Good morning and good evening to our viewers joining us from around the world. My name is Brooke Spellman, and I represent EducationUSA and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Today's Facebook Live is about financing your studies in the United States, or step two of the EducationUSA, five steps to U.S. study. Our goal for today is to give you advice and tips on the different ways international students can finance their education at a U.S. college or university. Our hope is that with this information, international students like you will find the U.S. university or college that best fits your financial budget and needs. As you all know, our EducationUSA network consists of over 550 trained advisors in 180 countries and territories around the world, offering free advising services to help you plan your education in the United States. During this program, our team will be taking and answering live questions from you, our viewers. So, at any time during this program, please feel free to post your questions in the comment box located in the comment section below. Okay, let's get started. First off, I would like to introduce our speakers, who collectively have a lot of information to share about financing studies in the United States. Joining us virtually is Jacqueline Vogel, a senior international officer at the State University of New York College in Plattsburgh, New York, where she manages all functions within the college related to international recruitment and admissions. Welcome, Jackie, and thank you for being with us today. Thank you very much for having me, and good morning. Good morning. Next, I'd like to introduce Christine Kremmer, the Director of International Graduate Admission at the University of Dayton in Ohio, responsible for assisting international students interested in studying in the United States. Christine is here with us in the studio. Welcome, Christine. Good morning. We're very excited to have you here today. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me, Brooke. Thank you. Also joining us virtually is Ojima Abraham. Ojima is from Abuja, Nigeria, and is a freshman international student at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hi, Ojima. Thanks for joining us today. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to be joining you today. Excellent. So let's get started with our discussion. So Christine, I'd like to start with you and ask you to tell us a little bit about what students should keep in mind when thinking about financing a U.S. education. And could you give us an overview of what's included in sort of the cost of attendance at a U.S. institution? Absolutely. So once a student has selected their university or college that they're interested for their academic program, it's very important to understand the cost of attendance as well as where they're choosing to live in the United States, the cost of living. The cost of attendance will be made up of both billable and those expenses which are not billable from the university. So tuition and fees. A good question for students to ask are the fees within the tuition that they're being billed or will they be charged additional fees? That's a question we hear all the time from students. So different universities handle the tuition and fee portion differently. And what would those fees be, for example? So fees could be for the rec center, the recreation center for taking labs, use of the library, parking, so various on-campus fees. And those would be billable. They could be. So some universities rep those into the tuition so that a student understands the cost all four years and there are other universities that will charge the specific fee based on what a student's major and interest lie. In addition to the tuition and fees, there are the living expenses. So housing and meals and again this most of the time is accommodated toward what the student is looking for in housing and in meal plans. So you'll see different meal plans a student can select from. So that will definitely increase or decrease the cost to the student. Health insurance is also part of the cost of attendance as well as what a lot of universities will term as miscellaneous expenses and what falls typically under the miscellaneous expenses would be driven by the student meaning travel expenses, personal expenses and books. So the cost of attendance is typically what we call the sticker price. It's what is, it's before a student would have scholarships or grants applied to it. So it is, you know, the original price. Right, right, okay. And the latter set of costs that you mentioned would be non-billable. Correct, correct. So the miscellaneous expenses are typically non-billable. Right. Excellent. Thank you. Christine, I think that was very helpful. We're going to have probably more questions about those specifics that you mentioned when we get to the question and answer session. And so now I think we do understand a little bit more about the fees associated with U.S. education. But now let's turn to discussing various types of financial aid that may help with these costs. Again, Christine mentioned the cost of attendance and so as students are thinking about how they're going to pay for all of these costs and fees, we need to look at financial aid. So Christine, again, another question for you. If you could give us an overview of what options in general are available to international students when we're talking about financial aid. Okay. The first thing that I would like to share is that students should look at the information about the particular university in a very timely fashion. So truly it should be a year ahead of applying so that they know the offerings from a particular university. Those I'll start with scholarships. So many universities in the United States offer international students merit scholarships. And so merit scholarships are based on a student's academic success. So their GPA and their test scores. And typically those are awarded to a student when they apply. So there isn't a separate application. I also want to share that an international student and any student really shouldn't be paying a fee to apply for these type of scholarships. So if that is the case, they really should be talking to the school because that really isn't something that's not a best practice. Grant aid is typically need-based. So grants are if a student is in financial need and the way to communicate that to the university could be simply by contacting the financial aid office and discussing that with an counselor in the office. I know EducationUSA also has their website can share additional information on scholarship opportunities and it's been a great resource for our students. So loans really should be the last alternative for a student. And the reason is these are repayable and a student really needs to do their research on what is the interest I'm paying. Are they going to charge me a fee when they disperse the funds to me? And understanding typically interest begins to accumulate or accrue when the money is disbursed to a student. So understanding when do they need to start paying those loans back. And international students typically would need a US co-signer for a loan and they would sign a promissory note for the loan once they enter the United States. And another piece of information about a loan would be when the disbursement would occur once a student is registered for classes at the university. So I think there have been, there are lots of questions about whether some loans are available to international students and the answer is yes. Yes, many of them are. And then the other area that a student can look into are government sponsorships from their country. We have many students who come to the US who have sponsorships where the government is assisting them with tuition or their housing expenses. Exactly, exactly. That's very helpful. Excellent. Thank you. Thank you. Now, Ojima, over to you. I know many of our viewers are eager to hear directly from an international student like yourself. So tell us, why did you choose to study in the United States and how did you go about planning for financing your US education? So thank you so much. I was interested in studying in the United States because of the bank of opportunities that the United States offer international students. Before coming to Franklin and Marshall College, I had never heard of the liberal arts system of education when you get to take classes in diverse fields, in multiple fields that interest you. So when I first heard about the liberal arts system of education, I was really interested because I am someone who has diverse interests. I am interested in taking classes in philosophy, psychology. I want to be a computer science and math major. So I was like, how do I fit all of this into my schedule? But then when I heard about the liberal arts system of education, I was like, oh, great, I'll give this a try. So I decided to look at applying to schools in the US.  I was in secondary school in Nigeria. I was still in secondary school at that time. And then I remember in my final year of high school, education USA advisors came to my school and they were talking about studying in the US. And I was really interested. And I was like, OK, I went to get more information from them. And then they talked about the Opportunity Funds program that was aimed, that is aimed at sponsoring students of low income students through the application process. They do not offer scholarship to study in the US. The Opportunity Funds program doesn't offer scholarship to study in the US, but they help students cover the cost of application to the US. So application fees, fees for applying for visa and everything you need to do while applying to schools in the US. And they do not guarantee that you will get a scholarship to study in the US. The decision of financial aid is still on the school. But how I was able to navigate applying for financial aid was because of the Opportunity Funds program. So my wonderful advisors back in Education USA in Abuja helped me look at schools, narrow down my school list, helped me figure out schools that would offer me the best financial aid. And they guided me through the entire process of applying to those schools. So I got a lot of help from my Education USA advisors back in Abuja. Like everything I have achieved so far would have been impossible without them. So for me, I applied for merit-based scholarships and need-based financial aid. I got a need-based financial aid to come to Franklin and Marshall College. But I also got merit-based scholarships to other schools. So it was like a long process. I had to fill out the CSS profile. I had to fill out the international student financial aid application forms. I had to submit lots of proof of finances. So I had to turn in bank statements to the schools and all of those. So it was a really, really long process of filling out lots of forms. But as I said, my advisors at Education USA made sure that I understood what I was doing and I understood the entire process. And they made sure that the entire process of applying for financial aid was smooth for me. Fantastic. That's so great to hear, Ojima. What an inspiring story. And thank you for sharing all of that information about the Opportunity Funds program. I should note that for our viewers listening that the Opportunity Funds program is available in select countries. And so please consult with your Education USA advisors to find out whether or not you can be part or apply for that program. But as Ojima said, it's a program in which students apply and then have their upfront costs for applying to a U.S. university covered with the aim of obtaining a full scholarship to a U.S. university. So thank you so much, Ojima, for sharing that information. We'll come back to you later on in the program because we do want to hear more about your experience in the United States. Sure. Thank you so much. Okay. Now we'll turn over to Jackie. And Jackie, if you could share some additional information with us on financial resources, more financial resources that are available to international students at U.S. financial institutions, excuse me, U.S. institutions, we'd be grateful. Thank you. Sure. So I think Christine did a terrific job of kind of outlining the general spectrum of things that are available to international students