OUR FOUNDERS
The Jerusalem Institute of Multicultural Studies was founded by Dr. Victor Khalil and Pastor Lisa Bourland in 2012 with an inaugural session held in January of 2014. Dr. Khalil and Pastor Bourland share the Father's heart for the Holy Lands and all those who dwell within it regardless of ethic background, gender, religous affiliation or language. In launching the Jerusalem Institute of Multicultural Studies, they envisioned being able to provide students from across the world with a unique opportunity to study and experience this delicate region through a faith lens - a view that is rarely represented in mainstream media. It is their great desire that students return to their home countries having participated in rich, multicultural experience that cultivates changed worldviews, the breaking down and/or prevention of barriers to love and understanding and deep appreciatation for our differences. Their prayer is that through this newfound understanding, students are equipped to serve the Kingdom as agents of positive change wherever they set their feet.
Dr. Victor Khalil
Dr. Victor Khalil has worked since 1970 among the peoples of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Born in Egypt, his expertise in Muslim ministry and in the languages and culture of the Middle East are combined with a passionate heart for the suffering church. He has followed God’s call to train leaders and workers for this field, to produce television, and other forms of media for evangelism and Biblical teaching in the context of Eastern culture, and to strengthen believers who suffer for their faith in the Arab world. His regular travels to the Middle East keeps him up-to-date with the changes taking place in the Muslim world.
He runs a satellite station media ministry that covers 220 million Arabic- speaking homes in the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and North America.
He was trained at the Middle East Theological Seminary in Beirut, the American University of Beirut, the Waterloo College in London, and he earned his Doctorate from the International Bible Institute and Seminary in Florida.
Dr. Khalil continues to train up the next generation leaders and has taught at William Tyndale College, the Defense Language Institute and Biola University.
Pastor Lisa Bourland
Pastor Lisa Bourland is the Co-Founder and Director of The Father’s House International with established ministries in Guatemala, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, India and Bethlehem. She also serves as the Senior Pastor of The Father’s House Church in Henderson, Kentucky. After twenty years as a successful real estate broker, Pastor Lisa was called into ministry in 2003 following a life-changing experience in Eastern Africa. Since that time doors have not only opened for her to reach out to what the world would consider the “least of the least” throughout numerous countries, but also to work directly with heads of state and government entities, especially in countries where unification remains challenging. Pastor Lisa served as the instigator and point person in the creation of the Africa Centre of Law and Justice. She is ordained through the Atlanta Revival Center and the International Congress of Churches and Ministers, and serves as an Elder in the Kingdom International Nations of Christ.
