October 18, 2005
Buenos Aires
Dear Friends,
It was good to see many of you during our stay in the States
at the beginning of the year, and I am sorry we could not see
many others. Some of my best friends from college and seminary
still have not met Noelia. Neither time nor budget allowed us
to do the traveling that we had hoped to do.
It has taken us several months to get settled again in Buenos
Aires. After some months of searching, physically and spiritually,
we are about to set out in new directions. The first bit of news
is that my husband and I are about to purchase our first house.
We will be further away from the city, and much closer to the
church where Daniel is serving as pastor. We will have much more
space than what we have had in our tiny apartment above my parents-in-law’s
home. The house is small, but with tremendous possibilities for
expansion, and our yard will be large. With the advent of spring
and the onset of great weather, Noelia and I are impatiently awaiting
the possibility to play tag, keep-away, fetch with our dog, etc.
Hopefully we will move in time to have Noelia’s second birthday
party in our new yard.
The other major change that we have decided upon, in consultation
with my leadership team at the Worldwide Ministries Division of
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), is that I will start doctoral
studies at the University Institute—ISEDET (Instituto Superior
Evangélico de Estudios Teológicos), starting next
March. It has become increasingly clear to me that I will be able
to serve in the area of theological education in Latin America
much better with a doctoral degree obtained here. This decision
has short-term and long-term consequences for the two institutes
with which I am collaborating.
I will continue to teach on a part time basis in ISEDET’s
Department of History while I am working on my doctorate, but
I will take a leave of absence from the Seminario Emanuel of the
Asociación La Iglesia de Dios (ALIDD) until I complete
my thesis.
As many of you learned while I was on interpretation assignment
earlier this year, these two institutes are very different from
each other. ISEDET has a long history of more than 120 years of
excellent theological education serving the historical Protestant
churches of the River Plate region and the rest of Latin America.
It is the only Protestant institute of theological education in
all of Spanish-speaking Latin America to offer a doctoral degree
in theology. ISEDET receives important financial assistance from
churches and ecumenical organizations in the United States and
Europe. Graduates of ISEDET are serving in academic institutes,
churches, ecumenical organizations, and NGOs around the world.
It is important to understand, however, that for all the tremendous
assets that ISEDET has, it is highly conditioned by its location
in the Two-Thirds World. The buildings need repair work, the professors
and staff need pay raises that will keep up with the serious problem
of inflation, the library has outgrown its space, and the demand
for the various degree programs that ISEDET offers is increasing,
which means it needs to hire more professors.
The Seminario Emanuel emphasizes theological education at the
grassroots level in centers at a distance from the main offices
in Buenos Aires. About three-quarters of the evangelical institutes
for theological education in all of the five southern cone countries
of South America are in the greater Buenos Aires metropolitan
area. For Christians who want to prepare themselves for church
or community service with theological understanding, but who cannot
relocate to Buenos Aires for family or work reasons, the possibilities
are extremely poor. The Seminario Emanuel strives to meet the
needs for theological education in communities where the educational,
health, social, economic, and other infrastructures are moderately
to seriously underdeveloped. The Seminario does this through tremendous
sacrifice, as the professors and community organizers involved
receive no salary. For the last seven years, I have been the only
paid professor in the seminary, and the only one with master’s
level academic training.
My leave of absence, in the short run, will seriously disrupt
the seminary’s mission to serve churches and Christians
in the least privileged areas of Argentina. On the other hand,
several of the other professors at the seminary realize that they
need to prepare themselves better to offer needed theological
reflection and hope. Situations of great need require great expertise
and sensitivity. The Bible message can help raise awareness of
injustice and empower people to demand that their governments
provide the necessary infrastructure for more dignified living
conditions. The hope of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit
also give regular people the strength to move mountains.
Both of these institutes offer necessary services in the area
of theological education in Argentina and Latin America. Both
need your prayer, your awareness of the influences of the economic
and political relations between the United States and the rest
of the Americas, and any kind of financial support you may be
able to offer.
As individuals or as congregations, you can support the Presbyterian
Church’s partnership in ministry in the area of theological
education in Argentina by sending money to the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) Individual Remittance Processing, PO Box 643700, Pittsburgh,
PA 15264-3700. Contributions from churches should be sent to:
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Church Remittance Processing, PO
Box 643678, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3678. Write the title (Theological
Education in Argentina) and the ECO number on the subject line
(# 864500) of the check and put it on your cover letter, too.
Send a copy of the cover letter to the Area Office for Latin America
at 100 Witherspoon St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396. To give online,
click the "give" button below.
My family and I appreciate your prayers, as do the churches here
in Argentina.
May God continue to bless you as you seek to serve God’s
reign here on earth.
Katie Griffin and family
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
40
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