The World Link Graduate Center offers advanced cross-cultural training, leading to a Master of Arts in Foundations of Intercultural Leadership.

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This school is a nonprofit corporation authorized by the State of Oregon to offer and confer the academic degree described herein, following a determination that state academic standards will be satisfied under OAR 583-030. Inquiries concerning the standards or school compliance may be directed to the Office of Degree Authorization, 1500 Valley River Drive, Suite 100, Eugene Oregon 97401.

The Need

The spiritual dynamism of Christians in Asia, Latin America, and Africa is resulting in powerful mission movements to yet unreached peoples in every part of the world. Only estimates of the total number of missionaries are available - all of those estimates are greater than the total number of missionaries from the traditional missionary-sending nations of the West. They come from all parts of society and from virtually every nation, with and without formal sponsorship. 

As exciting as these grass roots missions movements are, they are facing stiff challenges.  These missionaries blend into their new settings, but they often struggle to understand how to communicate the Gospel effectively in new cultural settings. But leaders are working together to find creative ways to overcome this challenge and help their missionaries succeed and new churches grow.  The concept of World Link University and development of the World Link Graduate Center are expressions of the passionate concern of Majority World mission leaders that these missionaries gain the best possible education to fulfill their calling.

Globalization of Christian Mission

With the globalization of Christianity, there is no clear “mission field” today. The Global South is more “evangelized” than the “Global North.”  When it comes to countries where there are large numbers of non-Christians, America ranks third highest in the world!   In fact, the mission fields today are places like Australia (where only 2% of the population are evangelical).

Missionaries from these new centers (like Africa and Mainland China) cannot operate in the same way as missions from the West.  In the last 150 years, Western missions have developed on a base of financial affluence under an umbrella of national power. Individual donors have often given from excess income to missions. This not only affects support structures but also the kinds of projects in which they engage overseas.  Many new emerging missions are trying to follow in their pattern – and go to the West to raise their funds. But these funds are not only shrinking, but often come with implicit, invisible control. So for the emerging mission movements, models of power dominance and affluence fortunately will simply not work.

World Link Graduate Center seeks to encourage and develop more appropriate and biblical patterns of mission, with special focus outside the Western world.

History of WLGC

IICC has been involved in training Christian leaders for over fifty years. It has conducted approximately 100 short-term training courses in Africa and Asia, founded the first Christian University in Africa (Daystar University, Nairobi; 1971), and in 1995 founded the WorldView Center in Portland, OR, an international living and learning community, and the base for World Link Graduate Center.

The Third World Mission Association’s Missionary Training Commission laid the groundwork for World Link University in 1990. It was charged with the tasks of ensuring quality control and uniformity for the curriculum content of all missionary organizations affiliated with TWMA. WLU emerged primarily as a coordinating group of Third World mission training centers during the 1990s.

In 2001, leaders of TWMA approached IICC to work with them to achieve their goals of international recognition, a corps of master teachers, and establishing a common core curriculum. As a result, IICC began development of the World Link Graduate Center in 2004 to further the advanced training of faculty members. The WLGC will also aid the centers through ongoing consultation.

IICC is led by an inter-cultural Board of Directors from Peru, Ghana, Egypt, India, Japan, and U.S.A. Most have earned doctorates. Daily operations are led by a Leadership Council based in Portland, Oregon, USA. The Graduate Center has five staff members based in Portland (Dean, Associate Dean, Executive Assistant, Registrar/Admissions Officer, and Business Officer). Instruction is by an experienced, decentralized faculty.

Programs offered

World Link : a two -month intensive training in Portland, OR, to qualify as an instructor in Creating Understanding.

M.A. in Foundations of Intercultural Leadership: an on-line education program coupled with field mentoring. (Qualifying as an instructor in Creating Understanding is as prerequisite for admission to the M.A. studies.)

The Essence of the World Link Program.pdf