How long does it take to graduate?

Because Wildfire students only study part-time, and because the courses are college level, it typically takes around eight to ten years to go through all the courses. If you are like most people, your jaw is probably in your lap at this point.

So while you fend off the flies buzzing around your open mouth, allow us to make a couple of observations here:

1. In a typical four-year program, a student goes through (for example) an excellent course on evangelism in the first year. In fact, it could be the world's best course on evangelism. But that training won't change anybody's life until a few years later when our student graduates. And in the meantime, that knowledge is already beginning to fade.

Compare that to Wildfire training. The student completes a single lesson, and is immediately sent out to put that knowledge to use in the real world. At the end of a week of applying the knowledge where it's needed most, he gets together with his classmates who have been doing the same thing. They all compare notes, learn from each other's mistakes and successes, and then head back out to touch more lives.

2. Ask yourself this: if you had to have neurosurgery, would you rather have the very knowledgeable doctor who's so fresh out of medical school that he is still covered in plastic wrap or the very experienced doctor who's still studying but has already done the operation a hundred times.

You see, just because a doctor has a piece of paper that says he's qualified doesn't mean you're going to let him anywhere near your head with a sharp knife. And just because a college graduate holds a gilt-edged piece of paper that says he knows the Bible backwards and forwards doesn't mean the Spirit of God is alive in his life; the only way you can tell is by the fruit his life bears. And that takes time.