in the form of loans and scholarships and grants. And my focus is going to be on what I call God Helps Those Who Help Themselves, which means that there are opportunities for students to embrace their independence and gain some work experience by working while they're students and also working after they've completed their studies. So the first thing I want to talk about is the availability of on-campus employment. So F1 students have the ability from the time they arrive on a college campus to work on that campus. And that work can be directly paid by the institution or it can be at an affiliated program. For example, on our campus we have a subway franchise. So working at subway because it services our M campus students is included in on-campus study. Other campuses might have a research facility that is not right on the main campus but slightly off campus. And because of that affiliation, it is also considered on-campus employment. Many of the students at SUNY Plattsburgh, the international students, are working on campus. They are doing things like working for the food service and the help desk. Thank goodness because I frequently need help from the help desk. And a variety of other places on campus. Only to make some funds not to pay their bill. I think Christine noted that there are two kinds of costs. One are billed costs and the other are those un-billed costs for things like entertainment and transportation. Typically, students cannot use the earnings from on-campus employment to pay for their billed cost. But rather they would use those funds to pay for those other expenses that come up. And it's a great way to gain some independence, to gain some sense of resourcefulness and gain soft skills as an employee. So beyond the financial benefits of working, there are also very important benefits to your future and developing a resume and developing a list of references. The second way that students can work is through what's called curricular practical training. And that is work that is done off campus. Students must have been enrolled for at least one full time year of study. And those are often things like internships that are referred from the Career Development Center or from a faculty member. Things that are specifically and integrally related into the curriculum that you are studying. So CPT is very specific and requires a good deal of communication with the international student advisor and your faculty advisors and teachers. But that is optional. You can actually work off campus but not immediately after one year. And the second form of off campus employment, which is less frequent in my experience, is employment authorization based on severe economic hardship. And that is only available to students who can prove that there is unexpected, unforeseen and unmitigatable financial crisis that they need to address. And that could be a appreciable decline in the currency. It could be unexpected medical bills from home. Somehow the source of funding that they expected is not available or not available at the level that they expected. We've seen this happen with students also who've had natural disasters in their home country and their family resources are depleted. There is an application for that and you have to meet certain criteria in order to be given that kind of eligibility. I can also talk about post graduation employment. You may have heard of something called optional practical training. It is offered to students who have completed a degree level and it is available for up to three years. Students who have a non-STEM, which is science, technology, engineering and mathematics, those students who have not studied in those fields have up to one year of employment opportunity related to their studies once again. It has to be related to their studies. Students in STEM fields can have up to three years of work authorization. And that is a benefit of STEM students. And there are limitations with that as well. You need to work again closely with your advisor, academic advisor and your international student advisor. Once you've done that or even in replacement for that very infrequently, students can be sponsored by a particular employer to get an H1B visa, which allows them to work in the United States initially up to three years and then subsequently for another three years if they get the extension on that H1B visa. So my point being there are opportunities for students to become employed, to pay back maybe some of those loans that they took out if they were able to do that and to provide some great opportunities for experiential learning while you're in school and after you've completed your studies. So there's a lot of information. This is a session unto itself, I believe. But I think there are certain places that students can start to look at those opportunities. I often suggest that students start with their career development center. Our career development center actually has specific resources for international students who are looking for any kind of employment. There are links from our website to things like OPT Nation, which is a web site that is directed for students who are looking for OPT, CPT and other kinds of employment experiences in the United States. You might find these links on your student portal at your college university. I also think that there's a lot of benefit from staying in close contact with your faculty and advisors. They are the ones who are going to get outreach from companies and hospitals if they're looking for employment, either employees, either as short term interns or for a longer term work experience. And I just encourage you to get started early. You can start working with your career development center from the moment you step on campus and I encourage you to do that. Start early and make sure that you are always keeping in touch with all of the factors, all of the people on the college community, whose job it is to help you not only succeed in the classroom, but succeed in achieving your career and personal goals. Thank you, Jackie. That was excellent information, very valuable and very helpful to our student viewers. I do think it's important to highlight, as you did, that when students are considering employment opportunities after graduation in the United States, that they be sure to work closely with their international student offices and career development centers for tips and guidance, as U.S. visa rules and regulations are complex and constantly changing. So it's important that students know what those rules are and that they adhere to them. Okay, so now it's time to take some questions from our online audience. First question. There are several of you, I think, asking if there are scholarships available for master's programs, including medical school and MBA business programs. Is financial assistance available for graduate students? Christine, I'm going to turn that over to you. Sure. Yes, there are scholarships available for graduate students and again, it depends on the university or college in which a student plans to attend. So I would first seek out information from the financial aid office at that location where they're looking. In addition, many universities, including our university, have graduate assistantships where students can work for the university and earn money at the same time while they're in school. Those are very well known in the United States as well. So I would encourage reaching out to the school for additional information. Excellent. Thank you. I should also highlight, Christine mentioned this earlier, but on our EducationUSA website, we do have information about scholarships available for both undergraduates and graduates. So definitely ask your EducationUSA advisor where you can find that information on our website. Okay, so second question. What is the difference between need-based and merit-based scholarships? And I'll turn this back to Christine because I know you addressed this earlier in the program. Thank you. Yes, so the merit-based scholarship is based on a student's academic profile as well as any test scores that they've submitted. And typically we're looking at a student holistically, the information that they share in their personal essay to the universities. So the merit-based is one that will automatically be provided to a student, typically at most universities. And then the need-based is actually for financial purposes where a family simply cannot afford to send a school to a particular university. And so the need-based scholarships, typically they're called grants when they're need-based at most universities. So it's based on a financial need and affordability. Right, that makes sense. Yes. Thank you for that clear answer. Yes, you're welcome. Next question. Should I keep a location in mind if I want to lower the cost of living? Jackie, I'm going to turn that over to you. Great. So I frequently discuss this when I talk about choosing college or university in the United States. I do think that there is a whole spectrum of questions students should ask themselves if affordability is a concern in their choice. So the cost of living, as you know, varies dramatically from one place in the United States to another. And so things like, is it an urban, suburban, or rural environment will impact the cost of attendance? The location, as with regard to where in the United States it might be, there are places on the coast that are quite costly to live in, and there are other places that are perhaps in areas that are less urban or less desirable. I don't know if I would use the word desirable. I think there are a lot of places that people don't realize are wonderful places, but that are not as heavily frequented as others. So location, size of community, type of institution, financial aid available, all of those things impact the cost of attendance and should be part of the student's decision making process. Right. Thank you, Jackie. And as you say, each student may have a different desirable location depending on what they're looking for in terms of their budget and what they're looking for in terms of program from an institution. Okay, so Ojiima, a question for you. Do you have any tips on what students should budget for while studying in the United States? Things that maybe you didn't think about before you came? Yes. So before coming here, I only thought that every expense, my expenses was we're going to rotate around school, but I had some miscellaneous expenses when I came to the U.S. So I would advise you budget some money for things like bed sheets, like pillows and all of those things, things that you cannot take from your country into the U.S. because we have weight limits when you're carrying your bag. So I would advise that you budget for things for your dorm room, like everything you need to buy in your dorm room when you come to the U.S. should be included in your budgets before you come to the U.S. And then I would say if you need to go out with your friends or if you just need to go out, hang out somewhere, you should also always include all of those kinds of costs in your budget. And for budgeting, I would advise that you actually create a realistic budget and stick with it because if you do not create a budget, I think you're generally going to struggle with keeping up with your finances because you will not be able to account for where you spend your money or how you spend your money. So I would advise that you keep a realistic budget and think about things that are important and prioritize things that you need, things for your dorm room should be high priority compared to going out or hanging out with things for entertainment. So I would suggest that you prioritize things that like are related to maybe schoolwork and maybe textbooks. Yeah, you could think about budgeting for textbooks if it is not included in the cost of attendance for the school. And then all of those things, textbooks, things for your dorm room are all should be priority for you. That's what I think. Great. Thank you, Ojima. And just a follow up question. How did you get some of that information before you came to the United States? Were you working with your EducationUSA advisor or maybe working with the institution to find out how much textbooks was cost or what the cost of living would be or what some of those other costs would be that you need to factor into your budget? So I was working closely with my EducationUSA advisors before coming to the U.S. and I was trying to get like experience and personal perspective on managing costs while in college. So I remember my advisors sharing tips about things we might not expect but we might find in the U.S. that we might spend money on, like most of the things I listed before. So I and then my international student services office here at Franklin and Marshall College sends out information regarding textbooks and like things that were not factored into the cost of attendance and like things that were or things that were factored into miscellaneous expenses. So I think a combination of my wonderful advisors at EducationUSA and my advisors at the international student services really helped me get an idea of what to expect when I came to the U.S. in terms of spending and finances. