Bethany College of Missions, or BCOM, is a non-accredited private evangelical Christian college that has been training missionaries since 1949. Bethany College of Missions offers a Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Studies, an Associate of Arts in Global Christian Ministry, and a one-year Certificate in Bible and Missions, with learning taking place on the Bloomington, Minnesota campus and around the world through the Global Internship program. Bethany was originally founded by a core group of five families. Beginning in 1945 these young Christians sold their homes, pooled their resources, and started a Christian community known as Bethany Fellowship, with a focus on teaching the biblical message of salvation and redemption through Jesus Christ and the biblical mandate of taking that message to all the world. By 1946 Bethany outgrew its 30 room house in Minneapolis and moved to a 62 acres (250,000 m) farm in the then-undeveloped area of south Bloomington, Minnesota, near the Minnesota River. With cross-cultural missions in mind, they began BCOM with a freshman class of 10 students in 1948.