the roof that demanded careful construction. The plan of the Chapel is typically European. Its floor plan is traditionally cruciformcross-shaped. Its pointed windows echo the Gothic style. The spire, found in many a British-built Bangalore church, is the most obvious indicator that this is a Christian place of worship. The Indian element is inserted by the granite balustrade along the roof, but much more so by the fins separating the closely set windows. The fins are ornately shaped, and are a feature borrowed from South Indian temple architecture. Interestingly, the windows and fins compete with each other. When one looks at the Chapel from the front, the Indian aspect is prominent. Seen from the side, the fins narrow into insignificance and the Gothic look dominates.
So as to support the spire, the roof was reinforced with five transverse beams. Architect Moses was particular about having a ceiling that flowed smoothly, without visual breaks. For this reason, the beams were positioned as inverted or exterior beams, and cannot be seen from the inside. Except for the central rectangle for the skylight and the square which locates the spire, the ceiling runs flat, without distracting either the mind or the eye of the worshipper. This Chapel of the Resurrection was consecrated on the first day of May, 1994, with the prayer that in the preaching of the word and in the breaking of bread, the Risen Lord will make himself known to all who worship here. Those who read with care will notice that the word resurrection was originally mis-spelt, with two ss. Traces of the correction remain.
Indeed the Chapel is witness to more significant correction than that of spelling alone
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A Time to Weep
As much as there have been occasions to celebrate, there have been times of grief. In December 1996, the services staff were going on its annual picnic. The academic dean, Dr. Augustine Pagolu, accompanied them with his familywife Sumathi, and three children, the oldest being sixteen-year old Anand. The destination was a ford on the Kaveri, a popular tourist spot called Mekedat, the Goats Crossing. When they reached, the boys went running down to the water. Before his fathers eyes, Anand slipped into the treacherous undercurrent and was pulled away. For the next five days, Johnson Jagannadham of administration and Dr. Graham Houghton went to Mekedat every day, a five-hour journey each way. They checked all the usual spots where bodies usually wash up, but to no avail. eventually, a memorial service was held in the Chapel. At the end of the month there was news from the police. They went again, this time taking Augustine with them. There was a body, identifiable as Anands by the boys newly-bought shoes. The funeral brought the month-long agonizing wait to closure. In May 2005, in another family of three children, the younger of two sons fell ill. This was Arpith, the son of Dr. Ashish Chrispal who was at that time the principal at SAIACS. Arpith was twenty-two years old, and was working for a corporate firm. Often, on an evening, he could be found playing cricket with the students. he took ill with what seemed a regular flu. He was admitted to the hospital, where the uncertain diagnosis was that he may have caught dengue fever. The next day he was transferred to Christian Medical College hospital at Vellore, where his older brother was a medical doctor. By Wednesday morning, after having been ill no longer than thirty-six hours, the young man passed away. It was later recognized that he had contracted viral myocarditis, a rare illness that claims one in a hundred million every year. That night, a memorial service was held in the SAIACS Chapel. As in the other case, it was done without the body, which was in the morgue. The following day, a funeral service was held at the cemetery. The most recent bereavement was that of Dr. Gaddala Isaiah, head of the department of Pastoral Theology and Counselling. having been part of the SAIACS family for less than two years, he succumbed to chronic diabetes in November 2010, aged 62. A funeral service in the Chapel was followed by a burial in his ancestral village in Andhra Pradesh. however, this sad event has a happy postscript. Isaiahs son Dayanand was married here in March of the following year, and the family left with their sense of loss alleviated by the addition of a smiling young bride.
changed lives, averted crises. Many a member of the services staff who turned to the Christian faith has been baptized in the tank by the Chapels entrance. Their testimonies will make reference to this student or that, this faculty member or that, who made the Risen Lordknown to them over many patient conversations and bible studies. The women staff holds regular meetings here every week-day after lunch, usually ministered to by a student or student spouse.
support for a building project or a faculty trainee in a foreign land, the filling of a critical administrative position. Many a miraculous correction has followed, with the institution being re-directed from disaster to deliverance.
Phase one of Building Ends

With the Chapel, the first phase of building came to an end. Around the open mandala of the lawn the community had buildings in which to take classes; in which to enjoy a hearty chicken biriyani; in which, like Elisha, each student had a room with bed, study table, chair and lamp; in which to expand ones horizons with research; in which to worship God. Each building had its own personality, but at the same time was marked by a family resemblance. The granite balustrades and fins ran as a motif across them, while the clay tile cladding blended them together. A community can find no better inspiration to explore individual diversity within the unity of the family of God. Those of us who have been at SAIACS recall what we call our first wow! moment, the moment when we first came in at the gate. Our gaze takes in the crunchy green of the lawn complementing the softer earth tones of the terracotta walls. The eye glides along the curves of the chajjas, leaps up from parapet to parapet, skims the smooth arc of the dome and comes
A practice begun in these early years was that in times of crisis, the faculty prayed around the altar. One of the early academic deans, Dr. Noel Jason, introduced this idea. Like Adonijah clutching the horns of the altar for refuge, and like the helpless Hezekiah placing Sennacheribs letter before God, SAIACS has sought Gods intervention here. On the marble altar, faculty and staff have placed documents relating to all manner of needa much needed visa, financial
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The Unused Donation

SAIACS 542, 8th Main Road, 4th Block Koramangala, Bangalore 34 Nov 27th 1985
to rest on the highest feature of the campus, the cross, limned against the clouds. At the gate, the name of the institution was engraved into no more than a six-by-four inch brass plaquetill a slightly larger one came up additionally due to demand from visitors. The contrast between the modest plaque and the pleasing buildings perhaps suggests that one is known by what one is, and not by advertising identity in foot-high letters. For those who have eyes to see, the campus offers many a parable. A question often asked is how SAIACS negotiated this phase with the government authorities. The answer is thatby and largewe came out with clean hands and pure hearts, though that route was not easy. Tej and Houghton exchange grins when they remember a conversation with T M Kosalram, a SAIACS neighbour from whom we hoped to buy a further five acres for the campus. In the midst of the negotiationsin which no gratuities were offeredKosalram said to Houghton, You know, Mr. Graham, you have been in India all these forty years. You are a wonderful man and we all like you in this district. You are one of us. But, he continued, there is one thing you dont understand. You see, you have to learn that when youre dealing with the public sector, you have to push and pay. Mr. Kosalram, Houghton replied, we cant do that. What we do is, we push and pray. Indeed, pushing forward while praying hard led SAIACS into the next phase of growth.
Invariably, you will find a couple of rupee notes beside the Library check-out counterone hundred and one rupees, to be exact. Unfortunately, you cant get your hands on them in an emergency. They are framed behind glass. Below the money is a letter that explains this unusual picture.
From Chaperones to Cell Phones
Dr. Beulah Wood, faculty in the Pastoral Theology and Counselling Department, did things more interesting than plain teaching. She recalls the time when a girl student received a proposal of marriage. A group of students had attended Sunday church and were returning to SAIACS when one of the boys went up to the aforesaid young lady and asked her if she would marry him. Ask my father, the lady replied, hardly breaking stride. The young man took her advice. he asked, and received. The couple were engaged, and reported it to the principal, but desired to keep the matter private. however, there was the matter of meeting up once in a while for a chat. how and where could that be done? Beulah, who was privy to the business, generously offered her living room. The girl would drop a note into her young mans pigeonhole to say when. Separately, each would slip into Beulahs apartment. The living room would be ready, with two chairs and a gramophone playing, so that they could have privacy for their conversation while Beulah worked in the next room. After an hour or so, the chaperone would make them a cup of tea. The trio enjoyed a chat, after which the betrothed couple separately made their quiet exits. of course, with the advent of cell phones, chaperones became unnecessary and, even, obsolete. Listen to the sounds: a long-playing record for a serenade, a tea-kettle gurgling in the background, china cups clinking into saucers. one wonders if the Nokia ringtone creates as gracious an ambience for courtship.
We, the 1985 students of SAIACS, are privileged to have been part of this institution, during the period when the principal was making the momentous decision to find a permanent place for its campus. We are thrilled over the prospect of SAIACS owning its own land and buildings. It is evident that we are not able to help out materially in any substantial way, at the present time. But still, our hearts are with the principal and the other leaders in this, and we do not want to be deprived of the joy of participating. We want to make a token presentation towards the project. This also assures you of our continued prayers for the successful completion of the project, and beyond that, for the fulfilment of the dreams of all those who established SAIACS in the first place. May Gods choicest blessings be upon you. Col. 1:11-12. (Fourteen signatures follow, including that of J M B Sudhakaran, who went on to become the first librarian. Why 101 rupees? Often, when we make a monetary gift, the practice is to add a rupee over the round-figure, something like a full measure...running over. In recognition of the great generosity and sacrifice behind this gift, it has remained unused.)
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SAIACS The First Thirty Years The First Thirty Years
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The Curious Case of the Washing Machine
Our hardworking gardeners who maintain the parklike environment at SAIACS
Washing machines had newly come on the market. SAIACS decided to offer one to each faculty home. Dr. Noel Jason, the Academic Dean, had grown up as a secular Brahmin before becoming a Christian in his late teens.
Curiously, he refused the offered domestic appliance. No thank you, he said firmly. I dont want it. Pressed for a reason, he explained. When I became a Christian I made a vow that I would never accept any material benefit or social advantage that would give grounds for my family and friends to say Ah you see, thats why he became a Christian! After considerable counselling, and for the sake of his wife Gloria, he eventually accepted the washing machine. This sharp academic (PhD, Sheffield, UK) and Presbyter of the Church of South India served here between 1992 and 1997. he is remembered for drafting the SAIACS Statement of Faith, which appears on our prospectus every year.