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you. So now a question about visas. The question is do I apply for a student visa before I apply to college or after I am admitted? I'm going to ask Christine to answer this and maybe share a little bit of the perspective from a U.S. institution and what your role is in the student visa process. Yes, thank you. Absolutely a student should wait to apply until after they're admitted. We have designated school officials at our university who work with students very closely on the requirements and how to prepare for their visa appointment as well. Excellent. Excellent. And then once that admission is obtained we do encourage students to set up that visa appointment as soon as possible with the consulate or embassy that is closest to them. So next question. What are the cost differences between public, private and community colleges? Jackie, can you give us a general sense of those differences? Sure. So the sectors, there's some overlap. There's no direct distinction between cost at one over the other. We went back to sticker price, something that Christine mentioned. And when you look at the sticker prices of various categories of institutions, public community colleges tend to be the least expensive of the options, although some do and some do not have housing. So where it's located, back to location, can make a big difference in cost. The most expensive schools because they're not getting support from the federal, I'm sorry, not from state sources, those would be private institutions. But they often offer very generous financial aid packages to students who are qualified for those. Public four-year institutions or master's degree institutions tend to be the middle ground and they vary quite a lot in cost. They tend to be less expensive than private for sticker price, but they also tend to offer less in the way of merit, not merit necessarily, but need-based financial aid. So it's really important to look at the net price when making a decision about what institution fits a family's financial resources. Community colleges are a very good option. They tend to be very affordable, as well as public and private schools, depending on what type of awards they are given to a particular student. Great. Thank you, Jackie. Next question, how important are my SAT and ACT scores in getting a scholarship? I'm going to ask Christine to answer that one. Sure. So these also vary by institution. So at our university, we have not required ACT or SAT scores for a student to earn a scholarship. However, the students should check with their university, their institution, to determine if they need them number one and then what is the required test score. Sometimes they will be tiered scholarship opportunities depending upon the test score. They will receive a different amount in the scholarship funds. Right. So important to check with your institution on that. Next question, which should I do first? Apply for a scholarship or choose a college? Jackie, would you like to answer that one? Yes, I would. So if you're talking about institutional scholarships, of course, the application must come first. Many colleges and universities will post general, if not specific, information about their awards for international students on their website. So you should check those out. And if it's clear that they offer huge packages, that might encourage you to apply. But no scholarships are awarded prior to the submission of an application. Having said that, there are other scholarships, as Christine noted, things like local scholarships or organizational scholarships that are available outside the realm of a particular college or university. And I encourage looking into those when you are starting to think about studying abroad. It's a concurrent process. But institutional gift date or scholarships from a particular college or university will only be considered after you applied for admission. That makes sense. Thank you. And Jackie, I'm going to direct the next question to you, too. It's about a student is asking, can my wife and children come with me if I do study in the US? And I'm wondering if you have some students that have their families with them at your institution? We do, but very few. We are primarily a public undergraduate institution. But yes, I know that students who are on F1 visas can bring dependents. There is extra cost associated with that that is plugged into the cost of attendance. And those students, those family members would become F2 dependents on the visa. They would have their visa status attached to that of the student who's attending the College of University. But you must also be able to show financial support for for your dependents in order for them to get a visa. Right, right. Thank you. So probably more common for graduate students than undergraduate students, but definitely something that is possible. But there are additional procedures to follow through with. Great. So next question. What is the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition? Christine. Sure. So typically, we'll talk about a private institution first. Typically, private institutions do not charge in-state versus out-of-state tuition. There is one set price for the majority of private institutions, and that's what a student will pay. The public universities, however, tend to charge in-state or out-of-state tuition to students. Primarily, international students will be paying an out-of-state tuition fee. The in-state is for students who are residing in that particular state. So for most international students, they don't live in that particular state, and therefore they would be charged the out-of-state tuition fee. Again, this can vary from institution to institution, so I would encourage students to reach out to those institutions they're interested in studying. Yes, and I do know that in some regions there are institutions that offer in-state tuition for international students. So again, as Christine said, please work with your EducationUSA advisor to see if there's any of those types of opportunities available for international students. OK, thank you for all your great questions. We've got another one from Albert from Indonesia who would like to know if there is an age limit to applying for scholarships for graduate programs, such as the PhD program or PhD programs in US universities. Jackie, is there an age limit? Well, not that I'm aware of. We try not to do such things. And PhD is not being my area of expertise. I think that perhaps Christine from the University of Dayton might have more experience with PhD students. But my understanding is that it would be very unlikely that there would be any age limit to any kind of admission decision or financial aid decision. Yes, Jackie, that's actually 100 percent accurate. We encourage all ages to attend the University of Dayton and all institutions would follow that same practice. Excellent, great. And so I do think that if you are attending certainly a graduate level program, you'll have a diversity of students not only from around the world, but from different backgrounds and different ages and so forth. So definitely something to look forward to and give a try even if you're not the typical student age. Okay, so question for Ojima from a student in the Gambia. So what are options for an international student that only has enough funds to pay their tuition, I guess, versus some of the other costs and fees? So what did you do to help pay for housing, books, and meals, et cetera? For example, did you ask friends or do students that you know ask friends or relatives to large them or house them? And what are some of the things that you did in your experience? Okay, in my own experience, I got a financial aid that covered everything. It covered my tuition, room and board. And so I didn't have to pay for meals or housing. But I know a couple of students who had to pay for who had financial aid but that didn't cover meals or housing. And I think what they did was they reached out to family members before living their various countries and they were able to get some support from family members, from community members. So I think there's like always like lots of opportunities to ask other, like ask, reach out to people, ask for help. Or you could just, I know some other people who discussed this with the school and tried to negotiate their financial aid packages. And they told the school, we're really interested, but with this, we cannot like attend, fully attend the school. So I know most students who got loans from their schools. So there is always like a way for the school to walk around getting you the financial aid package that would enable you to attend. So I think in my case, I didn't have to pay for anything. But people that I know that did got loans from the school or they got help from family members or friends. Great. Great. Thank you. Those are really good tips. Thanks, Ojiwara. I just want to congratulate you again on your scholarship. It's just, it's really exciting for you to have to receive that package for your attendance in Franklin Marshall. Congratulations. Thank you so much. So next question I want to ask all of our panelists. And what is it, the question is, what does it mean to apply early decision? And what happens if I miss the deadline to apply? We'll start with you, Christine. So there, again, institutions vary on early decision deadlines and if they have a rolling admission process. So I would encourage students again, the earlier you apply, the better because there's more scholarship funds available. That's a reality. Typically that deadline can be November 1. It can be February 1. And it can be, there can be another deadline that is May 1. However, that's also changing in the U.S. this year in particular. So number one, I encourage early application, early discussions with the financial aid officers and also your family members because the earlier you apply, the earlier you get a decision, the earlier you're going to receive the financial aid package and understand what you need to do next to make up the gap if there is one in what you owe the university for attendance. Right. And just before we move on to Jackie, if you could just explain the difference between early decision and rolling admissions. So early decision, many universities will have a deadline where they're going to, all students need to apply by date. And after that, they may not accept applications. Many institutions also now are continuing and encouraging applications to come into the students as late as possible. However, they would still need to get into the country. So that's always as part of the decision as well. So there is no set deadline. And in many institutions are really trying to accommodate students living internationally because their schools are ending at different times than students in the United States. That's right. Thank you. So Jackie, do you have anything to add on that question about early decision and what happens if students miss that deadline to apply? So early decision, in addition to what Christine said, is also a commitment on the student's part. So by and large, students would apply to only one institution, early decision. And that application deadline is usually quite early, much earlier than the regular decision deadline. And if the student is accepted by that institution, early decision, they are ethically obligated to take that admission decision and move ahead with enrolling at that institution and withdrawing from all other institutions