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February 2001
Dear friends:
The IV Assembly of the Latin American Council of Churches is
history now, but it has had important consequences for the church
here in Colombia and across the continent. The consultation on
mission was especially productive as the creative contributions
of many groups must now be incorporated in the final document.
We hope to finish that document after a meeting in Quito, Ecuador,
at the end of February.
Meanwhile, the new semester at the university has begun. (The
school year here begins in February and ends in November.) The
accreditation process has been long and complicated, but we are
proud to be the first Reformed University on the continent. In
addition to the School of Theology we also have a School of Psychology,
the School of Education, and the School of Music.
That reminds me that I promised you a description of the Extra
Commitment
Opportunity projects through which you can participate in this
important ministry, which is the continuation of the Presbyterian
Theological Seminary here in Colombia.
ECO #862521 Colombian Reformed University School of
Theology. This is the basic fund for theological education
in Colombia. From this fund we pay faculty and staff, electricity
and telephone bills, costs of publishing textbooks produced by
our professors (I have just finished an Introduction to Biblical
Hebrew), student activities and special programs. This is the
fund that makes it possible for us to carry on our day-to-day
work.
ECO #862507 Colombian Reformed University Library.
We have a new librarian with creative ideas for making the library
a service to the community. She is working to bring our collection
up to date and computerize the old-fashioned card files for looking
up books. We have also joined a network of theological libraries
across Latin America working together through the Internet.
ECO #862554 Colombian Reformed University School of
Theology Scholarships. Even though official recognition of
our graduates as professionals in theology improves their options,
the fact is that nobody chooses a career in the ministry for the
money. Most of our students come from poor communities and need
scholarship assistance to complete their studies. We are grateful
for the many churches and church groups across the U.S. who have
given sacrificially so that gifted men and women of Colombia whom
God has called into the ministry may have an opportunity to prepare
themselves for ministry through formal theological education.
ECO #862528 Colombian Reformed University School of Theology
Regional Centers. Our main campus in Barranquilla was recently
refurbished and rejuvenated. I just wish you could come and see
it with your own eyes. On the other hand, many of our students
have never seen it either. Travel is difficult and expensive in
Colombia, so we have set up regional centers in key cities around
the country. Our professors do travel to these centers from Barranquilla,
and we also have a coordinator on location in each center to work
with the students. Special textbooks are being written for these
programs of "study at a distance," and we are also experimenting
with
videos and Internet connections to facilitate communications between
the regional centers and the main campus. Your gifts help us find
creative solutions to the problems of distance and transportation
and enable us to respond to the needs of many more students.
ECO #047861 Colombian Reformed University Leadership Training
in Urabá. One of these regional centers is in Apartadó
in the region known as Urabá. I have written before about
this unique area, in one of the centers of the violence that continues
to tear Colombia apart. The church is growing rapidly, and men
and women of many denominations are feeling God’s call to
ministry. The program here is special because the area is on the
edge of the jungle and few people have had a chance to study beyond
basic
elementary education. Thus our work in Urabá includes a
high school equivalency program for pastors and church leaders
as well as our
university-level program of theological education.
ECO #865527 Colombia Reformed University School of
Music. This program, founded and still directed by retired
missionary Pauline Schutmaat, was set up originally for younger
children and continues to serve this need, but it also has an
adult division and is part of the university project. Your gifts
help buy instruments and sheet music and subsidize tuition so
that children from poor families can attend.
This is by no means a complete list of all the ECO projects
approved for Colombia. For example, ECO #862562 Colegio Americano
of Apartadó is the elementary and high school that
many have supported with scholarships for children of the many
persons displaced by the violence.
Also, the Office of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
is designating $50,000 to ACT (Action by Churches Together) and
Church World Service for ecumenical work in which our church helps
minister to displaced persons who are victims of the violence
here. I described some of this work in my previous newsletter.
These funds come from the One Great Hour of Sharing, but gifts
can also be sent directly through the PC(USA) Central Receiving
Service specifying PDA Colombia Account #9-2000129.
I hope you feel excited by all that God is doing through your
gifts to strengthen the church in Colombia as it reaches out to
others in the name of Jesus Christ. It’s a real encouragement
to know you are standing with us through your letters, your prayers,
your gifts and support. Thank you for all you do to make my work
possible.
Blessings on you . . .
Alice Winters
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 261
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