Bishop Johnson launches Harvest Intercontinental American University
By Jonathan Browne
Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited, formerly Bethel World Outreach Church, has launched Harvest Intercontinental American University in Liberia (HIAU), a top-notch university that aims to bring high standard American university education to Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Presiding Prelate of the Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited, Bishop Dr. Darlingston G. Johnson says the objective is to bridge the educational gap between the developed and underdeveloped world, by bringing the benefits of American education and brainpower to the underprivileged in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Liberia.
“Harvest Intercontinental American University is being established to reduce the level of poverty and suffering that exists not only in Liberia but in many nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our mission is to help bridge the enormous educational gap between what is, and what ought to be, between what exists and what is needed in education in underdeveloped parts of the world. We imagine a world where none lives or dies without access to quality education. The good news is that we have decided to begin in Liberia”, Bishop Dr. Johnson said when he addressed a press conference virtually in Monrovia Friday, October 29, 2021, from the United States.
He notes that one of the significant challenges Liberia is faced with is limited access to quality education at all levels and that sadly, it poses one of the greatest threats to the nation’s future and also the most significant contributor to its daily growing social-economic problems.
He details that HIAU is organized as a non-profit 501(c3) Corporation with international headquarters at 16227 Bachelors Forest Road, Olney, Maryland 20832, the United States.
“The University is being organized for the sole purpose of providing access to quality tertiary academic and vocational education to students living in underdeveloped nations. It will empower this generation to produce leaders for future generations”, the Presiding Prelate explains.
He says the University, which opens its doors to the public formally October 2022, will focus on the development of the whole person: spirit, body, and soul, saying “Our goal will be to graduate students who are academically qualified to secure the best jobs available, but more importantly, who are trained and infused with an entrepreneurial spirit that will empower them to be able to start their businesses and become job-creators, employers offering jobs to others within their chosen fields.”
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]
HIAU is partnering with Oral Roberts University based in the United States to provide both in-person instructions and e-learning facilities thru physical and virtual campuses where students will take most of their classes online, listen to lecturers, and participate in courses taught by highly qualified professors both in Liberia and in America.
Earlier, the Bishop of the 1st Diocese Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited, Dr. M. Wolo Belleh expressed excitement as the Church partners with the Government of Liberia to invest in the educational sector to develop boys, girls, men, and women who will rise to their full potential.
“As we launch this platform, this is our way of letting people integrate into our efforts to get our people educated”, Bishop Belleh added.
Dr. Konah-Facia Nepay Chairperson of the Board of the Bishop Darlingston Johnson Education Mandate says the dream was inspired in the Bishop during a trip to Kenya, where he saw a model school and thought such an opportunity should be brought to Liberia.
“Today, we are honored to be a part of this press conference. This has been a long-time dream of the Bishop to provide quality education to those who don’t have it”, she notes.
Harvest Intercontinental Ministries Unlimited has about 400 churches planted around the world, including Africa, America, Europe, and Asia with 35 primary and secondary schools.