The Unusual Vice-Principal
The wall marking the campus boundaries was not yet in place. During these days, SAIACS had a faithful guard to protect the premises. The houghtons little dachshundnamed Tahi, which means number one or first in New Zealands indigenous Maori languagepatrolled the boundaries. he was a miniature sentinel against the herds of goats that passed by at least twice a day, eyeing the new leaves of the freshly-planted saplings. Tahi felt confident that he was dog enough to handle the goats should they dare intrude. Tahis second duty was to shadow Dr. Graham houghton from place to place during the day. Should he go into a class or a closed-door meeting, Tahi guarded that door. By his presence he also served as a flag. Should someone want to know the whereabouts of the principal, they just needed to look for the little black dog lying by the door. No wonder the students called Tahi the Vice-Principal.
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Samuel Rayan
When Betrayan first came to SAIACS, it was as a watchman at the gate. From the small village of oddapatti in Tamil Nadu, Rayan belonged to the farming community, with a small field to live off. With money in short supply, Rayan dropped out of education after matriculation, and went from job to job for two years first, as a bakery salesman, then with bore-well drillers and lastly as a helper in a transport company. In 1997, Amos the SAIACS cook asked him if he would like a job here. Willing to try SAIACS, he came in as a watchman. At first, he was not too sure this was the place for him. Students would stop to spend time with Rayan and share their faith with him. Those conversations and Bible studies on the stone bench at the gatehouse under the spreading jacaranda led to his baptism two years later. he took on the name of Samuel. his father had been a lukewarm Christian, who lapsed into the family tradition of village priest. With Rayan now a Christian, the rest of his familymother, sister and fathercame into the faith. The academic environs of the institution must have been a catalyst, because Rayan used his spare time to recover his losses in education. he completed higher secondary education, and went on to earn a bachelors degree in Arts, and finally a masters in Social Work. Meanwhile, at his job, he moved from the gatehouse to assisting with driving, and then to the Reception Office to do odd jobs there and also for the SAIACS Press. People remember Rayan as someone who would smilingly go the extra mile. he passed on the care he had received from students to others in the services staff. Apparently, he could mimic Dr. Graham houghton exactly, and scared the daylight out of many a services staff by sneaking up on them from behind and doing his trick. Rayan has moved on to work for a compassion ministry called help a Child of India based in North Karnataka. his MA in Social Work stands him in good stead. It is not only students that do us proud by equipping themselves for service in the Kingdom.
Co-labourers with God
of the many people and organizations that have been friends of SAIACS over long years, here is Margaret Falkowski to whom SAIACS owes its periodicals and its olive trees! I think it was in 1979, during a ladies luncheon at the church we attended, that I sat next to Carol houghtona divine appointment! I had no idea who she was since my husband and I had just become Christians and began attending church. As we talked, Carol shared her love of India. That luncheon started, for me, a life-long love of Christian mission and how I could be part of it. over the years Dr. Graham houghton and Carol would occasionally stay with us when they came to the States. I remember on one such occasion Graham noticed the little shoots growing from an olive tree in our yard. Graham thought these little two-foot saplings would go perfectly in the prayer garden at SAIACS. So Graham and I carefully selected the best looking ones, wrapped them in wet paper towels and newspaper, and packed them in his suitcase. They all arrived safely at SAIACS and are flourishing in the olive grove prayer garden today. I also remember filling Grahams suitcase with hardware for the new dormitories! In 1998, Carol and Graham came for a visit and Graham asked me if I would be willing to provide some help for the library at SAIACS. he had been frustrated with the mail service about getting magazines and periodicals to SAIACS. half never made it. Well, of course, one cant turn the good doctor down, so I agreed! I remember too that Graham was invited to raid the Billy Graham Library at Wheaton College. I mailed that literature out too. So far, every package I have mailed has arrived safe and sound. Praise the Lord! I now subscribe to more than twenty-five magazines and periodicals for SAIACS. I am so blessed to have been asked to help, even in a small way, for the cause of the Kingdom!
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From Dr. Beulah Wood, SAIACS Resident ornithologist
have you heard shrieks and yowlsand possible swearing outside your window at night? The unholy racket comes from nothing bigger than a twenty-one centimetre spotted owlet. even with the decrease in bird species as Kothanur becomes increasingly urban, we can still see and hear birds on our campus. Pairs of coucal hoot companionably. Red-vented bulbuls sing melodiously. Invisibly-green barbets wind up and punctuate the afternoons with their cuckoo-clock-like katruk, katruk. occasional kites squeal overhead and perch on the Chapel steeple. The songster koels pale bill and rapid flight distinguishes it from crows. Mynas congregate noisily at sunset, and gentle spotted doves struggle for a place to lay their eggs. Some birds are seasonal visitorslike the scratchy voiced treepies with rusty backs and long tails, and the white-browed wagtails in hunting mode across the lawn. Fork-tailed black drongos, pure white egrets and golden orioles visit each winter. Some go for colour. A white-breasted kingfisherbrown head and a flash of turquoise wings has often perched near Lydia hall, hoping perhaps for a breakfast lizard or a skittish young three-stripe squirrel. Parakeets shrill their keeak, keeak near the temple with a rose ring round their neck, bright cerise bill, green suit and blue tail. My top vote, however, goes to the Indian rollers or blue jays that I watched performing a mating flight one season. With blue cap and wings, they tumbled about the sky near the principals house like aircraft in an aerobatics display. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God (Luke 12:6).
Summer
A Tree for every Season
As easter approaches, the bare-limbed frangipanis catch the spirit of resurrection and promptly burst into yellow-and-white. Their heady scent slides off the satin petals to hitch a free ride on the passing breeze. Soon, the term ends and the students have left for the long summer holidays. You turn up the ceiling fan and idly wonder if the heat is coming off the flaming gulmohar outside the window. Its fiery oranges and reds burn steadily till the new term commences in June. In between umpteen orientation sessions, freshers may catch their breath under the gulmohar at the corner of the lawn. It will ensure their geographic orientationthe pavement there has the compass points chiselled into it.
Spring
In February, the candle of the academic year is burning to its finish. With one last flare of its flame it sets the trees on fire. First, it is the tabebuia. The branches disappear under thick clusters of trumpet-flowers from whose rich colour the species gets its name argentia, meaning gold. There is an apartment or two whose living room window perfectly frames a tabebuia. Next to light up is the jacaranda, as mauveblue as a gas burner. Tongues of blue shred off the spreading branches and float lazily grassward. one notices how our jacarandas seem to flower on cue from each otherfirst one, and then another, and lastly, the one at the main gate. They must have an agreement on order of appearance.
Monsoon
Blooming alongside the gulmohar is the laburnum. As the south-west monsoon sets in, you notice its long droopy bunches of blossoms coloured a rain-washed, buttery yellow. Just as tender are the fragile pinks of the cassia outside the Commons, the tree under which is a little quadrangle of stone benches. Many are the conversations the cassia has hosted in its shade. Independence Day comes round, and it is the turn of the African tulip treeseach blazing flower with the capacity of a good-sized teacup. Its dry pods make stout boats for the children to launch imaginary journeys.
Winter
The evenings are nippy now. The avenue of tall cork oaks leading to Bethany house catches the attention of your nose. White flowers with long, delicate necks dangle face down through the dark green foliage, wafting fragrance on those passing below. Small wonder they are called akasha-mallige, the jasmine of the sky. Meanwhile, the magenta tabebuia splashes colour over the facade of the Institute Building We cannot do without our trees. They feature in lunchtime announcements nearly every daythe venue of this meeting or that. That is why, as the buildings came up one after another, it was not unusual to be in a first-floor classroom and see a leafy treetop briskly moving past the window. Rather than be chopped down, the young tree was being transplanted. There is a sampigethe magnoliafreshly planted opposite the Commons. It has missed the first three eventful decades of SAIACS. Still, who knows on what historic milestones it may yet shower its beige-yellow blossom. Cost Kothanur1988-1994
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Success
Kothanur 1995-2003
ne Friday morning, after the customary faculty and staff prayer in the Fishermans Chapel, the chapel in the dome, the gathering stood talking on the terrace. At this time this was the northern boundary of the property. Looking over the parapet one saw pieces of land, twoand-a-half acres to the north and another two acres to the west. Dr. Noel Jason was the academic dean at this time, and he suggested to the group that they should pray that God would gift them these properties. The group committed the matter to prayer.
Kothanur 1995-2003
Success
Joel Committees
Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions (Joel 2:28). From this text, the Joel Committee took its name. It came into existence in the early 1990s, under the inspiration of John ed Matheson, a pastor friend of Dr. Graham houghton from Montgomery, Alabama. held periodically, this was an assembly of faculty and administrative staff meant for the purpose of thinking outside the box. Dr. Idicheria Ninan recalls being part of one while he was one of the visiting faculty. on this occasion, Carol houghton shared her dream for SAIACS.
While the mainstream denominations had their well-established seminaries and colleges, the smaller and newer streams within the Indian church had none. She wished for SAIACS to stand in this gap. This hope so moved Ninan, that he joined the faculty fulltime. Some of the dreams that these committees dreamed actualized. The Ceo Centre was one of them. Another was the extension of the original property by the purchase of two adjoining pieces of land behind the Library and beyond the Institute Building. The affiliation with the University of Mysore resulted from Joel
Committee members agreeing that this was the way forward to increasing credibility in India. The faculty development programme stemmed from the idea that one way to increase the proportion of Indian nationals among the teaching staff was to grow them in ones own backyardthat is, by identifying students for training as future faculty. Some of the harvest of this ongoing project who currently serve as faculty are Dr. havilah Dharamraj (head of the department of old Testament since 2008) and Dr. John Arun Kumar (head of the department of Religions since 2006) and this years doctorate Nigel Ajay Kumar (department of Theology).
