Dear Friends,

First 50, then 70, then 80 women crowded into the classroom, eager to listen, eager to share. The announcement had gone out over a local radio station in Lima, Peru, inviting men and women to a three-day course on the issue of violence against women. The response was overwhelming. "Giving name to the pain" is the name of the workbook that guides men and women through personal and pastoral issues dealing with the problem of violence—particularly domestic violence—against women. As Nidia Fonseca, the coordinator of the Biblical Pastoral Institute of the Latin American Biblical University (UBL), shared with the women they opened up and started to name the pain, many sharing from personal experience.

In Latin America today we speak of the feminization of poverty. Women are the ones who suffer most from the increasing poverty and social disease in these countries, and in most of the world. They are unprotected by the law, discriminated by the job market, and left alone, in many cases, to raise their children single-handed. How to find hope and a way out of situations of violence and aggression, and practical suggestions for dealing with these issues in the church and community, are topics covered by the course. But the most important goal is to give women the opportunity to speak, to name their pain, and share it with others.

The issue of suffering is a difficult one to deal with. We have all been in situations where we feel we have suffered unjustly or without cause. Women who have lived in poverty and face continual aggression no longer wonder about it—they begin to believe they deserve it. In the Old Testament we find different ways of trying to understand the problem of suffering. "Why do the wicked prosper?" ask the Psalms. "Why do the evil receive the reward of the just?" asks Ecclesiastes, concluding that there is no way to make sense out of the situation. Trying to understand his undeserved suffering, Job confronts God.

If we truly believe that Christ came to bring us "life and life abundantly," we have to ask ourselves where that abundant life is in the situation millions of women are experiencing in Latin America. We take hope and draw courage from experiences of solidarity, communities of faith, and concrete actions for change. At the UBL, we seek to contribute to these seeds of hope by training facilitators and leaders and preparing printed materials for biblical and pastoral study groups throughout Latin America. One of these is the workbook I mentioned above.

One of the hats I wear at the UBL is the development of the study materials and workbooks for the study groups and the organization of training experiences for the group facilitators. The rest of my time is divided between the administration of the UBL and coordinating the publications department where we publish the study materials our students use throughout Latin America. It is a privilege to serve with one of PC(USA)’s partner organizations in Latin America.

Thank you for your prayers and solidarity with the work of the church around the world.

Sincerely,

Elisabeth Cook

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 236

Latin American Biblical Seminary

In 1997 the Latin American Biblical Seminary achieved university status and became known as the Latin American Biblical University, offering bachelor’s, licentiate, and master’s degrees. However, there was a great deal of concern that these degree studies only reach a small sector of Latin America and that there were many, many pastors and church leaders who want and need theological and Biblical education but who do not have the educational resources for degree studies. In response to this great need, the Biblical/Pastoral Institute (IBP) was created.

The goal of the IBP is to provide trained leadership for the Church in Latin America. The Latin American Biblical University provides study materials (pastoral education courses) and trains facilitators for the study groups. Each local group is in charge of its own organization and administration. At present, there are approximately 75 local study groups in 22 different countries. IBP is run by one part-time coordinator. The facilitators are volunteers. The course materials are written and produced by UBL and provided at cost to the study groups.