to which they've applied. So it is, if there's only one institution that the student really wants to go to, then early decision can be a good process. I, myself, as a parent and as a longtime editor, I often think that students are making a decision perhaps a little too early in the process without getting a full picture of what else is out there and what other kinds of opportunities and awards might be given to them by other institutions. So early decision, only school you want to go to, regardless of the outcomes of others, and you have to make an ethical choice to that's the only school you will go to and withdraw all your other applications. And then, Jackie, just a follow-up question is that, so if you missed that deadline for early admission, you still, depending on the institution and the specific deadlines, you would still have a chance to apply to some other institutions, correct, in general? Of course. So early decision is only one option. Even the student, the institutions that offer early decision, they will have perhaps several different versions of early decision, so there are several different deadlines. Of course, they also have their regular admission deadlines, which are months, maybe more than one month later than those early decision. So institutions have a variety of deadlines, and if you miss one, then there's usually another that is upcoming, and then, as Christine mentioned, there are lots of schools that use rolling admission, which there is no absolute deadline. Students are accepted or denied based on a standard, not against each other. They're not compared to each other, but they're compared to a standard, and at that point, they could be admitted in December, just like early decision students, if they apply early, or they could be admitted in April, if they're applying a little bit later, and the school still has space. So there are a variety of methodologies in the timeline. Right, and usually for rolling admissions, you find out quite soon after you apply, correct? Usually, I mean, I can only speak from my own institution, but once a student's application is complete, it's usually a week or two before they would hear. Right. Excuse me, I'm sorry. Oh, bless you. So all good information when students are planning for their financing, but also applying for institutions. So moving on to our next question, we have a question from Judith from Nigeria, who is interested in learning more about graduate assistantships. Can you explain, Judith says, what a graduate assistantship is, and how is an assistantship different from a scholarship? And, Jackie, I know you mentioned that early in the program. Could you tell us a little bit more about assistantships? Sure. Well, graduate assistantships are usually a pretty generous offer to a student from an institution. They typically require some sort of service and response. So some of graduate assistantships might be research assistantships. So when you accept this graduate assistantship, because you've been accepted to the institution, and they've included this as part of your financial aid package, you would be required to work on research in the duration of your studies. Some students might be required to teach a class or more than one class. Other students might be working as a graduate assistant in the residence halls. So it's all based on the kind of work that the students doing and the kind of needs that the institution have. But in return for the gift aid, or for the aid, you are required to do a service for that institution. Thank you. Christine, would you like to add anything to that? Yes, so the graduate assistants at the University of Dayton, as Jackie said, they really, it's an elevated role at the university. They actually work side by side with our faculty and staff on research, on work within our offices, and they work closely with our undergraduate students and graduate students on different opportunities. Many of our department's request students apply for the graduate assistantships to ensure that there is a good fit between what the student would like to do and the actual role itself. Okay, great. So very different from a scholarship in that sense. Yes, yes. Right. Okay. So here's a question for Christine. We have Christina from Brazil who is asking, what are the most commonly used financial aid forms? She mentions a couple of them in her question. CSS, ISFAA, et cetera. Can you enlighten us on this floor? So I know at our institution, we would typically see from the College Board the CSS form more than any others. Right. We also communicate because we're a smaller institution. We really do work one-on-one with our students where we're not requiring necessarily a form and learning more about where their need is. So for our institution, it would be the CSS form. Right. We do also get many questions from our international students on may I fill out the FAFSA? So I just want to clarify a little bit about the FAFSA form is for students. So students who do not reside in the United States would not be eligible to fill out the FAFSA. It's a federal form. But however, that's where we shared all the other opportunities that are available for students beyond the federal aid. Great. Okay. And Jackie, is that also the case at SUNY Plasberg? Yes. We actually do use our own version of the CSS profile. And the only thing I would say is we do have international domestic students living abroad. And they're kind of a hybrid population. So they have a U.S. citizen of permanent residency. But they are living in another country and maybe have done so for the majority of their lives. Those students, we do encourage to complete the FAFSA because they would be eligible for federal and state, not state, but federal financially. Right. Great. Thank you. Next question is about English proficiency tests. And Muah from Cameroon would like to know if she needs to take an English proficiency test, if she has taken all of her studies in English from primary school to secondary school. Jackie, what do you think? Well, that is an institutional decision. At our institution, we say that every student, regardless of where they come from, if they come from downstate New York, California or Cameroon, they must submit some standardized test of English proficiency. So for an American student, a student who's living and going to school in the United States, that's typically the SAT or ACT. A student from Cameroon, where the local language is not English, where the language typically spoken in the home is not English, we would encourage the student to take the IELTS or the TOEFL exam. And there are many other versions of this. We accept many different kinds of standardized results. I would think that that's probably true of many of my colleagues in other institutions, that if the local language is not English and you don't have another standardized measure, for example, if you're in the international baccalaureate curriculum, that's a standardized measure for us. So if you're taking English in that curriculum, then we would accept that as a measure of your English proficiency. But there are 4,000 institutions in the United States and there are no generalities beyond the obvious with regard to English proficiency exams. Right, exactly. So something else that students need to factor in when they're looking at their budgets for applying. Christine, that's the same at your institution as well. So at the University of Dayton and several institutions, we have an intensive English program. And so how it works at the university and other institutions may be if they take the TOEFL or the IELTS, we have a threshold where a student would be admitted directly into their program. And if they are under the threshold, then we would provide them with English language support and we call this conditional admission, where they begin in the English language program and then move on to their academic program. We have actually, we do allow students to come to the university and test at the university to determine which level of English they would be in starting. So that's definitely a benefit that we have. And so it just depends again on the institution and the offerings. Excellent, great. So that's good to know about. That's another option for students looking at sort of increasing and bolstering their English language skills before coming to study in the United States. Again, look at one of the programs that Christine just mentioned. Okay, so another question from Fitsum in Ethiopia. What other sources of funding should students look for other than at the school they are accepted to? Good question. Jackie, what would you say to a student asking you that question coming to your institution? I wish I had the secret answer that everybody looks for. Sadly, I do not. So the majority of funding for students studying the United States at the undergraduate level in particular comes from family resources. That's just a fact. There are other resources. Some governments will offer loans or scholarships. Some private organizations offer loans and scholarships. There are a couple of websites, fastweb.com. I think is one that can provide some insights into this study in the States, Education USA. They have great resources on their websites for other kinds of organizations and government supports that are available to students. But most of the monies that students get come from the institutions they're attending and from their own familial resources or other personal resources. Right, right. Christine, are you finding that that's the case as well? It is the case, I concur. Yes, right. Great. Okay, great. So next question from Rachelle in Namibia. Rachelle asked, please speak a little bit about diversity on campuses and scholarships, especially for African students. Christine, I'll start with you on this one. I don't know if Dayton has any specific scholarships for different regions around the world, students from different regions around the world. Or if there's, what sort of diversity, when you think about scholarships, and you think about diversity, how are those two linked? So we absolutely encourage diversity on our campus. We have students represented from over 60 countries, and we're proud of that, and we want to continue that. And we do have students from Africa on our campus. We do not differentiate between the international scholarships that we offer. We really, those are across the board, depending upon a student's need or their academic success in the past is how we would provide scholarships to students. Right. And Jackie, do you have any specific information for African students looking for scholarships? Sounds like University of Dayton and SUNY Plattsburg have a very similar process. So we award scholarships based on not necessarily where a student is from, but their academic achievement and their documented need. We do not specifically offer scholarships to African students, but by and large they do qualify for our need-based aid programs. Great, thank you. So our last question is going to be for Ojima. Ojima, you're a freshman at U.S. Higher Education Institution. And as I mentioned in the beginning of the program, we do want to hear from you about how your experience has been so far and if it was what you expected before you came to the United States. So for me, I'll say that I wasn't that shocked because I got a lot of help, like a lot of training and a lot of prepping for my education, U.S. advisors, but I also had to experience some things in person. But like I would say so far, my experience in the U.S. has been really good. I really, really like my school. I think I'm getting lots of support from my international student services and I think I'm getting lots of support from my professors. So for me, it's quite different because where I come from, it's not always common to go to office hours. I don't know what, I didn't know what office hours were before going to school in the U.S. I didn't know that, like you can go to your professor's office and ask them for help personally. I always saw professors as busy people, like they're always busy. But when I came to Franklin and Marshall College, all of my professors reached out to me even before classes started, like they emailed me. They tried to, they set up an appointment with me one-on-one. I met with my professors. I got to know my professors and then they encouraged me to always come