Around the same time, in the mid-90s, Derek Batts visited from New Zealand, enthusiastic to invest in properties. Tej Paul recalls how he and Batts crawled through the fence on the north side into the grove of eucalyptus trees. The idea was to actually stand on the ground while praying for it. Not long after these incidents, in 1997, SAIACS bought the land from a long-standing neighbour and friend, T N Kosalram. While the western property was built on almost immediately, the northern piece served as an interim cricket field. Even when the Faculty Quadrangle was constructed on it in 2000, there was still enough room for hitting a six or two. The building labourers, in fact, joined students and services staff to while away the evenings. When, in 2003, work began on the CEO Centre that now occupies most of this land, the cricket fraternity was sorrowfully dissolved. One of them recalls how, after the Centre was completed, the former cricketers acknowledged that the building was well worth the cessation of cricket.
While we record for the sake of history the growth of the physical assets of this institution, the far more important story we tell is that of the people these buildings have housedwhich this chapter sets out to do. As a matter of fact, the dedication plaques of these buildings declare the intention with which they were built. So, the following alumni stories are clustered according to the names of the housing blocks that came up on the western finger of landblocks named after Pulney Andy, William Miller, Nehemiah Goreh and Pandita Ramabai.
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Pulney Andys (1831-1909) dream and labour was for an indigenous, self-governing church in India. William Miller (1782-1849) founded the prestigious Madras Christian College. Nilakantha Nehemiah Goreh (1825-1885) was the erudite pandit and churchman remembered for advancing arguments from reason for evidence of the truth of Christianity. Pandita Ramabhai (1858-1922) established the Mukti Mission in Pune, widely known as a shelter for destitute women and as a foster home for abandoned babies.
it was the monsoon seasonthe river would flood, breaking several times into the single road to the town, eighteen kilometres away. A heavily pregnant Vickie came awake, nauseated. After throwing up a few times, she felt the labour pains coming on, even though the due date was a month away. She woke her husband Dinesh, and, as rehearsed, he laid out a clean sheet. In no time at all, the baby slipped into the world. Deborah is twenty years old now, and has survived having arrived on a bedsheet on a mud floor. What is more, by the grace of God, she managed excellently in an area prone to tuberculosis, even without getting her BCG vaccination on time. Vickie was just 21 when she joined the Indian
Dinesh Patel produced has been published by the Bible Society of India, in both Gujarati and Devanagiri scripts. With literacy programmes having gone hand-in-hand with the translation work, this tribal group can now read the gospel in their own tongue. Midway through this titanic task, the Patels came to SAIACS for a two-year MA (1999-2001). They recall that time as a surge of recharging both mind and body towards the second phase of their work. Moving from tribal India to the nations capital, one encounters the Nicodemus Ministry. With a network across four states around Delhi, Sushil Tyagi has pioneered a work directed at the Muslim community. Coming to the faith by night, so to speak, have been an astonishing number of Muslims, many of whom remain secret believers. Representative among them is Amina (name changed). When she married an Afghani and went with him to his home country, she received a huge shock to learn that he already had another wife. Amina called Sushil to say that but for her faith she would have committed suicide. Now she works for a hospital, and has started a small group
of women to whom she teaches the songs and scriptures she learnt in her brief exposure to the Nicodemus Ministry. Sushil says his vision had been for villagebased evangelism. Looking for a bible school with a missions emphasis he came to SAIACS (1998-2000). He declares the institution cleared his lenses to see the need for an indigenous mission among Muslims in North India. Meanwhile, Maniselvi and Prabhakara Sarathy
successful ones among the Santals. Recalling his many conversations at SAIACS with cultural anthropologist Paul Hiebert, Sarathy warned that they needed to rethink strategy for the cities. The advice was ignored, and the convention went ahead. It promptly ran into deep trouble with a fundamentalist group, and the organizer came within an inch of losing his life by being thrown off a Himachal cliff. From this point on, Sarathys advice was taken seriously. He divided the three states under his care into zones, trained field missionaries for each, and supervised them while they in turn trained local leadership in their multiple congregations. Following the SAIACS modular system, Sarathys team worked out a schedule of capsules for the two levels of training the upper level even required issues to be thought through and presented as short papers, SAIACS style! Sure enough the strategy proved fruitful. We could tell a similar story of successful strategizing about George Edwards (1999-2001) and his wife Pramila. Working among the Malto tribals in Jharkhand, they
suffered from malaria at least seventeen times! They witnessed the church there growing from a mere handful to a current sixty thousand. Besides the nearly completed translation of the Bible, they have also done much in musicology to build the Christian message into Malto songs and stories. Working out of the neighbouring state of
Pulney Andy house (1999)
In memory of a disciple of Jesus and pioneer whose dream of the church in India has not yet been fulfilled.
It was just past 2 am in a small, isolated village in Rajasthan. Should it rain nowconsidering
Evangelical Mission (IEM) and sent to learn the language of the Garasia tribe in Gujarat and Rajasthan. In the three decades since, the Garasia New Testament that Vickie and
of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB) have taken away from their stint at SAIACS (2002-2004) the value of strategizing. The Sarathys recall an incident from the time when they had relocated from their pioneering work among the Santal tribals of Jharkand to the Hindi heartland. One team member suggested a convention in one of the cities of Himachal Pradesh, much like the hugely
Bihar are Devasahayam Ponraj (1986-1989) and his wife Sheela. He leads the Bihar OutReach Network (BORN), which has catalyzed transformation in that state through several thousands of trained church planters and pastors. In nearby Madhya Pradesh, are Ganesh Pandey (2003-2005) and his wife Ida. Unlikely, yet true, is the fact that he went from working in a bicycle shop in rural India to graduating with a SAIACS doctorate in Missiology. He now
Success Kothanur 1995-2003
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heads Central India People Fellowship, dedicated to caring for the advancement of the Korku tribals. He acknowledges that he received at SAIACS the permission to succeed. Pulney Andys dream for the church in India would have encompassed not just mission initiatives such as these stories represent, but also ones like Operation Nehemiah. While the nation was swept up in the anti-corruption wave, in Bangalore more than fifty of Indias most strategic Christian leaders were engaging in introspection on corruption within the Indian church. These were churchmen invited from across the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox traditions, heads of top-profile parachurch organizations, and high-ranking officials in secular positions. Conceived and facilitated by a network of Christian businessmen in collaboration with the Lausanne Movement, this high-powered meeting of minds pondered how to report and investigate corruption within the church, how to restore and reconcile those it affects, and in what terms to declare the churchs position on this issue.
While Operation Nehemiah transitions from being an event to becoming a self-propagating movement, SAIACS alumnus Arpit Waghmare (20062008) continues for a while at its helm as coordinator. SAIACS affirmed my return to the corporate world, he says. It gave me the confidence to serve God through my particular strengths, freeing me from the obligation to conform to traditional patterns of doing mission. An examples of another variant from
light districts. Their Home of Hope in Pune shelters these girls, counsels them out of past trauma and trains them for future vocations. Due to the nature of their work, Matthew and Suha often face dangers. Suha admits, Death threats are quite common, but we trust the Lord. The enterprise of our alumni filters down multiple levels of leadership and flows across professions and international boundaries. Vikram Tirkey (20052007) coordinates the medical missions of the Evangelical Medical Fellowship of India (EMFI) and the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) in South Asia. Operating from Bihar and Jharkand, he testifies to medicos who, compelled by their new-found faith, dare to stand up to the widespread corruption within the examination system and health care operations in these parts. Till recently, K. Rajendran (19951998) headed the
Indian Missions Association for a decade, with a sphere of influence that included more than two hundred mission organizations and over fifty thousand workers in cross-cultural missions. His book Which Way Forward Indian Missions? has been remarkably influential. Meanwhile, Parrot and Devasahayam (19931995) serve students in Fiji and Guyana
road to his parents aspirations for him. Pulney Andys dream for the church is an ongoing one, and we believe SAIACS is joyfully colabouring with many others to contribute to its realization.
so much so that the inspecting ATA team particularly remarked on the congenial family atmosphere that characterized the place. A similar success story in secular education is that of Chawngthanpari. Since her SAIACS years (2002-2006), Pari has nursed the Higher and Technical Institute of Mizoram into becoming, in her words, a theosecular college. In egalitarian work culture and democratic administrative style, it has borrowed elements from SAIACS and gone on to become, she says, a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden. Education is not, as we know, limited to formal learning. Charles Christian (2006-2008) works for the magazine Christian Trends. Considering that Christian magazines are mostly either in-house productions or of a devotional nature, this publication seeks to fill a crucial
William Miller house (1999)
In memory of a great educator and visionary.

When Stella Bogi came to SAIACS (graduated 2000), she got what she describes as a nice shock. She saw that on Fridays, faculty and students had a social evening together, something she had not encountered before. Now, as principal of the ATA-accredited Trinity Christian College in Hyderabad, she takes students home for dinner on weekends. Like Carol Houghton, of whom she was a silent admirer, she bakes her community a cake now and then. And following a practice of Graham Houghton, she avoids the Indian authoritarian way of seeing students at her office desk. Rather, she has an arrangement of furniture that allows her to sit with people around a coffee table. These are small things, admittedly, but they have redefined the ethos of her college,
traditional mission are Mathew (1994-1996) and Suha Daniel. They direct their efforts towards rescuing and restoring victims of trafficking and children of people in urban red-
through Union of Evangelical Students in India (UESI). Reacher Williams (2005-2007) has pioneered work in Cambodia, taking with him his wife and new firstborn child. Named in the hope that he would reach people with the gospel, Reacher acknowledges that his SAIACS training put him well on the
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The Awards
Come Graduation each year, a clutch of awards is presented. Some reward the meritorious, such as the Principals Award for the Best MA Performance and the Principals Award for the Best MTh Thesis. Also in this category is the Satthianadhan Award, given to the student who most exhibited painstaking striving for academic improvement. on the name of the award hangs a history.
gapforming evangelical opinion on issues and events that are fuelling the newspapers. SAIACS placed a strong emphasis on being relevant, says Charles. So, sensitivity to the interests of the reader shapes the content of Christian Trends. No wonder readers of this sleek bimonthly respond with enthusiasm: I have been much impressedthe articles in the magazine deal with everyday matters. These are but a sprinkling of stories of educators and visionaries. SAIACS alumni shape theological institutions and mission training schools, and also influence mainstream education across the length and breadth of the country. Beyond the national borders, SAIACS graduates lead institutions across the continents, as this cross-section shows: Tandi Randa (2003-2005) is currently the principal of STT Eriksen-Tritt Theological College in Indonesia, spearheading a movement to train native disciple makers for this vastly Muslim country; Ken Stravens (1996-1998) is Kenyas director for the Campus Crusade for Christ counterpart called The Life Ministry; Simon Pal (1997-1999) was sent by Service in Mission (SIM) based in Sudan and returned to continue translating the Old Testament into the Dinka language; and, Moses Mejia (graduated 1995) who earned a DMiss at SAIACS, teaches at the Trans-cultural Studies Centre in El Salvador.
nehemiah Goreh Quadruplex (2003)
...was dedicated...in memory of [this] scholar and apologist of our faith, with prayer that all who live here will be so inspired by his legacy as to give themselves, mind and heart, to mentoring...
