Missions Partners: The Expositor's Academy

(I'm starting a weekly "Missions Study & Prayer Group" (future catchy title to follow), and part of that is orienting them with the church's current missionary partners. Hence the "Missions Partners" series.)

Over the last several years, Higher Rock has been partnering more and more with The Expositor's Academy (TEA) and its missionaries. We've hosted their events on several occasions, and benefited from their training modules. They and their associates from the US have preached in our services many times.

Why are we partnered with TEA? How is it serving the churches in the Philippines? How did it start, and where is it headed?

The Ransoms

In July 2004, pastor Sean Ransom and his wife, Jessica, began their mission to the Philippines after graduating from The Master's Seminary (TMS) and 7 years of preparation.

The Ransoms attended Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF), and Sean started building relationships with other churches in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon. (In his first year, he became friends with another pastor that Higher Rock supports, Roger Alcantara. At the time, Ptr. Roger was shepherding a church in Batangas.)

By 2006, Sean was ministering among the shanties under Manalo Bridge, Pasig. People were saved, and a church was planted there. He also saw a need to train Filipino pastors and leaders.

Now my focus in coming to The Philippines is to train national pastors and lay ministers to intentionally do church planting, which is a ministry I had planned to start in the future, after completing my formal language classes. However, the Holy Spirit drives me to share with all people at all times the good news that Jesus Christ wants to save those who are lost in sin, even those living under bridges. So... I began visiting these families a few times every week. (The Ransom Note, Nov 2006)

Throughout this time, he facilitated short-term missions (STM) for those affiliated with TMS and like-minded churches in California.

In 2007, Ptr. Sean was given permission by The Master's Academy International (a seminary planting movement affiliated with TMS) to establish a TMAI training center in the Philippines. The fledgling institution was formally recognized the following year.

Our school in The Philippines will be the seventeenth TMAI school around the world. As a TMAI school, we have access to resources from The Master’s Seminary, Grace Community Church ("Grace Church"), and other TMAI training centers. We also have instant credibility from the Filipino pastors who have respect for John MacArthur, Grace to You, and The Masters Seminary. (TRN, Summer 2008)

Because there was already a school called the "The Master's Academy", Sean decided to adopt the name The Expositor's Academy.

Around this time, the Ransoms formally joined Grace Ministries International (GMI, the missions agency of Grace Community Church). Sean also began taking a modular course to obtain a Doctor in Ministry (D.Min.) degree from Talbot Seminary.

In partnership with GCF and the PETRA Foundation, Sean started hosting annual conferences for pastors. The third such conference ministered to more than 650 delegates.

The goal was to bless the delegates in both spiritual and physical ways. ... By the end of it, more than 650 ministers enjoyed three days of hearing God’s Word being preached, break out sessions on various topics such as expository preaching, local church ministry, conflict resolution, missions, ministry to the poor, and three sessions for women taught by my wife Jessica. I taught on preaching and interpreting the Bible to a few hundred ministers and will follow up the conference with two 14-week classes on those topics. Jessica will do a follow up class for mothers using Tedd Tripp’s book, “Shepherding a Child’s Heart.” We were also joined by TMS graduate Roger Ng who spoke on preaching, leadership, local church ministry and missions. (TRN, Summer 2009)

The TEA Team Grows

Since it's inception in 2008, the Lord has brought more committed workers into TEA to enhance its capabilities.

In 2009 Allan Luciano and his wife, Sandi, from Grace Church visited the Philippines to see whether God was calling them to serve here. Allan was then a graduating student in TMS.

Praise the Lord, just a few days into the trip they already knew that this is where God was calling them to and what He has prepared them for. They have returned to California so that Allan can finish his last semester at the Master's Seminary, Sandi can complete her work at the Master's College for her Master's in Biblical Counseling, and to raise support so that they can move here and join our team in establishing a Master's Academy associate training center that will focus on expository preaching. (TRN, Jan/Feb 2009)

That same year, Pastor Vincent Greene and his wife, Kim, were also praying about serving in the Philippines. Vincent was a graduate of TMS and was currently working on his doctorate. After spending a month with the Ransoms, the Greenes decided that the Philippines would be their new field of ministry.

As the Ransoms were waiting for these future partners to arrive, TEA continued to grow. Its first batch of students graduated from its Biblical Studies course in June 2012.

As the posts of our students began to emerge on Facebook, I was reminded that this ministry is not just important to me, but it is also important to the 23 men and 2 women who graduated as well as to the churches they serve. Over the years, I watched many of them grow in their convictions for the authority and sufficiency of God's Word.  I saw their regard for God's Word increase and their resolve to accurately proclaim what it says.  I saw them develop a biblical world view and a biblical philosophy of ministry; concepts that were foreign to many of them before they began their studies with T.E.A. (TRN, Nov 2012)

Pastor Vincent was present at the ceremony and delivered the commencement message.

