About ITEN
MISSION, VISION, & VALUES
ITEN is the leadership development arm of World Outreach of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. We embrace World Outreach mission, vision and values. The following statements provide further definition to ITEN’s ministry.
MISSION
To provide partnership for theological education and leadership development
among those with least access to the gospel.
VISION
To see church leaders among least-access peoples formed theologically and resourced to train others.
VALUES
- ITEN prioritizes peoples and places where Christ is unknown or misunderstood.
- ITEN commits to theological training as a means of discipleship. Knowing God and ourselves is key to growth in servant-leadership.
- ITEN is contextual, trusting that Christ followers in a given location can know and live the truth through Spirit-led study of the Scripture.
- ITEN collaborates with indigenous leaders, responding to their initiative, assisting them to strengthen their own capacity to teach and train.
- ITEN is a collegial community that values lifelong learning. We recognize that to be effective teachers, we must first be learners.
- ITEN sees the scriptural story culminating in Jesus as the mission of God. It is the foundation for spiritual formation and leadership development.
- ITEN seeks partnership and collaboration with like-minded evangelical and reformed training movements.
- ITEN is holistic in its approach to forming servant-leaders. Learning to know, to do, to be and to live together are integral aspects of discipleship.
- ITEN pursues excellence, discerning and following best practices in theological scholarship, pedagogy and leadership development.
- ITEN loves the Church. The body of Christ, in all her diversity, carries on the ministry of Jesus in the world. We prioritize training pastoral leaders for the global church.
- ITEN seeks accountability. As servants of Christ we realize that our sinful inclinations can harm the people we love and serve. We seek correction in the fellowship of Jesus followers.
OUR TEAM
Rev. Bruce Anderson, Ph.D
Bruce Anderson serves as a Theological Specialist for ITEN. He is the founder of ITEN as well as founder and current president of the Institute for Reformation (IFR).
Bruce is an ordained Teaching Elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and served EPC churches as a pastor for sixteen years. From 2001-2004, he was Adjunct Instructor for the Regent University Graduate School of Education. He served two three-year terms on the EPC’s World Outreach Committee and also served as Chairman of the Missions Committee of the EPC’s Mid-Atlantic Presbytery. He holds degrees from the University of Iowa (BA, history), Regent University (MDiv, practical theology; MA, public policy), and Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford, UK/Middlesex University, London (PhD, historical theology). His doctoral thesis is ‘Reformed Political Theology in Early Modern Belarus and Lithuania: Andrzej Wolan’s De libertate (1572)’.
He has published several academic articles in Eastern Europe and his thesis is being prepared for publication in both English and Slavic languages. Since the 1990s, he has ministered and taught regularly in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America with his aim to train Christian leaders for service in society and national reformations.
He and his wife Ellie have four children, two of which are married, and five grandchildren. They live in Suffolk, Virginia.
Rev. Paul Branch, Ph.D
After eight years of pastoral and theological education ministry in Argentina, Paul, his wife Elizabeth and their two children moved to Guatemala where Paul joined the faculty of the Central American Theological Seminary (SETECA). Since 2011, Paul has served as professor of theology and theological education at the undergraduate and graduate levels and as Dean of the seminary from 2013 to 2015.
Since 2016, Paul has served as General Secretary of the Latin American Association of Evangelical Theological Education (AETAL). As an extension of the ministry of AETAL, Paul serves as facilitator and curriculum consultant for the Latin American GATE program (Global Associates for Transformational Education) and board member of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE). Paul co-wrote the ‘Standards and Guidelines for Online Evangelical Theological Education.’ Areas of interest include theological education, curriculum design, teaching and learning, academic administration, accreditation and online education.
Catherine Burns
Both she and her husband, Dan, helped to plant the first Reformed churches in their region of Central Asia, between 1993-2011, which resulted in the formation of a small presbytery. As they return in the near future, they are seeking to see 5-7 Biblical Training Centers develop in the region.
Rev. Dan Burns, Ph.D
Between 2011-2023, Dan served as the missions pastor of Second Presbyterian in Memphis, TN. They are returning to this region to come alongside their friends in further training and equipping of future church leaders. They are seeking to see 5-7 Biblical Training Centers develop throughout the region.
Dan completed his MDiv at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary prior to moving to Central Asia in 1993 and completed his PhD from Westminster while serving on the field. His Opening the Heart of Scriptures 4 volume series is published in Russian (ohs-books.org) and used by a number of local ministries.
Rev. Stephen Kelley
Stephen trains internationally specializing in discipleship and pastoral challenges facing believers from Muslim background.