In Srinagar, 120 Muslims had gathered together in a hospital conference room. Edward Williams (2006-2009) had been invited to address them, in a project sponsored by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) through which he regularly broadcasts. Considering it was the eve of Bakrid, Edward retold the narrative of Abrahams test found in Genesis 22. He was careful not to name the son in the story. Of course, the audience was keen to contest the identity of the lad whether it was Isaac or Ishmael. Edward took them by surprise by pointing out that this was a secondary issue, considering that the boy had come through alive after all. The focus should be rather on the sacrifice, the key element of Bakrid celebrations. This gave him the necessary launch into presenting Christ as the ultimate sacrifice. While SAIACS reputation for training biblical
and mission-minded scholars rests significantly on the forty percent of our students who take up influential teaching positions, it also flows out through channels as unexpected as television, as in Edwards case. He attests that learning how to handle the Scripture, and re-learning how to tell its stories, are what SAIACS has inculcated in this regionally popular televangelist. Besides sound scholarship, another area in which our alumni walk in the steps of Goreh is Apologetics. An IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) is one of the less likely places to call in a Christian to speak as an apologist, but that is where Neil Vimalkumar (20002003) found himself recently. He was invited by the student society to give a talk on Facing Rejection in Society. Neil heads the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) division for corporate and premier institutions, a ministry oriented to Christian Apologetics. At IIT Rourkee, Neil was delighted that he was given such a cordial hearing. That same month, Newsweek had a story titled Death Wish, reporting the
increasing suicide rate. Neil made reference to it in his talk, as he presented Jesus as the ultimate rejected one who came through victoriously. Indeed, such putting out of the gospel in the public arena and defending it against challenge is the raison detre of RZIM. Neil says the academic rigour at SAIACS pushed him to sharpen his analytical skills, honing the razor-edge he needs in argumentation with these robust minds. For an example of Goreh-inspired mentoring we must visit the food court of a Delhi mall, where two young men, both aged twenty-five, sit over pizza. One is reading aloud to the other a passage from Philippians. The latter is Philip Ewan Yalla (2008-2011). He urges his reader, Steve, to bring expression into the deliveryPhilip learned his homiletics well! Perhaps that is why when Philip had preached at the Noida branch of the Delhi Bible Fellowship where he is interning, Steve came up and asked if Philip would be his mentor. They began meeting weekly at the mall. As they talked, Steve began to open up, emboldened by Philips candid sharing. A deep introvert,
In 1857, it was reported thus of the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu: there the eye and heart...are gladdened by the sight of the largest, the most thriving, and the most progressive Christian community in India. At Independence this was the largest of the dioceses of the Church of South India. one of the Indians that made this possible was Rev. W T Satthianadhan, who rose from remarkably modest origins to be ordained as an Anglican minister in 1790. Under his ministrations, entire villages came to the faith. An example was the village of Channpathu, which acquired so Christian a character that later even its name was changed to Nazareth. other awards are decided by community vote. These are the Aquila and Priscilla Award given to the couple who most exemplified partnership in Christian marriage and service in the community, and the Clyde Parker Award which is won for excellence in academics, for demonstration of community spirit, and for modelling servanthood. one of the runners-up to this award is the Valedictorian of the year. Why the American Clyde Parker is thus commemorated is told earlier in this history. Besides honouring those graduating, there is an award that recognizes those who have gone before. The Alumnus of the Year is named for making an outstanding contribution to their particular field.
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circumstances had led him into a downward spiral. Philip taught Steve the basics he had learned in his Research and Writing Skills module at SAIACShow to read a text so as to identify the thesis, and then the arguments supporting the thesis. Steve was so excited about re-discovering the Pauline epistles this way that he asked for more than their single weekly meeting. As the Scripture sank deeper into his mind, Steve began to rise to the challenges of life. To everyones surprise, he got himself a job and is performing surprisingly well. SAIACS can testify to a tradition of mentorship within the institutionwithin departments through our system of faculty traineeships, within cell groups through faculty advisors, and between students through peer mentoring partnerships. Small wonder then that students like Philip learn the ropes while still young.
of the dream. The Department of Biblical and Theological Studies was headed by Dr. Ken Gnanakan, the Department of Religion and Culture was overseen by Dr. John Thannickal, and the Department of Church and Mission was committed to Dr. Graham Houghton. Eventually, these three
genius of the Principal, Dr. Ian Payne. The name Antioch well suits the door of the head of the department of Missiology. Syrian Antioch was where the followers of Christ were first identified as Christians (Acts 11:26). Even more significant, it was from here that Paul and Barnabas were commissioned on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:2-3). Missiology is the department with which SAIACS began in 1982 under Houghton. Many are the students who have begun their missionary journeys from this locus. They have gone to places as difficult as Bihar, once known as the graveyard of missions; to territory as remote as Arunachal Pradesh, the land of the dawn, high against the borders of China; to the bustling metropolises of the mainland. Of this departments many initiatives, one is the in-house annual Mission Conference started in 2003. At the heart of any theological institution should lie the study of the Scriptures. The Biblical Studies department formally came into being under the leadership of Dr. Augustine Pagolu (Old Testament) in 1995 and was strengthened by the arrival of Dr. Idicheria Ninan (New Testament) in 1997. In 2006, the department was reorganized into the sister departments of New Testamentheaded by Dr. Cornelis Bennemaand Old Testament, under
the Faculty Quadrangle (2000)
differentiated further into the present seven specializations operating out of the Faculty Quadrangle, which opened in the new millennium. Again, built along the lines of the mandala, the faculty offices are layered into two floors. Each office opens onto the verandah, which runs along the four sides and borders the central gravelled garden. Perhaps the greenery replenishes the oxygen needed to keep the professorial mental machinery humming. The offices were named a good decade after they were occupiedan exercise of the creative
Dedicated with the prayer that it will facilitate the SAIACS faculty to be creative and innovative in upholding the highest standards of the historical, evangelical, biblical faith.
In 1986, the modules offered at SAIACS were streamed into three divisions, each division under the care of one of the three custodians
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Dr. Jesudason Bhaskar Jeyaraj. The one-year Pre-MTh programme was launched at the latters initiative, and continues to provide students an enviable grounding in the biblical languages, Hebrew and Greek. With offices named Eden and Patmos, one immediately gets an idea of the scope of these two departments! Indeed, the priority here is to produce graduates who will correctly handle the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15). The year 1998 saw three departments formally inaugurated. The department of Theology was redesigned by Dr. Christian Barrigar in 1998. He reports that the modest number of half-adozen students immediately fell by one because he unfortunately began with a class on Karl Barth! With one of its offices called Wittenberg, this department evokes the spirit of Martin Luther, whose act of nailing his list of 95 theses or statements to the door of this citys cathedral birthed the Protestant Reformation. Thus, among other things, this department seeks to contribute to emerging contextual theologies. This is the continuing effort to serve, as Sadhu Sundar Singh put it, the water of life in an Indian cup. SAIACS collaboration with fellowlabourers in the field was strengthened when, in 2011, the Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) instituted a Chair of Apologetics in this department.
Tambaram recalls the historic third World Missionary Conference of Tambaram of 1938, which eventually created the World Council of Churches. Tambaram is the office of the department head of Church History, started by Houghton in 1998. Houghtons research on the Impoverishment of Dependency urging for a self-sustaining and independentthinking Indian Church remains a goal taught at SAIACS. In the same year, Dr. Christopher Gnanakan formally opened the department of Pastoral Theology and Counselling. The heads office is appropriately named Sychar, the well at which Jesus ministered to the deep, and multiple, needs of the Samaritan woman (John 4). This department has a prominent profile in the output of the SAIACS Press, with both faculty and students writing for publication. Thus, Sopna Kumaris Know the Signs and Keep on Loving was an MTh thesis on suicide that was turned into a book. Faculty Beulah Wood has contributed prolifically to two of the departments specializationshomiletics and counsellingwith publications such as Turn the Key to Creativity and Families in the Plan of God. The department of Religions was conceived and operational from the beginning as part of the MTh programme in Missiology,
offering Cultural Anthropology and Major Religions and Cults. The MTh specialization in Religions was added in 2008 under Dr. John Arun Kumar. It operates out of an office called Damascus, evoking the illumination of dogmatic Judaism by the bright light of Christianity, as Paul encountered Christ on the road to that city. We hear the students begin their classes chanting the Lords Prayer in the melodic tones of a Sanskrit shloka, and are reminded that India is the cradle of one of the oldest major world religions, Hinduism. Reiterating the relevance of this department is the fact that India is home to the second largest population of the youngest major world religion, Islam. One of its alumni, who learned Arabic and specialized in Islam, now works in Iran. In the early stages, while resident Indian faculty presence increased gradually, SAIACS saw a larger teaching contribution from overseas. A small sampling of their experiences helps us see SAIACS through their eyes. Dr. David Sherbino of Tyndale University College and Seminary, Toronto explains his perspective thus: My understanding of the worldwide church is expanded [through teaching at SAIACS]. I gain new insights from mature men and women whose ministry context is totally
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To Build a Team
This Biblical Studies faculty photograph is a neat cameo of the three different ways SAIACS built up its full-time teaching staff by inviting Indians, non-Indians, and by training its own students. The Dutch Dr. Cornelis Bennema had a New Testament PhD (London School of Theology) when he came looking for an opportunity to serve in India and met SAIACS. Dr. Babu Immanuel already had his PhD in New Testament from Kings College, London and was working with another Christian institution in Bangalore when he was invited to join SAIACS. Dr. Havilah Dharamraj was SAIACS MA graduate inducted into the faculty development programme.
