 It was founded on Adventist principles and prior experience (involvement in the founding of Seattle Junior Academy in 1915 and the relocation of Japan Missionary College in 1926).Although Nelson's criteria was perceived as too idealistic by some of his colleagues,
he was determined to find such a site.His search focused on the island of Mindanao, since part of the criteria involved the incidence of typhoons, which was a rare occurrence in that island.