Legacy of Giving: Educating Future Leaders
By Christie House and Tom Farley
By 1900, Norman Waite "N.W." Harris had become a successful banker and a philanthropist to organizations that supported his worldview as a Methodist. Among the Chicago-area Methodist organizations N.W. championed was the Chicago branch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church (WFMS) and the Chicago Training School. Through the WFMS he learned of the need for a Bible training school in the Philippines.
In 1903, N.W. made a gift to support local efforts to sustain this educational work in the Philippines, which in 1906 was named Harris Memorial Bible Training School in honor of its benefactor. More than 100 years later, Harris Memorial College, as it is now known, remains dedicated to its mission to "develop Christ-like leaders through holistic education for the transformation of the world."
Tom Harris, N.W.'s great-great-grandson, invited current Harris Memorial College President Cristina Manabat, Ph.D., to make a presentation to the family in Chicago in November 2018. The family continues N.W.'s legacy by contributing to the college to support the training of a new generation of leaders.
Dr. Manabat was born and raised in the Philippines. She received a Crusade Scholarship from Global Ministries to attend Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, in Evanston, Illinois, outside of Chicago. She received a Master of Christian Education in 1990 and returned in 2007 for a Ph.D. in Christian Education and Congregational Studies.
Have you been inspired by a Global Ministries or United Methodist Committee on Relief program to leave a legacy of hope? Your planned gift today may return benefits for the next 100 years!
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