African Bible Colleges 
The information on this page was last updated 5/30/2023. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Raising up Christian changemakers to serve the nations of Africa.
Contact information
Mailing address:
African Bible Colleges
5343 Clinton Blvd
Jackson, MS 39209
Website: africanbiblecolleges.com
Phone: 601-922-1962
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 640592533
CEO/President: Dr. Paul D. Chinchen
Chairman: Thomas Kay Jr
Board size: 7
Founder: Dr. and Mrs. John W. Chinchen
Ruling year: 1977
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 06/30
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1987
Purpose
The various colleges of African Bible Colleges, Inc. are institutions of higher education in which Bible is central, and the development of Christian life and ministry essential. The curriculum at the college requires all students to enroll in essential Biblical Studies courses, as well as general studies course which help prepare the student for a wide spectrum of Christian service careers. An important component of the Bible college philosophy is the integration of a Biblical world view with both life and the learning experience. The overriding purpose of the curricula is to equip students for both ministry in the church and service to the world.
Mission statement
Statement of faith
THE BIBLE
The Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, the written record of His supernatural revelation of Himself to man, absolute in its authority, complete in its revelation, final in its content, and without error.
THE GODHEAD
God is One God, who reveals Himself in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 1. The Father: who is Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in all His attributes. 2. The Son, Jesus Christ: His deity, virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary atoning death, bodily resurrection, personal exaltation at God's right hand and personal return. 3. The Holy Spirit: who is a Divine Person, equal with the Father and the Son and of the same nature.
THE ESTATE OF MAN
The fall and lost estate of man, whose total depravity alienates him from God, makes necessary his salvation. 1. Man's salvation is only by grace, a free gift of God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Those who thus are moved by the Spirit of God to receive Christ by faith have their sins forgiven, their hearts cleansed, are born of the Spirit, become children of God and are made new Creatures in Christ. 2. Saved, man is assured of eternal blessedness. Lost, man is assured of everlasting punishment in hell.
THE CHURCH
The church is the bride of Christ. In its universal aspect, it comprises the whole body of those who have been born of the Spirit, and in its local expression it is established for worship, mutual edification, and witness.
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
If man is to fellowship with his Holy God, his Christian life must be holy. God in His grace has made this life available to man: 1. He has given him the Scriptures that he might see sin. 2. He has given him the Holy Spirit to convict of sin. 3. He has given His Son to pay the penalty of sin. 4. He has given him access to His throne of grace that he might confess his sin and be forgiven and cleansed. Christian living includes Christian service, the winning of souls and the preaching and teaching of the gospel in the uttermost parts of the earth in order to fulfill Christ's great commission. 1. In carrying on this work there is needed the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. 2. In all this service prayer is to have the central place.
THE CHRISTIAN HOPE
Jesus Christ will come again to earth the second time. We are to look for His soon coming, yea, to long for it, for He will come personally, bodily and visibly and with power and glory.
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Colleges/Universities
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 202 of 1104 | 18 of 129 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 15 of 1105 | 4 of 129 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 1010 of 1105 | 116 of 129 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 11 of 1104 | 1 of 129 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 10% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 9% | 13% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 2% | 5% | 4% | 4% | 8% | 10% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 22% | 94% | 86% | 89% | 88% | 75% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 2% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 7% | 10% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 78% | 6% | 14% | 11% | 12% | 25% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 84% | 71% | 81% | 79% | 80% | 82% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 96% | 96% | 80% | 85% | 119% | 100% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 78% | 68% | 65% | 67% | 96% | 82% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 4% | 4% | 20% | 15% | -19% | 0% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 5% | 6% | 29% | 27% | -48% | -1% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 13% | 24% | 14% | 16% | 13% | 9% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 0.51 | 1.24 | 1.04 | 1.30 | 2.21 | 1.78 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 2.64 | 25.30 | 9.97 | 3.89 | 21.88 | 1.00 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 1.40 | 31.45 | 10.34 | 5.07 | 48.42 | 1.78 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 8.60 | 1.84 | 5.75 | 13.14 | 1.05 | 55.58 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.12 | 0.54 | 0.17 | 0.08 | 0.95 | 0.02 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 7.34 | 0.17 | 0.96 | 2.19 | 0.01 | 6.62 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 24% | 18% | 10% | 18% | 26% | 16% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 11% | 8% | 8% | 16% | 22% | 14% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 151% | 66% | 87% | 63% | 33% | 47% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Cash | $98,310 | $289,509 | $539,375 | $75,455 | $153,778 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $12,195 | $12,195 | $5,213 | $0 | $382,648 |