different from mine. I return to the classroom in Toronto with much more to contribute to my students there. Dr. Arthur McPhee of Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky commends the idea of adjuncts: Guest professors give the students broader exposure and therefore wider horizons intellectually, politically, culturally. His colleague Dr. John Oswald Sanders says, I was impressed by the vision of the place[especially] their great care in selecting students. Its all remarkable. Dr. Robert Coleman of Gordon Conwell College in the United States and author of the best-selling The Master Plan of Salvation is impressed by the common noon meal, noting how smoothly the diversity of individuals break bread together without regard for caste or culture. The late Barbara Clemmons who lit up the campus with her charm for more than a decade, summed up the feeling of our overseas adjuncts with her remark: The potential for multiplication of the teaching of sound Christian principles through SAIACS is exciting, and I am pleased to be part of it. Why are the faculty, whether full-time
Quotable Quotes
Why not?
Here is a popular collection of Houghton-isms. As a challenge to dreaming big dreams... Where do you want to be in five years? Raise the bar! When I see a seed, I see the harvest. Dont chase two rabbits... As caution while executing those dreams... Never get excited till the money is in the bank. Whatever it takes. In his dealings with his office staff... Woman, speak up! Get it right the first time. Woman, Im at peace with you. houghton-isms have stories attached to them, and one such is that of Dr. Cornelis Bennema, head of the department of New Testament. he says: My own coming to SAIACS has a humorous touch. I came to India for the first time in 1996, to teach for six months at the Allahabad Bible Seminary (ABS). The aim was to see whether God wanted to use me in theological education. In March 1997, there was the annual ABS Board Meeting of which Dr. Graham houghton was the chairman. I had heard of him, but had never met him. So, when he was in ABS, I introduced myself to him. I vividly remember him asking me, So, Cor, where do you want to be in five years time? I replied, I dont know...wherever the Lord leads me. Only much later did I come to find out that Graham doesnt like these vague answers, and prefers specific ones. Anyway, I didnt know at that time, nor did Graham, that precisely five years later, in May 2002, God would place me in SAIACS! We are yet to honour the current principal with a collection of Payne-isms, but here is a sneak preview. There is no gain without Payne! From good to great! Success Kothanur 1995-2003
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or adjunct, whether national or foreign, enthusiastic about putting their shoulders to the SAIACS wheel? The answer lies in the word investment. One morning at chapel, those congregated were intrigued to see at the altar a flowerpot with a young plant. Houghton, whose turn it was to lead the devotion, intended it as the days object lesson. What do you see here? he asked his audience. None of the answers he received were quite what he was leading up to. A tree, he suggested. Do you see a tree? Most see what there is; few see what there can be. From the long-term investments people have made, and from the achievements realized by its alumni, it appears that the institution is doing well as a forestry nursery of potential leadership.
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Excellence
Kothanur 2004-2008
Lost and Found
This green oasis has often served as a rest for weary pilgrims. of those who have taken their sabbaticals here is Malcolm McGregor, International Director of SIM (Serving in Mission). his wife Liz tells the story: Perhaps it wasnt the wisest thing to do, but on 2nd January, 2001, on arrival at Bangalore Airport, we jumped in a taxi and set off for SAIACS where we had registered to do our sabbatical studies for a semester. The driver did well considering our lack of knowledge of any local language and the vaguest of directions which we gave him, but after some time, in frustration, he indicated he was lost and stopped to ask for help from a young man who immediately jumped into the front seat, welcomed us to India, to Bangalore, and to SAIACS. he was going right there, he told us, because he was a member of staff working in the Library! And so it was we were welcomed into the community of faith and learning that is SAIACS. As leaders of a large mission organisation, it was an enormous privilege to be given some months for rest and reflection. We are from Europe, we had spent almost twenty years serving in Nigeria and ethiopia, and we had many colleagues and friends in North America. opportunities were open to us in many places, but in the end we chose SAIACS. It was highly recommended to us as a place that welcomed and facilitated sabbatical students at post-graduate level. As we look back now, ten years later, we are so thankful that we made that decision. We loved the quietness and convenience of our little apartment, were blessed by the beautiful campus, and the food and fellowship were wonderful as the community gathered together for meals. Faculty graciously allowed us to join their classes, yet we also had the space and time for personal reading and reflection. We learned so much about IndiaIndian history, politics, culture, church and missions in India. But most significantly, we remember the friends that we madefaculty, staff, and students alike. What a joy it has been to follow Gods leading in their lives and ministry since graduation day. (The young man in question is Prasad Rao, who vividly recalls the white Ambassador car that stopped outside his gate as he emerged from his house to walk to work. He remembers the couple in it who had been doing a circuit of the villages for a good hour, and were getting very anxious indeed. Liz let out a squeal of delight, he says, and said a prayer of thanksgiving straightaway!)
Kothanur 2004-2008
Excellence
longside a path leading from the Commons to the students residences is a summaithangi or resting stone. Its two upstanding granite posts, the height of a man, are topped by a slab. Such a structure is common to the roads connecting the villages, and is meant for those carrying head-loads. They can ease off the bundle of firewood, the bale of hay or the basket of vegetables onto the slab, and rest awhile under its shade before making their way again. SAIACS was meant to be such a resting place for those who came to it. 2004 marked a significant year both for Dr. Graham Houghton and SAIACS. After nearly four decades of service in India, of which twenty-three had been devoted to this institution, Houghton made preparations to retire from his role as principal. He saw it was time to ease off the responsibilities he had willingly carried thus far, and let someone else bear the head-load while he retired to rest. It was agreed that the person for the task was Dr. Ashish Chrispal. With a PhD from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and having been on the faculty of Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, he had served as adjunct faculty in SAIACS department of Theology, and as full-time faculty since 2002. The SAIACS ethos being distinct from other institutions, Chrispal, as an insider, would slip into the role smoothly. Indeed, Houghton was keen that the handover should be a good example of transition of leadership within Christian organizations.
In order to facilitate a seamless transition, for a year Chrispal worked in tandem with Houghton in the position of vice-principal. All went as planned, and in March, 2004 Chrispals installation as principal was integrated into the graduation service. Houghton formally declared, We have the right manwe made the right choice. Houghton was awarded the position of Principal Emeritus, and remained the Managing Trustee.
As emotional as it was for Houghton to relinquish his role at SAIACS, he was able to see his mission in perspective. I have always understood my role as analogous to scaffolding in relationship to a building, he explained. Scaffolding is necessary, but it is not the main thing. At the end of the day the scaffolding must be removed and then the beauty of the building comes into view. Carol and I derive a great amount of pleasure and significance from what has been accomplished by Gods grace. Obviously there will now be some changes, but our prayer is that Dr. Chrispal and the team here will do even greater things for the glory of God in the days ahead. The Houghtons relocated to New Zealand, coming back once a year for Houghton to continue teaching his module on Leadership, and to attend Board meetings. Further, Houghton continued his role of many long years as fundraiser. The last building project he had initiated was an income-generating conference centrethe Continuing Education Opportunity (CEO) Centrebuilt on one side of the SAIACS property. Apart from SAIACS interests, his life filled up with new commitments, among them, teaching at the Peking University in Beijing, China.