to office hours. And I think that is like helping me do well in class because if I'm not doing well, I know my professors really care that I'm not doing well and they reach out to me and ask me, so like I'm always like, I'm always like challenged to do well in class and like to keep up with the material. And I feel like I am really learning a lot because the liberal arts system of education for me is really eye-opening. It has opened my mind to various fields and now I think I can see life from like a broader perspective now, all thanks to my first semester in the U.S. And I look forward to having a great time here in the U.S. and here at Franklin and Marshall College. Fantastic. That's so great to hear. Orjima, thanks for sharing your story. It's so inspiring. And we're great to hear that things are going well. Yeah, thank you so much. So unfortunately, we are almost out of time. So in closing, I would like to ask each of our guests to share just one last piece of advice for our student viewers about financing a U.S. education. So Christine, let's start with you. If you had one piece of advice to pass on to students, what would it be? So I've said this earlier and that would be to do your research early in the process. Even two years prior to attending a U.S. university, find out the options available to you. Understand what the billing is going to look like once you get to the U.S. and also understand your financial situation. Great. Thank you. So get started early. Know your situation. Jackie? I would say as soon as you get to campus, find your Career Development Center so that they can help you find employment on campus if that's something you wish, but also start preparing you to earn a living on your own when you're done with your studies. So start early and stay persistent. Excellent. And Ojima, what would be one piece of advice you'd give to your student peers? I would say always ask for help when you need one and always ask and cross-check with your advisors if you don't know anything, because if you don't ask for help, you will never get help. So I would say always and always ask for help. Fantastic. Fantastic. Thank you so much. So that brings us to the end of our program today. I'd like to thank our guests again, Christine, Jackie, and Ojima for taking the time to be with us and for sharing their insights and expertise. I also want to thank all of you out there for watching and participating. We hope that you found this useful. And finally, I want to give a special shout-out to all of our viewing groups tuning in from around the world, and especially those at US Embassy Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, US Embassy Maputo, Mozambique, American Cultural Center, Winhok Namibia, American Corner, Walvis Bay Namibia, Martin Luther King Jr. American Corner, Ongodiva Namibia, American Corner, Kamenge Burundi, American Center, Bujambura Burundi, American Corner, the Gambia, American Center, Bamako Mali, America Center in Trinidad and Tobago, Ibuche in Fortaleza, Brazil, Education USA, Guatemala, CCPA Bionational Center in Asuncion, Paraguay. Thank you all so much. To find out more about studying in the United States, please visit the Education USA website that we've mentioned several times at www.educationusa.state.gov. Some of the resources there include an overview of our five steps to U.S. study, as well as information about how to locate the nearest Education USA Center in your home country, how to connect with us via social media, how to learn about upcoming events, research scholarships and financial opportunities, and much, much more. Be sure to join us here again for future Education USA interactive web chats. This is Brooks Bellman, wishing you every success in finding your best fit for study in the United States. Thank you.


Okay, the recording is on, once again, good morning everyone, thank you for connecting to this course, PC310 on church and ministry administration, you're going to get started on this course today, it's our first week this semester fall 2022 and yes I'm actually doing this course from home and so for the other course I would be in the college. All right, anyone want to pray, would like to just leave us in prayer and get started? Yes, all right please. Thank you and praise you for this wonderful morning which you recommend to us. Lord we surrender and dedicate our lives before you at least to the Father. Please prepare us so Father God so that we can be used by you Lord Master whatever we are going to listen and receive our Father. Let it be useful for Lord Master our spiritual edification and also let it edify our spirit man, let it increase our knowledge, wisdom and understanding of Father God. We humble ourselves before your presence and we come to a place of Lord Master attitude of receiving and we pray that Father fill each one of us Lord Master that if there is Master with your wisdom and understanding so that's why we can utilize these things whatever we are going to learn today. We cover everything under your precious Lord God, cover your servant of Father God, bless him that Father so that whatever he's going to speak let it be from the throne room of God. We give you all the glory God our Father prays. Since Jesus most holy and not just in my praise Amen. Amen. Thank you Shri Kuma. Yeah welcome everyone and we will get started now I have shared the two PDFs in the Google classroom. One is the overview of the course which we'll just go through so you'll get an idea of what we are going to cover in this course and then lesson one. What we will be doing in this course is as we go along I'll keep sharing the PDF for each lesson. I'm not putting the whole content out because I try to keep updating the content as we go along based on interactions and questions and so on. So I like to keep it a little bit fluid so that I adapt it to what is happening in the class. So I'll keep sharing the lesson notes as we keep going. Okay so yeah just one note. I just realized that I got your email but I did not reply to your email so I will remember to do that today. I'm sorry it's been a long time. I'll try it back to you and answer to your question. All right okay so let's get started. I'm going to share the PDF of what we're going to be covering. All right let's go here. Okay so course 310 church administration. I think all of you have downloaded the PDF. Now why are we doing a course like this? My church administration. The fact is that although the ministry we are doing is a spiritual ministry which is the ministry of the world and the spirit that whatever work we are doing needs to be backed up with good organization and administration so that when we combine the two that means we combine the spiritual ministry we are doing it's just the ministry of the world and the spirit to serve people. When we combine that with good organization, good administration then we can be very impactful for the kingdom of God and we can also serve many people. But what we have observed is and many of you may have also observed is that sometimes just because of a lack of good administration and management the ministry which is very good the spiritual side you know somebody would be very good in the ministry of the world in the anointing house one if they don't have good organizational backing you know support of administration and organization then the reach is not as great it is not that you know the gifting is not there it is there but they're not able to serve people and also what we have seen is that sometimes if the administration organization of the ministry breaks or falls apart it could impact the whole ministry and there are many examples of those kinds of things that you know we will talk about some of these as we go along. You know just one example that comes to my mind at this point was that of a powerful prayer ministry and this was in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, 80s and 90s there was this man of God I'll just mention his name but just for you to know that I'm not making up a story but this man of his name is Larry Lee he I think he graduated from our Robert's University he was even I think the dean of our Robert's University at some point and then he went or he started a church called Church on the Rock in Rockwell, Texas and God had and he was a powerful man of prayer he had written you know I think at least two books on prayer one was could you not carry one hour and that book could you not carry one hour at that time in the late 80s 90s you know became like a very popular book on prayer could you not carry one of this challenging you know the church to pray at least an hour a day and I think he had another book also on prayer and you know God just invited his ministry and at one point Larry Lee throughout the United States they would pack stadiums full of people just to pray that was amazing you know it was not like a crusade or not like a concert for worship music but it was stadiums packed with people who came to pray for that city so it's like a prayer if you want to call it a prayer concert or a prayer movement really for the prayer movement and this was happening you know across many cities in the US it was just a wonderful move of God and so on and he had his church base church the local church in Rockwell, Texas now and the church was growing you know hundreds thousands of people were coming so very the ministry was just wonderful going but then I remember just one thing you know the offerings that were being collected you know in the church or in the ministry because it was money was not only coming from the congregant it was also coming from people who would send money and they found envelopes that were you know that were just thrown out I don't know how it happened but there was this discarding and the media some TV channel reported this thing you know look people are sending money but these envelopes are thrown out it's not being handled properly and so on I just you know and and then many you know TV stations reported that and but that one incident triggered the collapse of it just became a trigger that just brought down the whole ministry right so you know it wasn't largely as a man it wasn't his fault he was doing the ministry but the administration and the organization people are the people who are responsible for a lot of things I mean there's a big very big ministry so a lot of things are happening to whoever was in charge of managing you know the offering that's being sent the envelopes that they put in the office somewhere people were not doing their work properly and but you know that was publicized that was brought in you know exposed or it was brought into light and it just brought collapse of the whole ministry and it was it was very very sad because the man was such a wonderful man that he laid doing such wonderful ministry and something went wrong in the administration in the organization of the ministry that just brought everything down you know and of course when something had happened everybody points their finger at the man you know the person who's leading and so I'm just giving an example here so we must recognize the importance of organization and administration and especially when it comes to the church or Christian ministry because people are willingly contributing their offering the tithing offering the offerings the money they're willingly giving people are serving as volunteers many volunteers so they're willingly giving their time and their efforts in the ministry and so we have to be all the more very careful when it comes to organization and administration so what we're going to do in this course is you know just talk about the practical side of ministry I'm going to share with you things that we have we are doing at APC in Bangalore how we started the journey we made and how you know the organization grew and what is happening behind the scenes you don't see a lot of this but you know we talk about a lot of that and and then you know get into the details so basically talk about the importance of good administration or the objectives how do you form a legal entity the trust and the governance how what kind of organizational structure what a policy guidelines and standards you need to have systems and processes within the organization how do you manage people how do you create a good workplace culture how do you manage the money taking care of the legal