| Short-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1,531,258 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $110,505 | $301,704 | $544,588 | $75,455 | $2,067,684 |
| Long-term investments | $2,341,254 | $2,359,082 | $1,232,504 | $1,232,068 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $335,205 | $345,793 | $342,815 | $343,730 | $0 |
| Other long-term assets | $8,394 | $2,500 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term assets | $2,684,853 | $2,707,375 | $1,575,319 | $1,575,798 | $0 |
| Total assets | $2,795,358 | $3,009,079 | $2,119,907 | $1,651,253 | $2,067,684 |
| Liabilities | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $60,189 | $52,510 | $41,455 | $71,851 | $37,203 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current liabilities | $60,189 | $52,510 | $41,455 | $71,851 | $37,203 |
| Debt | $236,658 | $249,495 | $336,815 | $362,812 | $285,771 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $200,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $436,658 | $249,495 | $336,815 | $362,812 | $285,771 |
| Total liabilities | $496,847 | $302,005 | $378,270 | $434,663 | $322,974 |
| Net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Without donor restrictions | $242,347 | $983,101 | $343,849 | $64,640 | $248,983 |
| With donor restrictions | $2,056,164 | $1,723,973 | $1,397,788 | $1,151,950 | $1,495,727 |
| Net assets | $2,298,511 | $2,707,074 | $1,741,637 | $1,216,590 | $1,744,710 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Total contributions | $3,402,335 | $3,352,552 | $2,873,104 | $2,704,382 | $2,752,119 |
| Program service revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $167,703 | $117,164 | $16,274 | $17,481 | $92,139 |
| Other revenue | $45,209 | $423,135 | $340,799 | $345,847 | $818,516 |
| Total other revenue | $212,912 | $540,299 | $357,073 | $363,328 | $910,655 |
| Total revenue | $3,615,247 | $3,892,851 | $3,230,177 | $3,067,710 | $3,662,774 |
| Expenses | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Program services | $2,457,741 | $2,530,938 | $2,174,324 | $2,940,845 | $3,013,396 |
| Management and general | $832,920 | $433,280 | $450,867 | $457,928 | $315,143 |
| Fundraising | $184,608 | $156,250 | $134,969 | $254,862 | $350,253 |
| Total expenses | $3,475,269 | $3,120,468 | $2,760,160 | $3,653,635 | $3,678,792 |
| Change in net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $139,978 | $772,383 | $470,017 | ($585,925) | ($16,018) |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $139,978 | $772,383 | $470,017 | ($585,925) | ($16,018) |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Paul Chinchen | President | $234,600 |
| Thomas Kay Jr | Vice President | $152,290 |
| Nell Chinchen | Co-Founder | $53,714 |
Compensation data as of: 6/30/2022
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 5/30/2023. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
The vision for Christian colleges in Africa began in the hearts of Dr. and Mrs. John W. Chinchen. After spending seven years training pastors in the interior of Liberia, the Chinchens realized the great need for a Bible College that would meet the educational and spiritual needs of the multitude of high school graduates emerging from an awakened Africa. In 1976, the vision became a reality when the Chinchens established Liberia's first four-year Bible College. The college was designed to hold the highest international university standards and meet the qualifications to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biblical Studies.
As the graduates in West Africa proved the value of quality Christian education, it became imperative that this same ministry be made available to other parts of Africa. Thus, in 1988, African Bible Colleges established a second institution 4,000 miles away in the East African country of Malawi. By November of that year three missionary families were on the ground in Lilongwe to begin work on the new college. The official ground breaking was on December 12, 1989 two weeks later the civil war began in Liberia.
ABC Liberia managed to stay open on and off during the early years of the war, but in 1992 the college was forced to close down completely for the next 16 years.
Seventeen years later, in 2005, the third African Bible College was opened in the equatorial country of Uganda. Then in November of 2008, after two years of clearing brush and the complete renovation of staff houses, dormitories, classrooms, offices and dinning hall the original Liberia campus was once again up and running.
Today African Bible Colleges has nearly 800 graduates serving in a wide spectrum of Christian ministries from program production at TransWorld Radio, orphan care with Children of the Nations, leadership positions at Campus Crusade (Life Ministries), and HIV ministries with World Relief, to planting churches in the former communist stronghold of Mozambique. ABC graduates are proving to be a key component in the evangelization and transformation of Africa.