In addition to teaching in several seminaries, he speaks regularly to audiences around the world assisting them to understand the joys and challenges of embracing Christ as a former Muslim. Stephen has directed ministries and consulted with mission agencies and Bible societies. He is a tireless advocate for gospel mission in the Muslim world. He has published his journey to faith in Jesus in From Cairo to Christ.
Mike Kuhn
Mike serves as the Director of ITEN.
He has lived twenty-eight years in four different countries: France, Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon. His ministry focus has been discipleship and leadership development in the Muslim context.
He previously served as the Professor of Biblical Theology and Discipleship at the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary (ABTS) in Beirut (2012-18). He continues to serve ABTS as an adjunct faculty member. He also served as an associate pastor for adult discipleship at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church (Knoxville, TN; 2007-12). He is an ordained teaching elder with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Mike holds a B.A. from Belhaven College (Jackson, MS), an M.A. from the American University in Cairo (Arabic Language and Literature), an M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Muslim-Christian Relations from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (Oxford, UK).
His publications include:
Fresh Vision for the Muslim World was written to assist Western Christians in understanding and responding to the Arab Muslim world in the post 9/11 environment.
Finding Hagar: God’s Pursuit of a Runaway is a Biblical examination of God’s grace-filled interaction with the mother of the Arab Peoples and her son, Ishmael.
God is One: A Christian Defense of the Trinity in the Muslim Golden Age is a research work demonstrating the historic contribution of Arab Christian theologians to the concept of divine unity as they defended their Trinitarian views against the charge of idolatry.
In Quest of the Rock: Peter’s Transformative Journey with Jesus is examining Jesus’ spiritual formation of Peter as we seek our own transformation.
You can find blog posts, articles, and sermons online at https://www.michaelfkuhn.com/.
Mike and Stephanie have 3 daughters, 3 sons-in-law and 7 grandchildren. They reside in Bellingham, WA.
Stephanie Kuhn, M.Ed
Stephanie serves as an Educational Consultant with ITEN. She served alongside her husband, Mike, for 28+ years in 4 countries: France, Morocco, Egypt and Lebanon. Her field experience around discipleship and training led her into areas of leadership in team development and training, mentoring, field member care, child protection and teaching English as a second language. She worked as an Educational Therapist for over 10 years in both the USA and overseas. She holds a Bachelors degree in Social Ministries, a Masters in Education: Curriculum and Instruction, and a certification in CELTA ( Certificate for English Language Teaching to Adults-Cambridge,UK).
Combining her educational background with her cross-cultural experience, Stephanie endeavors to consult on assessment and best practices for ITEN’s ministry going forward. She highly values collaboration, mutuality and reciprocity, especially as those relate to working with our national partners.
Stephanie and Mike have 3 daughters, 3 sons-in-law and 7 grandchildren. They reside in Bellingham, WA.
Rev. Ed McCallum, DMin.
Ed is an ordained Teaching Elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church serving as ITEN’s Associate for Site and Program Development with a focus in Southeast Asia since July 2017. This focus has facilitated the writing of theological curriculum in accessible English.
Prior to serving ITEN, he served for nineteen years as Assistant Stated Clerk of the General Assembly. In that role, Ed was a resource person to EPC presbyteries, churches, ministers, denominational committees, coordinated the annual national meetings of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and edited numerous denominational publications. Ed was the liaison between the EPC and Presbyterian Churches in Argentina while they grew to independence as a denomination. He also oversaw World Outreach for a season.
One of Ed’s special interests is affirming the small church, wherever she is found, in its missional thinking and practice. Before joining the staff of the General Assembly in 1998, Ed was the pastor of New Covenant Church in Tucson, Arizona. He served as Campus and Christian Education Coordinator of Mt. Pleasant Community Church (Michigan) and taught music in Michigan public schools.
He holds degrees from Central Michigan University (B.M. Ed. and M.M. in Education and Supervision) and from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.Div. and D.Min.).
Nan McCallum, M.Ed
Nan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education (Family and Consumer Sciences and Career/Technical Education) and has an endorsement in English as a Second Language. She taught in public schools in Illinois, Arizona, and Michigan. Following her retirement, she served as the short-term mission coordinator at Trinity Church (EPC) in Plymouth, Michigan; taught English as a Second Language; and coordinated multiple Perspectives on the World Christian Movement classes. She loves to provide hospitality and actively cultivates friendships with international women and refugee families.
Ed and Nan, married almost 50 years, live in Phoenix, Arizona near their sons/daughters in law and grandchildren. Her ministry with ITEN grew out of her commitment to global missions made at the 1973 Urbana Missionary Conference and the Perspective Course.