RHEMA Bible Training Center Pago Pago to open its doors Tuesday
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — American Samoa is now home to a well-known Bible school in the Pacific — the RHEMA Bible Training Center Center Pago Pago (RHEMA BTPP), which will open its doors Tuesday, next week, August 1, 2023. It will be based on the second floor of the GHC Reid building at Fagatogo opposite the Tutuila Store next to the old Sadie Thompson Hotel,.
The Bible school is part of Uttermost Ministries Inc., an international Christian ministry which runs three main ministries — RHEMA Pacific Bible Schools, Uttermost Witness Ministry Ship and All Nations Crusades.
Interior of the new RHEMA Bible Training Center at the GHC Reid Building in Fagatogo. [photo: AF]
The Bible school, which is the fourth one established by Uttermost Ministries Inc. in the Pacific takes its name from the Greek work “Rhema” which means “a spoken word.” Rhema is one of two different Greek words found in the New Testament used to identify words from God. The other one is “Logos.”
The first Rhema Bible school established in the Pacific is the RHEMA Bible Training College South Pacific in Apia, Samoa which was established in 1997 by Kelly and Pattie Duininck.
Kelly John Duininck, originally from Minnesota first arrived in Samoa in 1992 after being invited by Bob Smith to teach at the Faith Bible College in Vaivase-Tai village which he had pioneered.
He returned every year for the next three years to teach until in 1996 when, according to Duininck, God called him to go to Samoa, literally.
Duininck said he was praying one morning and the words “Samoa, May and Tapu” came out of his mouth. He later revealed that the Lord had told him to “Raise a Standard in the Word of God in the South Pacific.”
He saw in his heart what he needed to do, so in May of 1997, Kelly traveled to Samoa with his friend Rodney Albaugh to take steps towards founding a Bible school for the people of the Pacific and the RHEMA Bible Training College South Pacific was born.
By 2003, the school was fully established as a three-year inter-denominational educational institution recognized by the Samoa government with students from different countries of the Pacific.
RHEMA Bible schools were established in Nadi, Fiji and Port Vila, Vanuatu in the following years.
Duininck passed away on April 22, 2008, but the mission is being continued by his wife Patti and committed faculty members of the RHEMA Bible Training College South Pacific with the support of Uttermost Ministries Inc. which has led to the establishment of the RHEMA Bible Training Center Pago Pago.
According to senior lecturer Pastor John Alailima, they first came to American Samoa in 2016 on their ministry ship M/Y Uttermost Witness and conducted Bible seminars for local pastors on board the ship.
M/Y Uttermost Witness is a 90-foot motor yacht used by the organization as an educational and evangelical tool for mission trips to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the remote islands that are difficult for planes to reach. It is also used for humanitarian aid.
M/Y Uttermost Witness, the 90-foot motor yacht used by Uttermost Ministries Inc., as an educational and evangelical tool for mission trips to preach the gospel in the remote Pacific islands. The vessel is currently docked at the marina behind the GHC Reid building, serving as a center for the RHEMA Bible school, while it moves to open its doors next week Tuesday, at the GHC Reid building in Fagatogo. [photo: Asi A. Fa’asau]
The vessel and her crew are tasked to establish and staff 30 Bible schools throughout the Pacific. It is currently docked at the marina behind the GHC Reid building where the new local Bible school is located.
Pastor Alailima revealed that negotiations for the establishment of the new Bible school took place a couple of years.
“After much prayer and fasting, God has opened a lot of doors and we were able to complete all the requirements to set up shop here in the Territory,” he stated. “I would like to acknowledge with thanks the support we received from some local residents.
“We are very excited to share the Word of God with the people of American Samoa and help them begin a new chapter in their lives.”
He clarified that the RHEMA Bible Training Center Pago Pago is interdenominational and it is their hope that students will be able to share the Gospel with their families and other members of their respective churches.
Enrollment is now open online at <www.uttermostministries.org>. Enrollment forms can also be picked up at the enrollment office at the GHC Reid building Fagatogo. Classes will run from Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 11:50am.
For further information, contact 633-9890, 258-7513, 252-7807 or email <umsamoajohn@gmail.com>, <umhqpagopago@gmail.com> or visit their website <www.uttermostministries.org>.
Classes will begin with an orientation session at 9 o’clock on Tuesday morning, August 1, 2023.