Christian Schools International jobs are, for the most part, North American jobs. CSI is a Grand Rapids, Michigan membership body serving schools in the United States and Canada — the word 'International' sits in its name rather than on its job board. The overseas posts most people are actually searching for belong to a differently named organisation and to the school networks themselves.
The confusion is built into the query. Two bodies own the first page of results, their names differ by three words, and they don't run the same board or cover the same continents. Sorting that out is the whole first step, and no page ranking for the phrase does it for you.
Below: which board carries what, where the Asian schools actually are, what the faith requirement looks like as paperwork, and the part of the package that isn't in the salary line. Requirements and fees as published on 17 August 2026.
Two organisations, one phrase
Christian Schools International is based at 99 Monroe Avenue NW in Grand Rapids, and what it sells tells you the geography: accreditation, curriculum, leadership training, a US 403(b) retirement plan and a separate Canadian employee benefits arm. Its job board states that members post free and 'non-members can purchase postings online for $99 each'. A school pays that in US dollars because the schools paying it are in North America.
The Association of Christian Schools International is a different organisation, headquartered in Colorado Springs. It accredits schools and certifies teachers worldwide, and its careers board files vacancies by country — which is where postings from schools in Japan, Korea and the rest of the region sit.
So the practical answer is short. If you want a classroom in Asia, use the board with the country filter. The other one isn't hiding the international roles; it doesn't have them.
Where the Asian schools actually are
The largest network is the Network of International Christian Schools, which started with missionary children in Korea needing a school and now lists 14 schools across 12 countries on its own site. Its Asian ones cluster tightly.
- South Korea — Yongsan International School of Seoul, and International Christian School campuses at Uijeongbu and Pyeongtaek
- Singapore — International Community School
- Indonesia — Bandung Alliance Intercultural School
- Malaysia — Oasis International School, Kuala Lumpur
- Beyond the network: independent Christian international schools across Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong, which is where the ACSI board's country listings mostly point
Mainland China is the conspicuous absence from that list, and it stays absent when you widen the search to the independents. Whatever your search returns for the phrase, the schools doing this hiring are concentrated in Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Set that against the board here — 1,240 live roles on an average day across 10 countries, six of which account for about 88% of listings — and faith-based international school work is a narrow corner of the market rather than a parallel version of it.
The faith requirement is a document, not a question
This is the part the ranking pages skip, and it's the part that decides applications. The requirement isn't a conversation in the interview. It arrives as paperwork, and it comes in three shapes.
- A statement of faith — one you sign, or one you write, covering what you believe about core doctrine
- A pastoral reference — Gyeonggi Suwon International School asks for a pastoral reference form alongside the professional referees, submitted with the rest of the application
- A line in the person specification — Yongsan International School of Seoul asks for 'commitment to growing in the Christian faith and active engagement in the discipleship of students'; Suwon says it hires 'committed, practicing Christians'
All three are published on the school's own employment page, which makes this the rare requirement you can check before spending an evening on an application. It is also a hard filter rather than a preference — a strong CV does not move it in either direction.
The document that decides your start date, though, is none of those. It's the criminal record check, and the apostille on it runs 12–21 days, median 16. Order it the week you start applying rather than the week you're offered: most people run the two in sequence and lose a month they didn't need to lose. The limit on that advice is that checks expire, and several consulates won't accept one older than six months — so start early, not a year early.
The licence gate, and where ACSI certification counts
The gate is a teaching licence, the same one every international school applies, and it is not the gate most of this board runs on. NICS puts it plainly on its recruiting site: 'You must be a certified teacher, but we do not require a special international certification. Some schools require state certification, while others will also accept ACSI certification.'
Individual schools add experience on top. Yongsan asks for 'a valid bachelor's degree along with current educator's certification/licensure from an accredited university/college' and 'at least two years of successful and relevant teaching experience in a Western or international school setting'. Suwon prefers a graduate degree and asks for two years as well.
