Accreditation for ACC- the 4F Update

Dear Friends across the World,

Well, here it is. Four plus years in the works, hundreds of hours, thousands of dollars, and thousands of sheets of documentation all come to a final decision this week. Our Exec. Vice President, Jeff Siemers, and I agreed, “In our history we have had three significant prayer times and the need for God’s people to bring something crucial to the ministry in prayer. The first was our opening the college (5 days after 9/11), then the lawsuit against the Dept. of Education, and now, the accreditation decision.

To bring you all up to speed- we stand before the commission on accreditation at the Association for Biblical Higher Education this Wed. at 130pm EST to hear our defense on why ACC should become a candidate institution with ABHE. This is the “probationary” test to see if we should receive full accreditation in three-four more years from now after more scrutiny.  We will find out the final answer this Friday, Feb. 22 while we are at their annual conference. If God should provide for ACC in this way, we may be able to begin receiving all the privileges that come with being fully accredited next fall. This means transfer of credit, acknowledgement that we have been approved by the US Dept of Ed as an candidacy accredited institution, and our students can begin to receive state and federal financial aid, not currently available to them.

For each of these reasons and more, we seek your earnest prayers and calling out to God for the right decision to made for ACC and its future. If you are led to fast, please join many of us.  If you would like to hear the outcome, stay tuned for an email coming from me after we hear the decision. It will be a short email- I hope you will join us in celebrating a positive outcome. Now, for a short 4F Update:

Freshmen- While it is getting lighter a little each day and we saw our first caterpillar today, it is a high time of depression in AK where most suicides occur as it becomes Spring. Pray for our students who struggle with depression and pain regarding things that happen back in their villages. There have been many deaths, suicides, and struggles as students receive this kind of news from home. Praise God for one student who led her sister over the phone in Hooper Bay to invite Christ into her life. How exciting!

Facility- Last call for summer work teams!  We have a few weeks remaining to join other teams from around the US to assist us in eight projects we are working on to remodel buildings, paint, fix up, and spruce up our already beautiful campus.  Pray for groups that are raising funds to come and join us and for the funds to purchase needed supplies.

Faculty- We are making decisions this month as to how to fill some openings in our staff due to some finishing their time with us and other new openings to meet the demand of a possible probationary accredited institution :)  Many have come to us to fill our needs in the past and we trust that for the near future.  Some are raising support and are actively preparing to join us this year. Join us in seeking how you can help!

Finances- Thanks to almost 50 churches participating in this year’s Christmas Tree Scholarship Program, we were able to give out almost $50,000 in aid to many students who have this as their only means of partially supporting their college expenses.  We have the goal of 75 churches for Christmas ‘08 and increasing our funding as well. Please join us in adding your church to this incredibly relational way to connect with our students.

So, we wait. We trust God in all things. We have seen His hand do amazing things. We call upon our partners to again join us earnestly to pray for ACC.

Together serving Alaskans,

Dr. Keith J. Hamilton
President, Alaska Christian 35109 Royal Pl.
Soldotna, AK 99669
(O) 907-260-7422 x 101
(F) 907-260-6722
KJHamilton@aol.com

“Preparing Young People for Whole-Life Discipleship”