Ashish Chrispal (2004-2006)

Meanwhile, Chrispal inaugurated his term with a bumper crop of admissions. Also, among faculty newly appointed was the Academic Dean Dr. Sukhwant Singh Bhatia. The new leadership felt that a number of changes urgently needed implementing, both academically and administratively. According to the August, 2004 Principals Report, Chrispals stated goal was better team management, streamlining the academic life. As he and Bhatia worked together toward these stated goals, new systems and processes were put into place: from upgrading office computers to streamlining the admissions process; from installing wi-fi to restructuring student cell groups and, from upskilling secretaries to introducing ongoing development through workshops. These were years of restructuring. For the first time, three-year and five-year-plans were laid out, setting goals for the departments and the institution. Programmes such as the Doctor
of Ministry which catered to practitioners desirous of upgrading through distance education, and the certificate programme for the spouses of students, received a boost. The services and administrative staff remember with gratitude that their salaries saw a significant hike. The changes were well-intentioned, and helped to give the institution a leaner and fitter shape. For example, moving the start of the daily morning chapel back by five minutes, so that it started at 8.25 rather than 8.30 am, helped buffer longer sermons and get classes started on time. However, for example, not everybody could appreciate why some of the granitepaved lanes, so much part of the architectural ethos, were replaced with asphalt. While the institution was being exercised into a new shape, the rigour may have been too much too quick, and some of the aerobics even detrimental to its constitution. Among the happy events of this period was the inauguration of the conference centre. In August 2005, the CEO Centre was completed and dedicated as a venue for seminars, conferences, and other gatherings. With the community growing in numbers, its gatherings were now held here. Freshers and Cultural Nights, which used to be accommodated in
the foyer, were now celebrated in the elegant fan-shaped auditorium, with its drop-curtain stage and snazzy lights. Again, this added to the move from the informal towards the professional. For better or for worse, the institution was leaving behind the days when students creatively managed with whatever was available. Meanwhile, Bhatia was implementing changes. Chrispal said, I had to relocate some staff, reorganise some departments. He explains that this riled up emotions, but he felt he had the right to do this. With this, a gap formed and gradually widened within the team. 2006-2007 was the third of Chrispals years at the helm. In the light of the ongoing friction, a chain of events gained traction, resulting in the resignations of Chrispal and Bhatia midway through the academic year. At the trustees invitation, Chrispal read to them a five-page paper explaining the difficulties of transition: changes were inevitable and with them came the challenges and heartaches. He felt there were in SAIACS certain managerial and administrative styles that were not conducive to long-term sustainability, and he and Bhatia tried to make corrections. But, it appears, they could not take the team with them. Therefore, Chrispal
Excellence Kothanur 2004-2008
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long years of teaching experience at the Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, Hrangkhuma came to SAIACS in 2001. The Board of Trustees requested him to be interim principal, till a permanent solution could be found. He agreed, hoping it would not take them long. As it happened, it took two years. Over this time Hrangkhuma was confirmed as principal proper. Perhaps the most valuable contribution he made was to hold the institution together at this critical time. Indeed, his brief was to keep the peace. Yet, he felt that an institution could not tread water for too long without succumbing to fatigue. So, little by little, he moved SAIACS forward. The team was reconstructed, and administration decentralized. With this, the various departments found a new independence and began to thrive. In addition to their regular responsibilities, the department heads shared the tasks of the academic dean. A tangible sense of teamwork emerged faculty and staff understood and enjoyed what it meant to be co-labourers.
Curriculum development received new impetus. The Old Testament department introduced the pre-MTh programme, which helped to improve the quality of intake into its MTh. As the situation stabilized, Dr. Babu Immanuel of the New Testament department was appointed academic dean. ATA accreditation was renewed. Eventually, SAIACS came through the storm. In retrospect, faculty remarked that even at the worst period, the community was contained within the serenity of the eye of the storm. One of the last events of note during this period was an affirmation of a system that had been in place from the beginning. In 2008, the Home Ministry at Delhi sent auditors to determine if SAIACS was reporting and handling their funds according to government regulations. Beginning at 1985, they checked all the books, moving through capital assets, land purchases in SAIACS name, and construction records. All was in order and they were well satisfied. As Chairperson Dr. A J Anandan would report, They came, they saw, and we conquered.
state of Kerala. Later, in his native New Zealand, he trained to be an architect and worked as one. Hearing the call to build the church rather than church buildings, he took up theological education. For the Masters, he returned to India, and gained an MTh in Theology from SAIACS. From here he went on to doctoral studies in Aberdeen, Scotland, while still teaching at SAIACS. Later, he returned to New Zealand and took up employment as the principal of Pathways College of Bible and Mission in Auckland. When in 2008 he heard that the SAIACS Trust was considering him for the position of principal, he was quite astounded. Shouldnt you be looking for an Indian? Payne asked. We will make our choice on merit, replied Chairperson Anandan, not on region or language. When asked again a year later, Payne reconsidered his initial reluctance,
sensed the hand of God, and accepted. In March 2008, at Graduation, the baton passed into his hands. The services staff remembered him as an affable student. The administrative staff and faculty recalled him as a worthy academic and amiable colleague. And so, a new phase began. Among the events of Paynes first few months in leadership was Chrispals letter to the trustees expressing his desire for reconciliation. SAIACS 2008 Annual Review and Audit published a paragraph describing what happened: Recently Dr. Ashish Chrispal, Principal of SAIACS from 2004-2006, asked to speak to the community at SAIACS. So on 11th September, many office staff, gardeners, faculty, students, and trustees (including the founding principal and chairman of the Trust) gathered in the Chapel. Dr. Chrispal said, During my tenure as the principal of SAIACS and the events surrounding my resignation some aspects have caused pain to some faculty and students. I accept the responsibility and apologize for this as we need to reconcile for the glory of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Ultimately this life is transitory and we cannot keep long accounts. Also, our Lord calls us to follow him as forgiven and forgiving disciples.
wrote that he resigned because of clashes and lack of cooperation. He said he spent the past two years being drained by petty issues. With great grace, he simultaneously expressed his willingness to continue teaching at SAIACS. With this, SAIACS and the two men parted ways. During this time, another opportunity came up for him with Overseas Council International, and Chrispal moved on.
However, his relationship with SAIACS did not end, and we will come to that later.
Fanai hrangkhuma (2006-2008)

The need of the hour was a man who could stand in the gap created by the departure of the principal and academic dean. Dr. Fanai Hrangkhuma was often fondly referred to as the patriarch of SAIACS. With a PhD from the Fuller Theological Seminary, USA, and
Ian Payne (2008- )

As the search for principal gathered steam, the name of Dr. Ian Payne found itself on the short list. The child of missionary parents, Payne had spent his childhood in the southern
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SAIACS has a crucial role to play in building up the leadership for the body of Jesus Christ in India and we need to stand together for His Kingdom concerns. The principal responded, accepting the apology and affirming Dr. Chrispals courage
and faithfulness. He expressed appreciation also that Dr. Chrispal is donating his personal library to SAIACS. The occasion has been a wonderful example, Dr. Payne said. Reconciliation is part of Christian life and discipleship. After a closing prayer, the
community shared a special afternoon tea. In a backward look at the moment, Payne observes, We have learned how to make a public apology, and weve learned how to receive onewith openness and forgiveness.
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Spiritual formation class meditating on Jeremiah 18 120 SAIACS The First Thirty Years
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Teamwork
Kothanur 2009-2012
etween the Commons and the Chapel of the Resurrection there used to be a cactus garden. This is one of those features that our gardeners can put together in a day. They lay a plastic ground sheet over the chosen area, cut out holes in it at selected points, pile together a couple of boulders to serve as a focal point, sink the potted plants into the holes, and cover over the plastic with an inch or two of gravel. Recently, the cactus garden received a makeover, starting with the very ground sheet, which was replaced with long-leaved crab grass. The cacti disappeared and the lily ponds were enlarged. Peter, the gardenerthere are two of them, biblically referred to as First and Second Peterexplains the changes. With the number of campus children steadily increasing, there was the danger that some careless ones might receive accidental acupuncture. Besides, some children were whiling away time by flinging the gravel into the lily ponds, literally giving the flowers a hard time. Both cacti and gravel had to go. Times change and gardens must keep in step. On a much larger canvas, the times are changing in India. In their July 2011 issue, Christianity Today carried a story called Indias Grassroots Revival. Citing the unique methods put into action by cross-cultural Indian missionaries, it closes with this quote: Today, broad economic and cultural reforms are sweeping Indian cities, and villages feel the spirit of change. Indians are choosing new ways of lifeand many more are embracing the gospel and following Christ. Researchers agree that India has more Christians now than at any other time in its 4,000-year history. With these winds of change blowing, SAIACS must attend tonot only its garden ground sheets, butsuch revivals, if not pioneer them. Dr. Ian Payne, attentive to the pulse of what is happening, holds out a bold goal for the Institutes future: Going from good to great. In the 28th Annual Report and Audit 2009-2010, he acknowledges that such a purpose involves constant improvement.
Kothanur: 2009-2012
Teamwork
SAIACS owes its immaculate campus to its services staff. Even little children know that. Zoe Farah Bennema was aged two at the time and, as a resident of the SAIACS campus, she was a keen observer of people and what they did. Her bedtime routine included saying goodnight to whatever celestial bodies she could see from her window, aided by the little stool that helped her get her face above the ledge. One such routine was interrupted by a cry of anxiety. Mama, she called, the moon is broken. It was her first sighting of a less-than-full moon. Quickly, she thought up a solution. Thomas will fix it, she assured her mother, referring to the SAIACS handyman. Then, mentally gauging that the moon was rather beyond his reach, she added that he would need her stool.
The Broken Moon
2009Joint faculty, staff and services staff retreat- first ever!
Our vision is to be a world-class postgraduate theological institution in South Asia, greatly serving the mission of the Church of Christ globally. In what ways does SAIACS prepare its students to serve the nation and the global church? Over these three decades, there are some elements that we have carefully guarded against change. Thus, the makeover for the garden was done by teamwork, and the end product was just as aesthetically pleasing as its predecessor. Other elements have adapted to the changing situations and needsthus, the gravel makes way for grass.
Teamwork Kothanur 2009-2012
We can catalogue the distinctive elements of the SAIACS spirit of placeits ethos.
into the compost pits, or down on his knees unclogging a drain. Equality is a Christian demand SAIACS takes seriously. We intentionally address ourselves to the matter of caste and class, the bane of the Indian community. Thus, for example, in a country where the lower castes may not draw water from an upper caste well, the whole SAIACS community eats its meals together. We normally wouldnt choose a job that requires us to wash the toilets, confesses Chandra the cleaning lady, referring to a casterelated task. At SAIACS they have learned the
Equality
Have you met the head gardener? Dr. Graham Houghton would ask students. On Saturdays, one came across this particular gardener, dressed in dark blue jeans and sneakers, complete with goggles and garden shears. He would make his weekly round of the campus, trimming a hedge here, pruning back a rose bush there. At other times, Houghton the gardener could be found at the Commons, bucketing out the organic waste
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dignity of labour, and enjoy the respect given equally to all.
