ABOUT IBC

Founded in 1958 as Southwestern School of Missions, IBC is located in north-central Arizona, close to the largest Native American reservation in the United States. The school changed its name to Indian Bible College in 1985, then Indigenous Bible College in 2025. Over the course of our history, we have seen over 220 graduates of the school from nearly 60 Native American and Canada First Nations tribes, many of whom are still faithfully serving the Lord.
Training at Indigenous Bible College will enable you to become a stronger believer and change the legacy of many Native Americans who desperately need a message of hope. Changing that legacy first means changing your mind to be more like Christ. That transformation mentioned by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12 is central to becoming a leader of legacy change for 21st century Native America. It is also central to the hopes and prayers of the staff at IBC. Once your mind is more like Christ’s, you will be better situated to make a difference for many Native people who feel despair and hopelessness about their life situation. Due to this reality the central goal of the Indigenous Bible College is to help disciple you into Christlikeness; we are not after “filled heads” but “changed lives.”
IBC is unique in that it is one of a few institutions that has as its central mission the training of Native Americans for Christian leadership. This uniqueness is shown in the sensitivity of the staff in understanding the distinctive needs of Native students. Our goal is “a high standard with a unique application of grace.” We are also constantly evaluating our curriculum in hopes of making it better for our students. Adjusting to the wide range of experience and cultural uniqueness of our students makes this quite a challenge. However, the centrality of Christ as the unifier of all cultures in the church makes this an endeavor that is worth the effort. IBC is committed to students. Our desire is to see you become all God wants you to be.