Teaching around the country
We have had increasing numbers of students enroll with us over recent months which has been exciting to see. After around 20 students attended David Silva’s course on Inductive Bible Study back in April, the next month I taught on the subject of the Theology and Practice of Worship to 26 students in the city of Arequipa. The class was very well received and all of the students were challenged to reevaluate and make changes to their corporate worship practices. I was also able to preach an evangelistic message on the Lord’s dealings with Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4) to a large number of young people at one of the local churches at the end of the week’s teaching. As I write these lines, around 30 are studying a class on Expository Preaching with one of our teachers, Daniel Calle, who is an excellent preacher himself.
In Jauja, Frank Marmolejo has been teaching on the Reformation. The pastors and church leaders were very happy with the course and had many questions regarding our reformation heritage. This is the first class that Frank has prepared himself and we are pleased to say he did a really good job. He certainly has a gift for writing and teaching.
In the north of Lima, Evair and Frank taught on the Doctrine and transmission of Scripture, after which David Silva taught on the doctrines of man and sin. We also have nearly 20 students coming to these classes in San Martín de Porres, the newest of our centres, which is a real encouragement.
In Barranco, our main centre, we have been teaching on the pastoral epistles, cults, the doctrines of grace and Greek II to two differnt groups of students.
On checking our records we were amazed to find that since 2011, we have taught nearly 350 church leaders around the country, so do give thanks to God with us for the way the theological education and pastoral preparation we provide is reaching such a large number of pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists and their churches.
Charles Simeon Trust
At the end of May and beginning of June we were pleased to co-host a Charles Simeon Trust workshop on expository preaching. Over 70 attended from around the country, all of them pastors or regular preachers. The focus this time was preaching from the epistles. During the 3-day workshop we were able to study how to preach the whole of 2 Timothy. The enthusiasm from all attending was noticeable and we certainly learned a great deal. Almost all of the participants had done their preparation carefully which really helped as we shared regarding the interpretation, application and preaching of the different passages.
The workshop leaders were first class: Greg Travis, an American (Mexican born) missionary in Argentina, and Aaron Messner, a pastor from Atlanta, Georgia. Both were excellent communicators and motivators. We were also able to enjoy being under their preaching ministry. I am also thankful for the chance I had to minister to the 70 preachers through one of my sermons. The Lord was gracious, giving me the words to encourage and challenge them in their pastoral duties.
Teaching the tribal groups from the jungle
It was a real pleasure for me to teach Biblical theology on the story of our salvation to church leaders from a number of jungle tribes (mostly Asháninka and Shipibo) in Atalaya in April. Eduardo Aricari accompanied me and also taught on the education of children. The trip was quite long and hard-going (12 hours by bus, then 10 hours in a 4-wheel-drive truck on very poor roads), but it was worth it. It was exciting to see how they were grasping how the whole of Scripture points to Jesus. Pray that it will transform their teaching and preaching.
God willing, I shall be returing to the jungle soon to teach the same subject matter to other church leaders from three different ethnic groups in Sepahua, on the Urubamba River. This time it’s even further: After getting to Atalaya (like last time), it’s then an 8-hour boat ride. Please pray for safety during the trip and for a blessed time with the pastors. Evair will be accompanying me, as will Charles, a pastoral apprentice from our home church in the UK. Pray for him, as he feels called to missionary work and feels very attracted to our work in particular. He is already bilingual (English/Spanish) as he lived with his family in Spain for 5 years whilst he was growing up.
Planning for more growth
Please pray for us as we continue to prepare for greater growth in our ministry. We are improving and updating all of our administrative systems with the aim of being ready for greater numbers of students in Lima and around the country in 2018. We are now able to print off or email students’ report cards and transcripts at the touch of a button. Our electronic library database with advanced search capabilities is also up and running which will help teachers and students located the books they need much more efficiently (including the 150 books we recently purchased thanks to a HeartCry donation).
Thank you for your support and prayers.
