Messiah Theological Institute (MTI)

2006 Graduation

The 23 members of the 2006 MTI Graduating class, with Ian Shelburne and Phillip Shero

23 Graduate in Messiah Theological Institute Commencement

By Ian Shelburne, MTI director, Mbale Mission Team, Mbale, Uganda
Sent and overseen by Northwest Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas

They traveled to Mbale, Uganda from three different African nations—Sudan, Kenya, and other parts of Uganda. Twenty-three in all, they came to graduate in the sixth annual commencement ceremony of Messiah Theological Institute November 18. Cheering their accomplishments were another 150 or so friends, family and fellow students.

Twelve of the graduates are Kenyan by nationality, and the other eleven, Ugandan. Among the Kenyans, three are actually serving as missionaries to other countries, one in Nimule, Sudan, and two with the Mbale Mission Team and Messiah Theological Institute in Mbale, Uganda. Five of this year’s graduating class are women.

This year we had our first graduating class of the advanced-certificate program—students who have already completed our twenty-course basic-certificate curriculum or an equivalent, and have also gained credit for another twenty courses on the advanced-certificate level. The basic-certificate program particularly meets the needs of students who have little formal education and insufficient English skills for classroom learning. In the advanced program, instructors use English without translation and require significantly higher standards of reading comprehension and writing than in the basic program. At both levels, the curriculum focuses on Biblical studies, spiritual formation, and theology both practical (ministry-related) and systematic or topical. Our goal at MTI is to facilitate students becoming more like Jesus in heart and mind, in speech and action, and in service empowered by God’s Spirit.

Gordon Wafula Nyongesa, the advanced-certificate valedictorian, gave an address on behalf of the graduating class. He continues a tradition of academic achievement, having been valedictorian also of his 2002 basic-certificate class. The two top students in the basic-certificate group this year were both women, Agnes Akwii from Uganda and Violet W. Nanjala from Kenya. Their GPAs were separated by less than four thousandths of one percentage point!

It was an honor to have participants in this year’s commencement ceremony from three sister theological schools. Guilford Rice, who led the invocation, recently retired from over thirty years of work with Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. Dennis Okoth delivered the main commencement address. He serves as principal of Nairobi Great Commission School in Nairobi, Kenya. And James Luchivya, who charged the graduates with their responsibilities for ministry, is president of his class at International Christian Ministries seminary in Kitale, Kenya. The faculty and staff of Messiah Theological Institute greatly value these international connections.

For more information about Messiah Theological Institute (MTI), contact

Ian Shelburne at:

ishelburne@bigfoot.com