- A bachelor's degree in any subject: required by 81% of listings on this board
- An accredited 120-hour TEFL or equivalent: 64%
- Prior classroom experience of any length: 29%
- A CELTA specifically: 8%
A 120-hour TEFL is not a teaching licence and no quantity of it becomes one. The useful detail in the NICS wording is the second route: ACSI issues its own teaching certificates, and ACSI East Asia runs a regional programme, so it's the one credential on this list you can work towards while already employed at a school that accepts it. Schools of this kind also recruit heavily through the agency fair circuit, which applies the same licence-plus-two-years test at registration.
Salaried, but you may be asked to raise support
These are paid jobs, not missionary postings — and the line between the two is thinner than the adverts suggest. The NICS site says all its schools pay a salary, that 'some teachers find it necessary to raise supplemental support', and that while support raising is optional for all staff, 'a few of our schools also require the raising of some support'.
That is a real difference from a hagwon or a training centre contract, and it belongs in the first email rather than the third. Ask whether support raising is optional or required at that specific school before you ask about anything else, because the answer changes what the salary figure means.
The rest of the package moves the number further. Two teachers compared offers in the same tier-2 Chinese city: one at ¥21,000 a month with no housing, the other at ¥16,500 with an apartment provided and utilities capped. On paper the first was ¥4,500 better. After rent the second was saving about ¥3,200 more a month, and hadn't spent a fortnight flat-hunting in a city she had never visited. Housing appears as a stamp on 63% of listings here and a flight allowance on 41%; our guide to what an international school housing package is worth covers how those are usually structured at this end of the market.
When this route isn't worth your time
- You don't hold a teaching licence, or you're short of the two years — a TEFL certificate doesn't clear either
- You won't sign a statement of faith, or your church situation won't produce a reference — the filter is documented and absolute
- You want a language centre, a public-school scheme or online teaching — none of this applies to any of them
- Your search is mainland China — the networks' Asian schools are elsewhere
- Your timing is wrong — these schools recruit over autumn and winter for an August start, so a search in May is looking at next season
A limit worth knowing about
71% of listings here are rewritten from a partner board rather than read one at a time. The 29% posted directly by a school are read by a person, and 4.2% of those are rejected. We check listings, not schools — and on this page that includes not checking what a school's statement of faith commits you to, which is a document you should read in full rather than skim on the strength of the denomination named at the top.
The second limit is the comparison. This board is mostly training centres and public schools at a median advertised salary of about $1,910 USD a month, and international school packages sit above it. One word that trips this search up on the way through: a 'pastoral' post at an international school is a welfare job rather than a religious one, and the two searches return each other's results constantly.
Frequently asked
Is Christian Schools International the same as ACSI? No. CSI is in Grand Rapids, Michigan and serves schools in the US and Canada; the Association of Christian Schools International is in Colorado Springs and accredits and certifies schools worldwide. The second is the one whose careers board files vacancies by country.
Do you have to be a Christian to teach at a Christian international school? At the schools that state it, yes, and it is documented rather than discussed — a statement of faith and, at several schools, a reference from a pastor. The requirement is published on the employment page, so check it before you apply.
Do you need a teaching licence? Generally yes: a bachelor's degree plus a current teaching certification, and around two years of classroom experience. Some schools accept ACSI certification in place of state certification, and ACSI East Asia runs a regional programme for teachers already in the region.
Are these salaried jobs or missionary support roles? Salaried. But support raising is optional at some schools in the largest network and required at a few, which makes 'what is the salary' an incomplete question on its own.
Where are the Christian international schools in Asia? Mostly South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. Mainland China barely features.
Does a TEFL certificate help? For the roles on this board, it is the main qualification 64% of listings ask for. For a licensed post at a Christian international school it counts for very little, because the school is checking for a teaching credential instead.
So: read the school's employment page before you read anyone's job board. The statement of faith and the licence line are both on it, and between them they settle the application before a single person looks at your CV — then order the criminal record check the week you start writing, not the week someone offers you a contract.