Escuela Biblica Jovel

A New Vision for Quality Biblical Education and Mission from Latin America

Introduction: It is time to leave behind the polemics that have characterized biblical and mission studies during the past century. The division between modernists and fundamentalists which spawned the creation of Bible Institutes against the Theological Seminaries is but one example. With the expansion of the missionary enterprise of the 20th century we witnessed a multitude of plans and strategies such as “church growth,” “the 10/40 window,” and “territorial spirits” as a kind of Christian marketing ploy. What we propose is a Bible/Mission school that utilizes all the instruments available for deep biblical study and a mission curriculum that is contextual for our Latin American experience. A school that we sometimes call “itinerant” because of our desire to take the courses to the local churches and “pioneer” because of our call to launch a new paradigm that analyzes, reflects and practices our faith in the world.

We are designing this school especially for the indigenous churches of the highlands of Chiapas which is why it's called “Jovel” (the indigenous name for San Cristobal de las Casas). Its purpose will be to bring quality biblical and mission education to the Evangelical churches in this area which have the commitment to proclaim and teach Holy Scripture together with a message of hope toward the construction of a world of peace with justice, freedom and dignity.

We invite your comments, questions and participation in this new endeavor as we take steps of faith by the grace of our Lord, having begun in Jan. of 2009 with a 10 year plan. We hope to be able to organize national and international seminars during this time as well as submit the program to a rigorous triennial evaluation to evaluate our medium and long term goals.

Biblical Education:

Under the coordination of Pedro Robledo this program is geared especially for those who have some studies in seminaries or bible institutes and desire to deepen their understanding of the Bible as they continue to minister in local churches. The facilitator of each course will offer the students tools to use to be able to more faithfully interpret Holy Scripture encouraging more expository preaching. The course will emphasize biblical study in small groups which encourage dialogue both with the text of scripture and daily reality to be able to more faithfully apply the intent of the original authors to our situation. Three characteristics form this program namely: Christological, Communitarian and Contextual.

Mission Education:

Under the coordination of Dan Swanson this program will emphasize small group reflection on our contemporary practice of missions. It will include a theology of mission, historical study as well as contemporary challenges. These courses are open to people from all nations, languages and cultures. For students from outside of non-Spanish speaking countries it will be suggested to combine their studies with language study and/or work with one of the many NGO’s in Chiapas. We will work closely with Jubilee Economics Ministries in the recruitment of participants as well as the Centro Cultural Tlaixpan in Puebla, Mexico as an example of holistic mission in Mexico. The three characteristics that will form this program are: Evangelization, Economy and Ecology.

Course titles: All courses will be 30 hours in total whether based in Jovel on a semester basis or in local churches on an intensive basis. For example they might be 3 hours per week for 10 weeks or 6 hours every other weekend for two and a half months or 6 hours per day for 5 days. . Some courses will lend themselves to be team taught by facilitators from both programs.
Sampling of course offerings:

Hebrew, Biblical Interpretaion, Mission without Domination
Greek, Luke/Acts, Mission in Post-Modern context,
Intro to the Bible, Pauline theology, Mission through the Centuries,
Exegetical Methods, Eschatology & Revelation, Mission in a Revolutionary Context,
Pentateuch, A Theology of Mission, 500 years of Mission in Latin America,
Hebrew Poetry & Wisdom, Mission & Family,
The Prophetic Books, Mission & Money,
Synoptic Gospels, Mission & Justice,
The Gospel & Letters of John, Mission & Ecology,
Theology of the Universal Epistles, Mission & Indigenous cultures

Cost of the programs: The cost of each course will be $1500 pesos. Students from outside Mexico will pay $250US per week which includes course registration, housing and two meals per day. Texts for each course will also be provided at subsidized prices. For more information please email Dan Swanson at SwanyRiver@aol.com.

Sep. update

This Sunday, the 5th, will be two months since we packed up and moved from Puebla to San Cristobal, Chiapas. Instead of long prose paragraphs let me try to break them down into bite size chunks.

Setting up home: getting water for our tanks on the roof, finding gas tanks for hot water and stove, getting up at 6:30a.m. to learn the garbage truck's schedule, buying furniture for our living room.

Learning about San Cristobal: driving the streets for innumerable errands, where to pay the bills, opening bank acct., visit churches

Playing host to special guests: Cesar and his team from the UNAM, Mariana & Hilda, David & Laura and Dad & Zondra

Starting school for Jacob: a wonderful Christian pre-school, first few days of many tears all around, birthday party, first parent/teacher meeting and organizing his formal education and informal education with our trips to indigenous villages

Ministry opportunities: Pedro and I have set up our office in our home for the Escuela Biblica Jovel, one day a week in an indigenous region providing for physical needs and seeking reconciliation, visits to other indigenous regions recruiting for our school.

We hope we are ready to settle down now and develop routines (always open to surprises!) to let God use us as He wills. Thank you for your ongoing prayers and partnership.