side how do you plan and coordinate you know whatever you're doing various from the church service to various other ministries and how do you form ministry teams volunteer teams and then overall church culture executing projects how you can leverage technology and overall pursue excellence in what you're doing now this aspect of technology next semester we'll have a course on media and technology that we'll get into the details so this leveraging technology kind of be a little overview of you know how you can use technology but next semester we'll get into greater depth as we talk about media and technology that you can use in ministry right the assessment course grading is as usual as we've done in the past and I will you know there are a lot of good books on on the subject of administration I'm just trying to see one book that I can give you so I'm just I'll shortlist one and share that with you in the classroom and you can kind of read that if you want to read it the house of God which I think you've already gone through in your second year and that's also a useful book it doesn't have everything but I have some things that will be of use okay so we're going to get into lesson number one the importance of good administration any questions from anybody on about the course what we will be doing any parts here any questions now you know it's really interesting how people think about how people think about ministry just you know as recent as this week I received an email from somebody who was completely opposed to the idea of the church being an organization you know because right now we were doing a certain series on leadership and one of us on the film and I mentioned I think it was part two in the series on leadership I'm we're talking about competence and I mentioned you know the church is it's a spiritual body but it's also an organization you know that we have to be organized and so on and I made some comments on the church you know having being like a corporate an organization and so this person was upset and so he sent me an email saying you know he disagrees he does not agree with the idea that church should be organized or be like a corporate like the body and so on so yeah of course I don't respond to those emails but the point is there are people who don't like that idea that while the church is a spiritual body it is also a physical body a physical body you know this physical body is organized that means this physical body has certain parts that are in a certain place and they perform a certain function so it is very organized you know this physical body is not just you know this is a physical body you know it has to be treated in a physical way taken care of in a very physical way so the same thing with the physical side of the church it is an organization it you know it has to be addressed and looked at as an organization and it has to function well as an organization and you know feel free to share your thoughts as we go along I know you may agree you may disagree that's okay but we can you know we can discuss and and see you know how best to explain explain it let's let's get into lesson one any questions any problem everyone's okay so let's get into our first lesson on the importance of good administration now a lot of what I'm going to be sharing will come from a local church perspective right as we go further but everything we say applies even to just to a Christian organization that means if the ministry you're doing is not necessarily a local church maybe it is a youth ministry maybe it's music ministry maybe it's you know a ministry to women or it's a leadership minutes whatever a different kind of a Christian organization everything we say applies to that as well so even though I'm going to be speaking a lot from a local church administration organization perspective you can apply it to any kind of Christian ministry and the administration organization of any kind of Christian ministry so let's get started now why is good administration very important right why is it important now when you look at it from a this will be look at our biblical perspective and also from a simple practical perspective and then we'll answer we'll address some common objections that we hear you know from church people like I mentioned even other Christian leaders preachers and so on who don't like the church being considered and an organization from a biblical perspective you see that god is a god of order design organization and creativity so when you look at god he's not god of you know this order but in all his works right from you know you look at the single cell to this great big universe there is order you know um think they're organized it's not haphazard it's not unpredictable while there is great creativity yeah there is always freshness and newness yet there is order there is design there's organization so god does both so order design an organization does not have to be boring it does not have to be dull and dry it can actually flow together with newness freshness and creativity right so we see that in in the way god has created everything right in the midst of order design organization there is freshness there is you know we still stand in awe and amazed that you know wow you know the things around us and so god brings both together in the way he works so how much more should we think about his body the church or his work which is the ministry the church and the ministry like this that there will there has to be order design organization in the church in the ministry and yet there is freshness there is creativity there is inspiration that comes from the Holy Spirit and it just flows together yeah in what god does and another example we'll see we are all familiar with in 1st Corinthians 14 33 both this words but it'd be nice just to turn there and read it 1st Corinthians 14 33 anyone okay I'll read it please he said for god it's not god of confusion but of peace yeah so god is not the author of confusion and later on in verse 40 you know Paul sums up this chapter in that same chapter 1st Corinthians 14 40 he says that all things be done decently and in order so god is not the author of confusion that is something that's disorderly chaotic and but everything is done decently and in order so even in the context of the local church and how the church operates and functions there shouldn't be confusion it should be decent it should be in order now we can look at many other examples in the Bible you know if you're looking at the old testament when you think about Moses as a leader now Moses had a huge tough now he was doing ministry if you want to call it that right he was doing ministry what was his ministry his ministry was I have to lead these people from where they are in Egypt into the land of promise that the ministry god had given Moses and of course along the way and god used him to you know bring the 10 commandments and establish a covenant and you know bring so much of the revelation which we call the old testament through Moses but he so that was a spiritual side of his ministry but he also had a very practical side of his ministry which is physically practically he has to lead a nation of people from Egypt to Canaan Moses was a spiritual leader but he also had a very practical journey with the people and as you look at that journey how they went through Moses faced lots of problems with the people which is also today which today is also something we will all face we will face challenges with the people right so how did Moses handle it you see in Exodus the 18th chapter and again I'm just going to mention this you can you know read that chapter Moses is sitting from morning till evening to solve the problems that people are having so he's a spiritual leader he you know he's having a great encounter with God and you know God is giving him the commandments and God is giving him the law and you know God is appearing to him face to face and there is a pillar of cloud and there's a pillar of fire there's a cloud and a fire and it's amazing miracles but he also has to deal with all the practical issues of the people and it's not easy because so many people and there's so many problems so he's sitting from morning till evening counseling people solving problems etc and Jethro Moses father and law he sees what Moses says Moses you know if you if you do this you will kill yourself I mean you will die you can't handle this so what must you do you organize you organize you arrange leaders from among the people who will be responsible for groups of people the groups of fifty hundred etc you organize them and let the people take their problem to that leader that you have appointed if the leaders you know the leaders will be appointed if they can't solve the problem only those problems let it come to you so Jethro gives Moses it's wonderful advice and Moses actually organizes it you know so he appoints leaders he puts people in groups he appoints leaders and then says look from now on if you have a problem you take it to your leader and the leader should be able to help but if the leader doesn't then it comes to Moses when Moses steps in right and then in numbers chapter 11 so that was going on at one point and then you come to numbers chapter 11 where to Moses feels overwhelmed by the ministry right so the people are asking for meat and for water and food all the problems a practical problem he's doing spiritual ministry but there is a practical side to the whole journey and people are coming to him saying you know we need this food we need this water we need meat we need you know all this and Moses goes to God in numbers chapter 11 he says God I cannot handle this I cannot handle I can't do this how and now God gives him a solution and very interesting the solution again is organizing he says you pick 70 leaders that's a big number pick out 70 leaders and I will anoint these leaders and they are going to help you govern they are going to help you lead the people so what I want to point out here numbers from numbers 11 is God brought about this idea of being organized God anointed these people the 70 leaders who are going to help Moses practically in the ministry to take care of the people so God is not against organizing right God is not against administering so what is administration administration is this physical organizing of people and resources in order to administer whatever we are going to administer the people the care the counseling and the the word of God so on so God told Moses you organize like this and so Moses did that and they continued on in their journey so that's just you know one example where you can see in the Bible that there is spiritual ministry but there is a practical side and for the practical side it lead it needed organizing it needed that administration part in order for the people to not only receive spiritual ministry but to make their journey to what God wanted them in that same connection in number 10 you see God how detailed here in the book of numbers and how he wanted the people to be organized if you read those first 10 chapters of numbers what you what we will see is God organized the 12 tribes three tribes on each side of the tabernacle so the tabernacle was in the middle in the front side of the north side there were three tribes they had to put their camp there that tends there south side behind tabernacle three tribes and like that on the east side and on the west side on each side of the tabernacle three tribes that's where they had to pitch their tents so people couldn't just go and you know put a tent anywhere they wanted no this was God giving instructions this is how you must organize every tribe people had to you know put their tent according to the tribes then God said in order to move you have to move in camp a tribe by tribe and the leader would blow the trumpet and when the trumpet is blown then the tribe begins to move I'll just think about this this is organization this is administration way back in the book of numbers so God is doing something on the spiritual work where he is taking his people into their land of promise he's fulfilling his promise to Abraham he's giving the covenant through Moses so he's doing a spiritual work but along with that there is detailed administration organization happening in the practical day-to-day lives of the people as they're making their journey into the land of promise