Learning
Studying to show oneself a workman approved unto God starts at the gate of SAIACS. On request, Anand the watchman will read you the inscriptions on the boulder at the gate. Dr. John Arun Kumar, the current head of the Religions department, bought him a bilingual book by which to learn the basics of the English language in thirty days. This led to Bible studies and further English lessons. Anand recalls that as Houghton walked by he would check on his religious education with quick questions, to which Anand would shout out answersa sort of catechism on the run! Academics are an integral component of the SAIACS ethos. The classroom air resounds with the back-and-forth between faculty and students, the stone benches under the trees have borne the weight of many a theological debate, even meal times become prolonged as one table or another serves itself an additional course of food-for<<<
thought. The activity is neither academics for academics sake nor a display of one-upmanship. It is so that students will learn to love the LORD with their intellect, and be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks [them] to give the reason for the hope that [they] have (1 Pet. 3:15).
Clean and Green
Judith Payne, wife of the current principal, recalls the beginnings of SAIACS waste management system: In 1993, we came to SAIACS. Ian was going to do the MTh here. We came as a family with our three daughters. They studied with the New Zealand Correspondence School, and the curriculum contained many practical and creative projects. At one stage the girls did a project on the environment. They chose to highlight the advantages of recycling as a means of caring for the environment. At this time, SAIACS was putting all the food waste into a large ground pit. however, regardless of Carol houghtons exhortations, everything else was also finding its way into the pit as wellplastic bags being the worst offenders. The girls made huge cardboard advertisements in the hope that students would see that certain items could be reused or sold and benefit both the person and community. once, at lunchtime, the three girls entered the Commons and paraded their advertising before the students. They encouraged the community to think about what they were throwing into the pit and to make sure that they were being responsible with their waste disposal. even today, we still need such creative approaches in order to make our community more aware of recycling and managing our waste responsibly, starting at home, so that everyone benefits. We have colour coded bins in every apartment for segregating particular items into, and have daily collections. You only need to walk in through the gates to see how clean and green the campus is!
Excellence
The cleaning ladies will never forget the year their annual five percent increment was withheld because one of them had left the classroom windows opened at the end of the day. On the other hand, Sumathi Augustine, who was manager of the Commons, took a softer line. She would gently reprimand the ladies if their mops did not investigate dark corners, giving them a biblical reason why they should do their work well. Gloria Jason, wife of an early academic dean and campus manager, would cajole quality work out of the cleaning ladies with sweet rewards. From the workers to the faculty, the watchword has always been excellence. Many an alumnus has been marked by it. It shows that you are a graduate of SAIACS, people said appreciatively of Reacher Williams, a graduate and worker in Cambodia. Many an organization has seen itself transformed by returning employees. Youve created a SAIACS here! they said, when Maniselvi and Prabhakara Sarathy restructured their organizations missions training school
Solar water heating, water treatment plant and waste management system keep SAIACS environmentally conscious.
The Dobermans Devotion
Keshava Murthy, the contractor, gave SAIACS finished buildings. In addition, he gave it a doberman puppy. Nobody applied themselves to giving it a name till Samuel Rayan, the watchman, applied his mind to it. Deeply moved by the Friday night movie, we assume, he named the animal after the hero of Titanic. So, the doberman came to glory in the name of Jack. It grew into an adult of unpredictable temperament. Its doberman-ly looks did not inspire much confidence in mostespecially not in Nigel Ajay Kumar. he was at this time an MA student, and at no time a lover of canines. Jack used to be tied up all day at the gatehouse, and let loose to roam the campus at night. early one morning, Nigel emerged from his room in the Mens Residence hall. he intended to take his devotions on the first floor steps of that building, which look out on the pleasant prospect of the lawn. Settling down, he noted a black blotch in the far distance under the porch of the Library at the other end of the lawn. Somewhere in the back of his mind he noted that Jack was still loose. Before he could say Psalms (or whatever it was that he was meditating on), the creature had taken
Anand the watchman tells of the night when his wife was in labour. These were the days when transport was limited. The academic dean, Dr. Augustine Pagolu, brought along his brand new Fiat, ferried her to the local hospital, and waited till the baby was delivered safely, well past midnight. On his first Christmas the little one would receive a gift, as all other services staff children did, year after year. Blankets, school satchels, toys, clothesthe season never passed without a present. The SAIACS community is a tremendous opportunity for living out what it means to be the body of Christto love one another both in word and deed. Whether from faculty or staff, students or groundsmen, testimonies abound about house visits that came at a critical time and practical help that can never be forgotten. Needy students have been surprised by gifts of money left in their pigeon-holes, workers have been rescued from cycles of debt, marriages have been mediated, and many have gone the extra mile to support someone sick. It was Dr. Houghton himself that drove the van to bring the SAIACS guests to my wedding, smiles Chandra, the cleaning lady. And, if not for Sumathi akkathe wife of the academic deanwho sensed I was ill and took me to the hospital, I would never have known I had a
the length of the lawn in long, loose-limbed leaps. It bounded up the stairs, and panted up towards Nigel. having arrived, the great black animal gently folded itself together and sat down a step below Nigel, a doggie Mary at the feet of a teacher-in-themaking. They sat there together till, eventually, the watchman called for the dog, and Jack left.
We may well imagine what went through Nigels mind in that brief experience of eternity. Perhaps he readily identified with the passengers aboard the sinking Titanic.
at Jhansi in North India. As for Shalom Bible Seminary in Kohima in the northeast, many say that it models itself along SAIACS lines, with several of its faculty being trained here. SAIACS encourages its community to sacrifice mediocrity on the altar of excellence, as their worship of, and service to, God.
Living in Community
Can I tell you about the time I was dismissed from work? Sheela Mary asks tentatively, when
invited to share her long memories of working as part of the services staff. It appears that there was some misunderstanding between her and the manager of the Commons. She was dismissed. Someone in the administration investigated the matter further, found her innocent and had her reinstated. What is more, the Commons manager apologized to her. There have been occasions when Houghton has lost his cool with a student, a gardener or a colleague, and then apologized with tearsbefore the sun sets.
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and Friday out in the real world. If this is Accept, the home for HIV patients down the road, the student may come back with an experience of preparing a body for burial. If this is the Baptist Hospitals service to the villages around the city, the student comes back having sat on a mud floor and having heard and counselled someone who was thinking of suicide. As Payne explains, During their programme students will experience supervised mission or ministry practice. Fortnightly class discussions and papers bring integration between the classroom and the context. Through CBL, local churches and organizations will share with us the privilege of bringing about transforming education. problem with my thyroid. I was at my loneliest in my early days, muses Prasad Rao, the assistant librarian who came to SAIACS from a neighbouring state. So much so, that I would weep from homesickness. A student couple invited me home for tea, and that made all the difference. Noel Jason would come by mid-morning, to take a service for the handful of cooks and assistants. From these early days, mission was an integral part of SAIACS, its raison detrethe reason it existed. In the classroom, modules across the various disciplines are intentionally missional in focus, asking the question: How does this learning equip the student for ministry? This intentionality has increased with the introduction of the Context-Based Learning (CBL) component into the MA programme, starting in 2011. Students spend four weekdays in the classroom Education that transforms is also the reason for the introduction of the MA in Management, a specialization SAIACS hopes will serve church and para-church establishments.
Continuous Upgrading
Till the mid-90s, barely any of the students owned a computer. There were eight machines in the computer lab, which was the room above the foyer of the Institute Building. Of these, one was on permanent holiday. Students had to book hourly slots and, to beat the rush, thesis writers would queue up at the door at 5 am, when the watchman would open the lab. The situation has
Mission
On Sundays, the academic dean had a mission that took him to the Commons. Aware that the kitchen staff missed attending church so as to get the Sunday lunch on the tables, Dr.
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SAIACS Publications
changed, and SAIACS has adapted accordingly. The computer lab itself has disappeared from the Institute Building, making way for three small classrooms. Significant sections of the campus are linked into the internet by wi-fi. As for the Library, the single cupboard 150-volume collection has been subsumed into a building that shelves over forty thousand volumes. All SAIACS dissertations are in digital form. It is one of the most significant centres for theological research in the country. It offers online access to a spectrum of scholarly resources in partnership with seminaries around the world. This powerhouse is now bursting at the seams, and plans are in place for its extension. It hopes that in the future it will serve as an archival repository for mission organizations in India.
When a former architect turns his hand to publishing, it hardly surprises that buildings become his muse. In 1997, Dr. Ian Payne returned as faculty in the Theology department. At Dr. Graham houghtons behest, he put the institution on the publishing map when he pioneered SAIACS Publications, teaching himself the job as he went along. The vision was to foster Indian authorship and writings. Its imprint, SAIACS Press, launched academic books under the Dome Series, taking the name from the crowning glory of the Institute Building. The inspirational books went under the Spire Series, in reference to the Chapel of the Resurrection. One of the first books to be published was Dr. A J Anandans thesis on Mahatma Gandhi, entitled God for One, God for All. Among the many books published subsequently, some were MTh theses, a deliberate effort to encourage and promote good writing from student output. In-house publications such as the prospectus, the student handbook, promotional material and SAIACS News are annual regulars. In the first year after the departments inception, Payne crafted the first newsletter in 1998. Setting up this department in the nineties posed its challenges. In the absence of hard disks and flash drives, transportation of files to the printers
Missionary Prayer Band (FMPB), the Indian Evangelical Mission (IEM), Union of Evangelical Students of India (UESI) and Indian Missionary Society (IMS), there has been a steady stream of missionaries wanting to upgrade their skills. SAIACS is also working out accreditation for its degrees from the University of Mysoreone of the top seventeen universities in India. It recognizes SAIACS as a Center for Specialized Studies. To unpack this, says Payne, it means students doing Master of Arts studies at SAIACS can choose to be awarded the Master of Arts in Theology under Mysores authorization. The agreement also envisages the development of a Master of Philosophy which SAIACS MThlevel students will be able to earn. This affiliation between SAIACS and the University of Mysore strengthens our accreditation, Payne goes on to say. It broadens our range of ministry and employment options for SAIACS graduates.
was a challenge and files had to be bridged over a series of floppy drives. God forbid a floppy drive became corrupted! Since then, Publications has moved into online media, sending out the SAIACS Pulse e-newsletter and coordinating our website, community e-board and Facebook communications. SAIACS had at one point considered publishing an academic journal. It even had a name for itTransformasia! The challenge with publishing a journal is to keep it going consistently beyond the initial rush. An alternative to the journal emerged in 2010 in the form of the ongoing SAIACS Annual Consultation. The papers of the
first consultation have been published under the title Indian and Christian: Changing Identities in Modern India. SAIACS Press books are steadily acquiring brand value. Networking with book stores like oM and Crossword, and online trading have increased. SAIACS Press currently holds over 26 active titles, some of which have been used extensively as text books in academia, while some have impacted families and churches. The vision to encourage Indian authorship, promote theological thinking, create an awareness of SAIACSthese remain.