From late 2013-2014, the Ransoms finally received reinforcements. After more than four years of preparation, Vincent, Kim and their five kids arrived in Manila in January 2014. The Lucianos also came. Another missionary couple, Casey and Mary (not their real names) also joined the TEA team. This was very timely because the Ransoms needed to return to the US for several months in 2014 in order to raise more financial support.

In Mid-2015, Jessica was also able to earn a master's degree in Biblical Counseling from The Master's College (now The Master's University).

The following year, the team launched a second course more specifically targeted for full-time pastors: the Preaching and Pastoral Ministry Program. Pastor Tim Carns from Calvary Bible Church, California, came on board with TEA as an adjunct professor. With the support of his church, he has been flying to the Philippines at least once a year to handle part of the courses being held in Manila, Baguio, Cebu, Davao, and elsewhere.

The team suffered a setback when Casey and Mary (then members of Higher Rock) began creating dissension both in TEA and HRCC. After a tumultuous period of many months, it became clear that the missionary couple were unfit for ministry. They were removed from both TEA and HRCC, and were eventually dismissed even by GMI and Grace Church.

Despite Casey and Mary's dismissal (or maybe because of it), TEA continued to grow. Several of its graduates began to contribute to the ministry. Most notably, beginning in 2012, pastor Erwin Quimboy of GCF East frequently taught in TEA's training modules, which were now being held in several provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Other pastors, Eduard Pamplona and Dexter Chua, also assisted on a number of occasions thru the student internship program.

The Lord also blessed the TEA team with four replacements for the two they had lost. Keith and Linda Ebrahim joined the team in late 2017, while Dave and Gina Urs (not their real names) came in May 2018. Since then, the Urs have taken responsibility for TEA's ministry in Mindanao.

Now with the Urs there, we can offer both weekly and daily classes, and expand our reach to other areas in the South. We are blessed to see that Lord continues to open doors and professor Urs is wasting no time in getting started. (TRN, Jun/Jul 2018)

Partnering with CCM Churches

In October 2013, the TEA team started conducting classes in Soli Deo Gloria Church (SDG) in Davao.

[Pastor Jurem Ramos and the SDG elders] invited me to come alongside of them to help strengthen them and their church.  In addition to their hunger for growing spiritually and training their members to do the same, they have caught the vision to help train pastors and church workers in other churches as well. ... They have a high view of Scripture and a serious commitment to an expository ministry, including preaching, leadership, discipleship and membership that is refreshing and exciting.  I can't wait to see what the Lord will do through this church and TEA's partnership with them. (TRN blog, Sep/Oct 2013)

Since then, SDG has been TEA's home in Mindanao.

By 2016 TEA was also conducting classes in Living Word (LW), Cebu. After three years, in September 2018, eight of the church's pastors graduated from the Preaching Program and a new batch of 41 men began the same program.

Meanwhile, Higher Rock opened its doors to TEA. It has hosted the TMAI Regional Summit since 2016. While in the country for the summit in October that year, TMAI President Mark Tatlock also conducted a seminar with Higher Rock Conferences entitled "The Christian and the Work Place". Since then, the church has made its sanctuary available for TEA's events like The Expositor's Fellowship (meetings to encourage alumni and recruit new students).

Future Plans

Now with the Ransoms, Greenes, Lucianos, Ebrahims, and Urs working together, TEA's future plans of establishing a formal Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) seem to be increasingly tangible.

The team has also decided to support one of their graduates and his wife as they pursue a seminary education in TMS. Should the Lord bless these plans, the couple will return after graduation to the Philippines and will serve with TEA.

Meanwhile, Sean and Tim have started to expand TEA's reach to include other Southeast Asian countries. 

Even before I moved to the Philippines 14 years ago, it was on my heart to not only establish a seminary in the Philippines, but also to help establish high quality biblical training throughout the 1040 window in Asia. (TRN, Oct/Nov 2018)

In October 2018, the two men accompanied a short-term mission team from SDG to serve poorly trained pastors in Cambodia and to assess the potential of a future ministry in that country.

After meeting with several Cambodian pastors and some missionaries... I am envision mobilizing The Expositor's Academy, local churches in the Philippines, graduates of The Master's Seminary and other members of TMAIs to partner together to develop a church planting movement there. This would include working with church planters to train their members to evangelize and make disciples. Then to help develop men and women to serve in those churches, followed by developing leaders with biblical knowledge, biblical character, and biblical ministry skills and practice. (TRN, Oct/Nov 2018)

Pastor Allan is currently pursuing a Th.M./Ph.D through a modular course.

A sixth family, the Stephensons, are now praying about joining the team.

TEA Promo for Steve Lawson Conference (2017)