| Argentina has been changing since
the collapse of the banking and political systems in December
of 2001. It was not until May of 2003 that a democratically elected
president again assumed office. The current president, Néstor
Kirchner, has made a tough stand in front of the International
Monetary Fund, has taken actions to improve living conditions
for the hundreds of thousands of people who lost their homes and
jobs during the economic collapse, has passed aggressive measures
to control the corruption in the federal judiciary system and
the federal police force, and has negotiated treaties with other
countries in the Southern Cone to improve the exportation of Argentine
products in the MercoSur. In general, Kirchner seems to have been
able to maintain popular support. Nevertheless, there continues
to be a considerable amount of labor unrest, high unemployment
(currently about 25 percent), and high poverty and indigency rates
(about 50 and 35 percent, respectively). This is grim, but it’s
better than it was a year and a half ago.
How has this affected the institutions where I am working? The
devalued peso has positively affected the university institute
where I teach and adversely affected the Pentecostal seminary
where I teach.
At the university (the Instituto Superior Evangélico de
Estudios Teológicos, or ISEDET), the economic situation
has worked to their advantage since ISEDET receives important
donations in dollars and in euros. They have established official
accreditation with the Ministry of Education, a first for a Protestant
theological institute in Argentina. They have expanded their doctoral
program and more easily offer financial aid to doctoral students
from other parts of Spanish-speaking America. ISEDET is the only
Spanish-speaking Protestant institute of theological education
to offer a doctoral degree. They have also expanded their offerings
in popular theological education, including an important escuela
bíblica amongst the Toba, an original people group of the
Argentine Chaco, in the heart of South America. You can read more
about the various activities and programs at ISEDET in English
at their Web site: www.isedet.edu.ar.
At the Seminario Emanuel of the Asociación La Iglesia
de Dios (ALIDD), the demand for theological education increased,
but the resources decreased substantially. The seminary receives
its financial support from its own churches. Since most of the
church membership (nearly 90 percent) suffered dramatically from
the economic collapse, their financial donations dwindled to almost
nothing. On the other hand, as the church membership was so adversely
affected by the economic and social chaos, the people began to
question deeply the nature of the active presence of God in their
lives, and turn desperately to the Bible in search of solace,
wisdom, hope and strength.
The professors have been called to the far corners of the nation
to start seminary classes in local churches. This has led to much
blessing and to intense stress. The professors all teach with
no salary. Their dedication to their teaching ministry, and the
itinerancy that was thrust upon them, meant that they had less
time for salaried work in other areas. Yet, as more and more students
began to understand God’s unconditional love for them, they
began to experience the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit
in their lives and were able to procure financial and material
donations to the seminary. In some parts of the country, building
space has been donated to the seminary, along with desks and school
supplies, often by local government and business leaders not affiliated
with the churches.
As the seminary’s ministry has increased, we have found
that the personnel resources are also too limited. I am the only
professor with at least a master’s degree in theology. My
husband is working on his master’s degree in psychology,
but has not finished it yet. Most of the other professors have
the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, but some don’t
even have that. Many of the students haven’t completed their
secondary school education. Only a few students are studying with
the idea of continuing their theological studies beyond the seminary
level so as to be able to help in the teaching ministry. Three
of the professors are now seriously considering doing specialized
master’s studies in a specific area of theology (two in
practical theology and one in Old Testament). Please pray with
me that God opens up possibilities for further academic training
for the professors and calls more young people into the teaching
ministry.
I apologize to those churches that had contacted me individually
to arrange for meetings during my interpretation assignment. The
hard disk on my old computer crashed before I was able to transfer
all of my email addresses to my new computer. Please contact me
again so that we can reestablish contact and make arrangements
for my time in the States during January to June, 2005.
Yours in Christ,
Katie Griffin
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
145
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