Partnering
Payne announces with understandable pride the fact that 65 percent of SAIACS total expenditure is covered by Indian income. This is possible because, over the decades, SAIACS has won for itself a faithful constituency. Evangelical theological institutions send us their faculty trainees, from as far afield as Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Myanmar. Indeed, the Myanmar Evangelical Graduate School of Theology has trained fourteen of its faculty at SAIACS. From organizations such as the Friends
to Conclude: It is Well
A three-tonne boulder commands attention at the SAIACS entrance. It was Carol Houghtons idea. The stone was sourced from a quarry in Kolar, a couple of hours away from Bangalore. Having obtained permission from the local authority to freight it away, it became SAIACS for the nominal sum of about two thousand rupees. When it arrived at SAIACS, it was carefully levered off the lorry onto a sand-bed at
Signing of the MoU for the MA(Th) programme at the University of Mysore Teamwork Kothanur 2009-2012
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The Lending Librarian
Dale Ward of Tyndale University College and Seminary, Toronto, recalls his long association with the SAIACS Library: My wife Natalie and I first visited SAIACS in January 1997, as the result of a suggestion by Dr. David Sherbino. one vivid memory from that time was when Dr. Graham houghton, who was driving us from the Bangalore airport on our arrival, pulled off the road to tell us the shocking news that the Augustines eldest son had recently tragically drowned at a staff outing. Being a librarian and experienced in library software, I worked extensively with Johnson Jagannadham the librarian. For both Natalie and me, this was our first trip to India so we had a lot to learn about the challenges facing the SAIACS staff and students. I often played the organ for the chapel services. on our next visit in 1999, my time was spent mainly helping staff and students getting used to searching the internet. We often went to local cyber cafs where the connection was better. Natalie assisted some students with english and typing essays and also became involved helping in health care in a poor district of Bangalore. We remember that on the eve of this visit to SAIACS, Graham Staines and his two sons were burned to death in orissa. A few weeks later, the baby of a Sudanese student at SAIACS died. over 2002-2003, we were again at SAIACS. Natalie, as before, assisted students with english and editing. I was able to work with Johnson on purchasing books via internet and upgrading library software. By then SAIACS had access to the internet in the library. I also learned to appreciate the problems involved with receiving shipments of books from overseas and the lengthy customs process! We recall that Dr. Cornelis Bennema and Susan were married during this time. Our last visit to SAIACS was over 2004-2005. I was able to arrange for Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto to take out a second subscription to the ATLA (American Theological Library Association) database and ATLAS Serials for SAIACS, all accessible through the internet. It would become a tremendous resource for the library. I still keep in touch with the SAIACS library, assisting with various purchases. It has been wonderful to see the SAIACS library grow and develop its collection from printed books and journals to electronic resources.
the designated spot, and there it sits today. Those with an eye for geometry will notice its slight misalignment with the front gate. Houghton, displaying his characteristic sense of humour, suggested it be nudged sideways a bit! On its front the boulder expresses a corporate, glad acknowledgement: This is the Lords doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes (Ps. 118:23). On the back, it carries Hudson Taylors declaration of confidence, which we have now made ours: Gods work done in Gods way will not lack Gods supply. As this brief history amply demonstrates, this institution has, time and again, rejoiced in providential intervention. So, it is only fitting that we close with a story affirming that this supply continues, and that we have not ceased to marvel at it. As the groundwater levels dropped across the growing city, we began to get increasingly worried. In 2011, the SAIACS sumps had to be filled frequently using water tankers. Meanwhile, within the space of four months two efforts to sink new wells came to naught. The first one had a minimal yield, and the second one caved in because of loose soil. Understandably, there was much anxiety as the third attempt neared. The principal mailed out an appeal for prayer to friends of the institution. The third spot suggested was within sixty feet of the one that caved in. With prayer, drilling began. At 600 feet, the rock was as dry as a bone. At
midnight, the drillers asked if they should stop. The decision was to carry on. Hour dragged into waterless hour. At the unearthly hour of 4 am, and at the unbelievable depth of 740 feet, the miracle happened. The plume of water hit the tops of the trees around. Those who were present when the first well was bored said the force of the water reminded them of that momentous occasion almost a quarter century agoindeed, this story brings us back full circle to the wonder of those earliest days. The drillers themselves were taken by surprise at the find. They felt assured that this supply welled up from a trustworthy spring and would last a good decade. We recall the experiences of Isaac with wells, recorded in Gen. 26. Our wells do not have formal names, but in terms of institutional history, we can identify with the names Isaac gave to his. Esek and Sitnah were named for strife and contention. As with eaglets in an eyrie, we have had our share of unrest and uncertainty. However, we have moved on to Rehoboth, roomy spaceblue expanses in which to spread wide our eagle pinions and ride the years. Isaacs last well is in the region of Beer Sheba, the well of the oath. Through fair winds and turbulence, through storm cloud and sunshine, it is our covenant God who keeps us aloft. And in this confidence, we press onFurther up and further in!
What others Say
Contemporary Asia is replete with scholastic finesse in every conceivable field. SAIACS has the competence for equipping men and women for the ministry they are called for, with erudition. Bishop Sampath Kumar, a retired Bishop of the Methodist Church of India, Southern Region I believe SAIACS strategic value is its global reach, its devotional strength, and academic depth in preparing students to face a changing world. Dr Ravi Zacharias, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries Regent College commends SAIACS for its outstanding theological education in service of the mission of the church in South Asia. SAIACS masters and doctoral programs contribute significantly to developing leaders for ministry, mission and marketplace. We commend SAIACS to God for his enabling grace and to the prayers of Christians everywhere. Dr Rod Wilson, President, Regent College,Vancouver, Canada I believe SAIACS strategic value to lie in its demonstrated proficiency in offering quality evangelical theological education at the postgraduate level for existing and potential leaders of the Church and Mission in South Asia. Dr. Ivan Satyavrata, Chairperson and Senior Pastor, Assembly of God Church, Calcutta I much enjoyed my visit to SAIACSand was impressed by its gifted faculty, its dedicated student body and its fine campus. Its commitment to Advanced Christian Studies is of the greatest importance today. The late Rev. Dr. John Stott, theologian and missionary statesman, London, UK I believe SAIACS strategic value to be the equipping of the next generation of leaders for the ministry and mission of the church in India; to develop capacity in theological personnel; to be a resource for other training institutions in India and further afield. Rev. Canon George Kovoor, Principal, Trinity College, Bristol, UK SAIACS has been a pioneer and without equal in India - for firing up and equipping Kingdom leaders to do greater works for the King throughout South Asia. eric Thoreson, Friends of SAIACS, San Jos, California
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Community life at SAIACS
A Dream Fulfilled
emerged as a major hi-tech centre in new India. Most of the major multinationals have a presence here. The city has grown to six million people in recent years. SAIACS fits well. It prepares evangelical leaders for tomorrows India. The campus with its well-kept grounds, impressive library, finely polished floors, growing academic achievements, publishing programme and thoroughly Christian atmosphere, would be the envy of many a Western institution. I am reminded of my colleges in oxford and Cambridge as I stroll its paths and admire its lawns oh, that they shared the spirit of SAIACS!
agencies and pastorates, SAIACS knows that it is directly resourcing the leadership of the Indian church in this and succeeding generations. of the 300 SAIACS graduates to date, one is General Secretary of the India Missions Association (with 145 member societies and some 25,000 missionaries), six others head mission agencies, forty serve on the faculties of Bible schools and colleges (including six principals and a number of academic deans), one is head of the Baptist Church in Nagaland and another a Lutheran Bishop, others are senior figures in Indias mega-churches, such as the 20,000-member Assemblies of God New Life church in downtown Chennai. It is all about training of the highest level in India for India. Generosity from friends overseas has been a factor in getting SAIACS up and running. exposure to the West still has value and relevance for the students and faculty. After all, to raise the level of its educational standards, SAIACS faculty, Faculty-in-training and PhDs are educated wholly or in part in USA or UK. But, the days of dependence are passed, and the missionaries dream has been fulfilled.
Dr. Christopher Hancock, Dean, Bradford Cathedral, UK, has been an adjunct faculty since 1996. We have here an edited extract from a piece he wrote a few years ago. In the story and work of SAIACS, the missionaries dream is fulfilled. Perhaps most obviously to a visitor, SAIACS is the tangible realization of a sharplyfocused vision. Bangalore is a fast-growing, cosmopolitan city on the Deccan plateau in central South India, with an enviable climate year-round because of its altitude (the British used to retire here during the Raj). It has
But this is India, new India, self-confident, creative, well-motivated, self-critical, preparing for its role as the most populous nation in the world by around 2020. SAIACS students know they have work to do for God, shaping this rapidly-emerging Asian superpower. If its not docetism theyll face, its religious pluralism and progressive secularism, the power of invasive cable networks, the pressures of rapid social transformation and growth. So, it is a school for tomorrows world. With students drawn from many different states, denominations, teaching institutions, missionary
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South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies

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As the eagle Flies

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