just one more it's a few more not one more few more when you look at the worship in the tabernacle right when both during the time of Moses and later on in the time of David the worship in the tabernacle was not haphazard everything was very organized in the tabernacle there were priests and the Levites that means there was you know two kinds of people two sets of people and each were given their particular task so you know when we when we think about it today we talk about roles and functions you know we'll talk about putting the right people to do the right things that happened right there back in the you know the book of Exodus and God told Moses to build the tabernacle there'll be priests who will do handle all the sacrifices of that and there'll be Levites these people will take care of the physical work that needed to be done in the tabernacle when you come into David's time as David as all of this progresses David sets up you know the tabernacle and in in first chronicles 25 you find even more administration and organization one David determined to decides to do is to have continuous prayer and worship and so he arranges this finger in groups of you know one hour slots each and they have groups of singers who come in they take their turns constantly so you see he wanted 24 hours prayer and worship to go from the tabernacle but he organized it so well and if you read that first chronicles 25 they were very skilled musicians and singers and worshipers but everybody was organized everybody was organized into one hour slot so you can imagine they would all show up do that one hour the next group comes they do that one hour next group comes another hour next group comes another and so there was continuous worship in the tabernacle there were hundreds of priests and Levites so I think the total count of people who were serving the tabernacle came to almost 8,000 people so he engaged so many people in order to make sure there was continuous prayer and worship in the tabernacle and it went on nonstop for 33 years that's amazing the kind of organization that was in place when you think about Nehemiah having to rebuild the walls here also it's just amazing if you look at how he all there's even the the the wealthy merchants they're all participated he put them in groups all around the wall city walls and as they were building some were building some were standing in guard and some were being like watchmen to alert the people and so each you know there were different teams as you if you want to call it that and they were doing their work so in a few if you study Nehemiah again you see a lot of organization in order to rebuild the wall and it was a spiritual assignment gotta put in his heart right um when you come into the New Testament it's the same thing uh let me pause and see if you have any questions before I get into the New Testament everybody's following with me any questions so far okay all right well okay and so now when we get into the New Testament okay thank you for your responses in the chat uh when you get to the New Testament right from the church in Jerusalem so the church in Jerusalem was birthed on the day of Pentecost Acts chapter 2 and that time there were the 12 apostles and then there were other disciples about 120 of them and then many thousands came to faith so the church was great and then by the time you come to Acts chapter 6 there are some problems um the uh there's a there's a problem and the problem is actually very funny it has to with food distribution right the Greek speaking Jews were having problems with the Hebrew speaking Jews they were Jews and there were the local Jews Hebrew speaking and there are problems with each other one felt that that they were not being given in our food and the food was being distributed they felt hey they're not treating us fairly now you know when you think about it it seems like a very silly thing you know it it has to do with food distribution one group is feeling they're not getting the same amount of food as the other group anyway but that was a problem how did the apostles solve that problem in Acts chapter 6 and all of us know this right they said you find out seven men seven or eight men I forget who are full of wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit and we will appoint these men to take care of the food distribution so if you look at it from our context they formed a team of people and they gave that team the responsibility to handle the food distribution so food distribution was one part of the ministry of the church but it was handled by a team so there is organization there and they were this team was doing the local church and by the time you come you know late to the end of the episode when you read in 1st Timothy chapter 3 when Paul is writing to Timothy about the local church he clearly demarcates two groups he talks about elders and then he talks about deacons so elders people responsible for the spiritual side of the ministry which is the ministry of the word and prayer and taking care of the spiritual things of the people and then deacons who would handle the the administration the running of the church so think about this way back in the 1st century AD as soon as the church had was taking on expression physical expression there was organization there were people who were responsible for the administration of the church the bible refers to them as deacons and you know in roman chapter 16 now let's turn there I think it's an interesting verse to read if you turn to be roman chapter 16 you read about this lady called Phoebe can can somebody read roman 16 1 and 2 please shall I read faster please go ahead Romans 16 1 and 2 I commend to you Phoebe our sister who is a servant of of the church in syncria that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of saints and assist her in whatever business she has need of you for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also now think about this right Paul is giving a word of recommendation for somebody this is a lady whose name is Phoebe and what has her worked in the church or for the church she is handling some sort of administration organization business of the church and Paul is saying you know when she comes make sure you you know give it all the support she needs I mean just putting in a simple you know English just give it all the support you need to help her whatever way she wants help because she is carrying out you know the business of the church and she's just being a blessing to many people you know so and that word is servant of the church she's a deacon she's a servant of the church so you see very clearly that there were people in the church who were called to function in the administration in the organizational side of the church so clearly Paul talks about elders and deacons and here in 2016 is a one particular person who is a deacon and he can give her all the support you know because she's she's helping many people so in the first century AD itself you can see organization in the church you can see people a pastor you or as a the leader of a spiritual minister you may be called to do the spiritual minister but you have to work together with people who are going to be doing the organization and administration of the church just like in this case you know Paul he's in a post he's a pastor I mean he's a prophet he's a teacher he's a evangelist at some point he served you know past in the church he planted for a brief period of time so he's doing spiritual ministry but he worked together with people who were deacons who were doing the business of the church the administration which is and we cannot escape that you know we will have to work and in fact for many of us we will have to do some of that work as well and especially in the early stages of the ministry you will have to do it you know you may not have the people around you or to do the administration part so you will have to do it yourself you know I remember in the early days and we started all people's church I would do everything you know I would write the account we had somebody would come and put it into the system I would you know send a thank you letter I would respond to the email it's just about everything you had to do yeah and later on you know as the work grows then you will have people join in who will handle various aspects of the ministry and even today you know one side I am involved in the spiritual side but a lot of my time also goes in overseeing the organization of the church you know surely at some point we'll get somebody who can handle the full organization of the church but until such time you know we I'm involved in a lot of these in the organization side as well to make sure things run well okay so we can't escape that it is part of what is what has to happen a couple of more scriptures from the New Testament side is we need to read Romans chapter 12 let's go there right then the book of Romans read this turn to chapter 12 please and you look at verses 4 through 8 Romans chapter 12 verses 4 through 8 could somebody read that please Romans 12 4 to 8 whereas we have many members in one body but all the members do not have the same function so we've been many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another having them gives differing according to the grace as given to us it has used them if prophecy let us prophecy in proportion to our faith or ministry let us use it in our spring he who teaches in teaching he who exhorts in exhortation he who gives with liberality he who leads with diligence he who shows mercy with cheerfulness thank you chris so uh here paul is telling us look the church is a body people have different the church has many members and it's many people but everyone has different functions and then he says let's all just serve according to the gift and the grace given to us and then he begins to mention some of these gifts prophecy and serving and teaching and encouraging and giving and then he also mentions leadership and mercy or compassion as function right so leadership for this one highlight one of them leadership is one of those functions that means you're going to be leading people so in the church god has put people with this function or with this ability with this grace to lead people right so the moment you talk about leadership then you all think of our teams or groups of people who are being led to do something for a purpose leadership lead people in order to accomplish something so you know depending on the team that team is led by somebody in order to fulfill a certain function okay let's look at one more verse before we go for the break let's go to first quarantine 12 28 12 and we're 28 somebody could read that correctly sir go ahead first quarantine 12 28 and god has appointed these in the church first apostles second prophets third teachers after that miracles then gifts of healings helps administrations varieties of tongues thank you thank you so you know we are all familiar with apostles and prophets and teachers miracles and gifts of healing but notice the next two there is helps and administration helps and administration so in the church god has put this helps administration so nobody can say now so help is basically somebody who helps in anything now you can have helpers helping the church just getting something done you know if they're doing the media that's helping they're doing the sound that's helping if they are you know handling communications replying to the email that's helping if they are you know answering the phone that's helping whatever you know you could have highly skilled helpers or general helpers or whatever so he said there are help and administration but notice it is god has appointed this in the church in the church god has called the people to be helpers and administrators now today if somebody says oh the church would not have administration excuse me right here in verse 28 it says god has put people to be helpers and administrators so you can't take administration out of the church you can't take the moment you have administration obviously it means that it's organization it means there's a structure it means there are systems and processes it means there's leadership there's teams there is activity all these things the moment that I helps in administration all these come in right so nobody can say administration is not of god organization is not of