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Top News |
Men's Soccer Showcase March 8-9During the Soccer Showcase, students will have the opportunity to participate in a training session with other prospective players under the direction of our coaching staff, and seniors who plan to attend CIU also will be trying out to make the official roster. Learn more... First Intercollegiate Athlete Signs to Play for CIU Rams SoccerClick here to read the full story. 30 Days of Prayer for Rams AthleticsAs our hearts are focused on creating an athletics department which will glorify God, we desire that all at CIU are a part of the building of the program, starting with prayer. If you can or feel lead, please join us in prayer as we develop CIU Rams Athletics and dedicate our work to the Lord; asking for His guidance, direction and wisdom. For more information please email KAbbott@ciu.edu First Annual Discover CIU 5kFor the results from the First Annual Discover CIU 5k check out the Cross Country Page. |
History In The Making
We are embarking on one of the most exciting chapters in the history of CIU. For the first time in 89 years, CIU will field our first intercollegiate athletic teams in fall 2012. Why athletics at CIU? It fits with our purpose of educating people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ. Imagine the outreach that student-athletes and coaches can have both at home and abroad using the platform of athletics to share the good news of Jesus Christ
Our Sports
Fall 2012 marks the beginning of an aggressive five-year plan introducing intercollegiate athletics at CIU.
Our League
CIU will compete in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA), whose mission is to use athletic competition as an integral component of education, evangelism, and encouragement.
Our Mascot
The ram was chosen as the CIU mascot for its strength and its biblical significance. Not only are rams known as ferocious defenders of their territory and their flock, the ram is a symbol of God's provision - a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice on the cross.
Click here for more information on becoming a founding member of the CIU Rams Club!
Cheryl Guinther is the communications coordinator for the Alumni Ministries Office of Columbia International University. She serves alumni with genuine personal care and a professional approach developed over years as an executive administrative assistant and missionary. Cheryl worked over six years for a Christian financial management company providing client-care to seniors. As a missionary with Brethren in Christ World Missions in Zambia, Africa, Cheryl managed a mission guesthouse, served with a church team taking the “Jesus Film” to outlying villages, and started a “Reading Room” ministry to help street children return to school. For the last five years, she has been a mentor in the Missions Development Program for Brethren in Christ World Missions. Cheryl and her husband, Peter, moved to Columbia from Mechanicsburg, Penn. in August of 2010 so that Peter could complete his Master of Divinity degree at CIU. She enjoys reading, gardening, volunteering at a women’s shelter, and the close fellowship with her neighbors in the CIU Village.
Cheryl’s favorite Scripture verse is Romans 13:8.
Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
Robbie McAlister
Master of Divinity, 1994, Columbia International University
Doctor of Ministry, 2007, Columbia International University
Lead Pastor, Riverbend Community Church
Lexington, SC
A group of communist European nations was on my heart and in my mind. From where was this burden coming? I had never been to Europe before; I hadn’t even thought about going to Europe. So why was it suddenly consuming so much of my thoughts?
I soon realized that this burden was from the Lord. While I was a student at Columbia International University I began to pray for the Soviet Bloc, asking God to allow me to invest my life where there was great openness to the gospel but little opportunity to hear. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, I had the chance to take a short-term mission trip to Ukraine – a trip that I learned about through CIU. My heart for the world expanded through that trip and my studies at CIU. I came back to the United States and asked our church to pray about sending my family to serve as its first missionaries.
As I finished seminary, my family’s excitement for missions grew. Upon graduation, our church sent us to Ukraine as pioneer missionaries. What we originally planned to be two years in Ukraine quickly turned into 10 years of church planting, leadership development, and work with orphans and missionary kids. We witnessed the advance of God’s Kingdom as He allowed us to form eternal relationships with people like Andre, Viola, Sasha, and Zoiya who were indeed living in a part of the world with openness to the gospel but with few opportunities to hear it.
My vision and passion for missions were developed during my time at CIU, largely due to the influence of the faculty and staff. The school’s motto “To know Him and to make Him known” has become my personal motto as my family and I have returned to the United States, still faithful to fulfilling the Great Commission through our sending church. And it all started with a burden for a place I’d never been to located on the other side of the world!
Download a printable version of this Impact story here.
This graduate of Columbia International University is like 17,000 other alumni around the world making an impact every day. If you want an undergraduate, graduate or seminary education that equips you to make a real difference, we need to meet.