28 Jan On This Day in UB History: January 28

On January 28, 1952, Bumpe Bible Institute opened as the place to train United Brethren ministers in Sierra Leone. The initial class had 12 students.

Two months before, Rev. M.E. and Francis Burkett arrived on the field with sons David and Stephen. At that point, land had been cleared and construction begun on a two-room school. The Burketts took up residence in a thatch-roof house in Bumpe.

Rev. Burkett served as principal of the school, and taught alongside two Sierra Leonean ministers. The next year, they were joined by Bernadine Hoffman, who had previously served two terms in Sierra Leone. During the second and third years, dormitories and dining rooms were added to the campus.

Bumpe Bible Institute was short-lived. In 1964, we joined with three other denominations–Missionary Church, Wesleyan Church, and Wesleyan Methodist–to start Sierra Leone Bible College (now Evangelical College of Theology). On the vacated land of Bumpe Bible Institute, we built the current Bumpe High School.