god because right here god has appointed people to be helpers and administrators in the church okay so I hope you are following me so far is it okay you with me any questions before we go for break Trigmar go ahead please I'm sorry just wanted to know from the uh from the of Corinthians 28 that now here he mentions that god has said some of the church for the postal second prophet and church teachers so these are actually the offices or the of what you call five about the five-fold ministry system so now I just want to know that why he mentioned the gift of healing and the diversity of things connected with this I can understand government can be also be a part of you know but also he mentioned miracles gift of healing and so I just want to know that yeah thank you very very good question very I think a very perceptive question the answer is the context what are we talking about in first Corinthians 12 the context is the functioning of the body so his focus in writing at this point while he's writing first Corinthians 12 is talking about the body and he's saying there are different members and they're doing different function so he is not demarcating offices and gifts but he's bringing them together like a mashup of this is how the body works so that's why verse 28 first Corinthians 12 28 is not a demarcation of here are the five offices here are the nine gifts and here are the believer's gift it's not a demarcation of that but it's a mashup meaning in the body you're going to have people doing all kinds of things so verse 28 is a mashup of various functions and activities and operations like he mentioned first Corinthians 12 6 7 8 he says there are diversity with operations there are diversities of ministries and there are diversities of gifts so verse 28 is like okay you know here are just here's an assortment of you know functions or offices and gifts and activities of functions taking place so he mentions certain things that we would call as offices apostle profit teacher evanches gifts of he then he mentions what we would refer to as gifts of the spirit gifts of healings workings of miracles diversities of tongues and then he mentions certain things that we would call as believers gift help administration it's a mashup of these things meaning to say that in the body say all of these things are operating yeah good good question all right so what we'll do is really go for a quick break welcome back and I will try to make the course exciting okay I don't know everybody's really quiet I hope you enjoy ministry administration and organization it is exciting but it's also very very challenging okay let's take a break we'll come back in 10 minutes and continue


Hey there, I started this video with the intention of just announcing this new project of ours, but then it transformed into something so much bigger. You see, this is a very important video, and if you've ever connected with spirit science in the past, please take a few minutes to watch it. So first, some context. A few weeks ago, we published something called the 7-Day Transformation. This is a really special online course we created designed to support you in creating a major shift in your life. But right after we published it, the whole world went into lockdown from COVID-19. So I know how crazy everything just became. There's a great disruption happening right now, and things are only going to get more intense. When the coronavirus wave is over, this is only just the beginning. Economically speaking, this event is shifting the landscape so much that it doesn't appear like we are ever going to return to the way that things were. There is only moving forward. And how are we going to restructure society and shift throughout the rest of the year and into the future? We have to be prepared for these changes. This is the beginning of a massive shift for all of us. A massive change for society. As many businesses shut down and people lose their jobs, many social systems will have to be recreated anew, ideally more in alignment with the whole planet. Life will never be the same, not for any of us. Now are we going to be okay? Absolutely, and it's important to know that. But economically speaking, right now everything is destabilizing. These are times of great trials and tribulations for all of us, as we are offered this collective opportunity to cultivate new awareness, self-discovery, and evolution for all of us. With all of the people who are beginning to find themselves without a job, or potentially so soon, this is an especially critical time as we move through the coronavirus apocalypse. It's important to remember that as we go through all of the chaos that is unraveling right now, we always look to the light. Now is the time for us to really embody the light within us, to use this opportunity for self-reflection, to grow, to change, and to step into the reality that we want to create. In this way, losing our jobs can actually become an opportunity to live the life of our dreams, instead of railing against and fearing the fading of a dying world. I know that right now a lot of people are staying at home, wondering about what the future will hold, and there's a lot of fear and anxiety around what's happening. Yet it doesn't take much to shift our mindset from fear and scarcity into looking for ways to shift ourselves and create a better reality for everyone. We are living in exceptional times, a very important moment for humanity that will forever steer the course of history. What we do with the moments we have in life right now are very important. What's going to happen if we go through this period and don't do anything, if we let the opportunity pass us by and don't learn the lessons that are presented before us? If nothing changes within, nothing will change in the world. We will continue to see the same recurring problems and circumstances that we've always had, and I think it's time we set our sights upon something bigger, a bright and vibrant world for all of us to live in together, to thrive together in harmony with the planet. And if all of us were to share this vision, it wouldn't be hard to make it happen. And if you are someone who feels this message, if you want to step into something entirely new in life and to use this great period of time as a springboard to create massive change, then please allow me a moment to share this project with you that can help you to go higher and farther than you ever imagined. The basic idea is that we generally always look at the chakras from the bottom up, starting with the root, and then build up the energy until we reach this higher awareness. But this is only half of the equation. So what the seven-day transformation does is that we flip the system on its head and start at the crown, and over the course of the week, we descend, taking all of our higher awareness and bringing it down into your physical body, grounding it in and making it real in your life. The results are real and powerful. Here's what we've seen over the past few weeks. This seven-day transformation came at the right time in my life. With everything going on, I feel very blessed, and like now is the right time to raise my awareness and consciousness, something I've been trying to do as much as possible the last few years of my life. It seems as though the universe has presented me with the right opportunity to really explore my life and dive deep into who I am, what I really want, my problems and struggles, the obstacles in my path, how to overcome them, and how to step into a new life of pure awesomeness with no judgment or distractions blocking my path. Thank you, and thank you to the universe for everything that is happening in my life today. Love and light. The seven-day transformation exercises were an eye-opener for me. I learned about me, what I want, what was holding me back, and how to achieve what I want. I am much clearer in my thoughts now. I have even connected to my authentic self by realizing and connecting my passions from when I was a kid to what I want now. I'm on the right path. Thanks for putting this clear and concise project together. This was not the first step in my journey, but I feel like it was a very important one. The timing was perfect, obviously, and I'm really glad that I did this. I learned so much this week and filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge about spirit, ancient teachings, and myself. I really don't know what the future holds for me, but I feel like I have more tools and resources thanks to this course than ever before. I just wanted to thank you for putting together this course in a way that made it so effective for the continuation of my transformation. I put my faith and money on the line and was rewarded with an experience that allowed me to grow more than I ever have before. That's going to make it easier to trust the universe and my intuition as my life unfolds. The value of that gift to me is immeasurable. Love and light. So if you are someone who is looking for something new to raise your vibration or you want to push the limits, become an instrument of transformation and harmonious change for yourself and everyone around you, please come and experience the seven-day transformation. Be blessed. Thank you.


The Great Wall of China is the longest structure ever built. It was built to protect one of the Chinese kingdoms. Much of what exists of the wall today was built during the Ming dynasty in the late 1400s, although some parts of the wall are much older. The wall is about 11 meters high, and a stone roadway runs along the top of it. The main part of the wall stretches for about 3,400 kilometers.


Hey guys, this week in the rundown, the Navy's child care program has extended its hours. We're looking at the Bay of Conference that just took place in Philadelphia and the Olmstead Scholars Program is accepting applications for those interested in foreign language. Child care programs throughout the DOD are scheduled to be increased to 14 hours a day. The hours have been extended to better accommodate work and educational schedules, time spent for physical fitness, deployment schedules, and other family needs. Beginning in April 2016, we are beginning a phased rollout to increase the hours of our child development centers by one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. Currently, hours are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., but as the plan goes into effect, new hours will be from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., which will match the opening and closing times in our before, after school, and summer day camp programs offered at our youth centers. Our plan is to have these extended hours available to all our installations by early 2017. For more about the change, you can read the story on Navy Live or you can visit www.militarychildcare.com. This past weekend, CNP attended the Black Engineer of the Year Award, or Bay of Conference in Philadelphia. The annual STEM conference, STEM for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, brings together students from around the country to train and network with employees, service members, and professionals in their prospective fields. Each year, service members from each branch are recognized for their academic achievements and contributions as leaders and mentors within the STEM community. Our very own MPT&E, Fleet Master Chief Beldo, was recognized as the Senior Enlisted Award winner. For more information on BAYA, or to see the list of winners, you can visit www.baya.org. Finally, if you're interested in foreign language, applications are being accepted for the Fiscal Year 18 OMSCA Scholars Program. The program gives officers the chance to receive two years of graduate studies of a foreign language at a foreign university. In addition, those selected will be provided cultural and overseas travel opportunities. Twelve sailors will be selected for the program in March 2017 and are expected to complete their study in 2020. Applicants must turn in their package with a command endorsement and detailer statement no later than August 26, so be sure to get those in. To read all the details and to see if you're eligible, check out NavAdmin 034-16 on NPC's web page. Well, that's all for this week. For any questions, send us a message at usnpeople at gmail.com. For the Chief Enable Personnel, I'm MC2 L.J. Burleson. Thanks for watching.