Master's Program Begins! ...and more

Floyd: the Cuba Connection
After more than 18 months of planning and praying, we actually got the M.A. in Bible off the ground in Cuba! I went, representing ESEPA Seminary here in Costa Rica, and joined Paul Sywulka from SETECA Seminary in Guatemala. After Paul's starting class in Theology of the New Testament, I taught Greek 1. We have 15 students in the New Testament track and 15 students in the Old Testament track. The three Cuban seminaries participating in the M.A. program send 5 students each to both of the Bible tracks. (There are 30 M.A. students in all.) Our ultimate goal is to have Cubans graduate in 3 or 4 years who will be able to teach in their respective seminaries and not depend on visiting professors from the outside. We are on our way, thank the Lord!

My trip to Cuba went well--no problems with connections or with entry into Cuba. The host Seminary sent representatives to pick us up and take us to the campus, located near the center of the Island. We were met by 15 eager students, energetic and capable. I was very pleased with their progress during the week, and have high hopes for their future in New Testament studies.

Our daily schedule began at 8:30am and went until noon. After lunch and a time for a siesta, we hit it again from 2:30 to 6:30pm. Toward the end of the week, the students who had to travel more than 300 miles to get home to their Sunday ministries asked if we could hold class on Thursday and Friday night from 8:30 to 10:30pm in addition. That way we would make up for cutting out

the Saturday morning session, and they could get on the road before 6:00am. Transportation is a perennial problem in Cuba. Buses and vans ran at unpredictable schedules, so one has to allow plenty of time in transit. A trip that would take us maybe 6 hours will last 10 to 12 hours for them.

While I taught in one location, another ESEPA Seminary prof, Jose Antonio Siles, taught the last course in this round of B.A. classes that our seminary is offering at Las Palmas Seminary in the western part of Cuba. I followed him at Las Palmas for the second week, and taught a small group of M.A. students from Las Palmas who were ahead of schedule in their language studies. They wanted me to help them with Hebrew 2, and thus finish the basic grammar book they would study in the new M.A. program. Although we only had 3 of the 5 students finish, these worked extremely hard. We used the new Library building that so many of our Cuba Partnership teams have been working on. Thanks, guys! Your efforts are paying off! The building is about 75% done, but the library books are in, few as they may be, and the primary classroom is usable. I was hoping to have a white board to use, and so had taken several markers in different colors. But to my surprise, both seminaries where I taught depended on good, 'ole fashioned CHALK! Thankfully, I had found a new box of chalk in my "teaching aids" box before I left for Cuba. (Here is one, guys, to prove to your wife why you need to keep so many things "just in case"!) That box of chalk must have been 15 years old! But it worked great and I used every piece over the course of the two weeks of Biblical languages instruction.

Just in case some may be thinking, "Why don't you just offer courses by internet?" let me remind you of the restrictions on such service inside Cuba, and the inability of most to get such service in their areas. We are grateful the opportunity to teach in person, and pray that these programs on both the B.A. and M.A. level may continue in the future.

Floyd: the Costa Rica Connection

Esepa Seminary is in full swing for the second term this year. We have experienced an increase in students at both the Certificate level and the B.A. level. Enrollment went up from 125 to 143 this term, for which we are thankful. With increased enrollment comes increased needs for student aid. The students pay only about 35% of what it costs us to educate them. The remaining 65% must be raised in donations, usually from foreign sources. A credit hour on the B.A. level only costs about $26, so a typical 3 credit hour course would by $78. A gift of $50 would subsidize a student in a course. We are in desperate need for such student aid so we can continue paying our national professors and our operating expenses. Any gift, big or small, would help us more than I could express to you in this blog. Just $50 would help tremendously at this point in our academic year. If we could raise $50 for 140 students, that would be $7000. You get the picture. Any gift between $50 and $7000 would help keep us afloat through this term.

Just send your gifts to us, designated for ESEPA Seminary, at Messiah's Outreach, P.O. Box 230, Wheaton, IL 60189.

Pam: connecting with the women of Costa Rica

Just to catch you up on what I have been doing lately: I have had the opportunity for friendship building --among some ladies of Costa Rica (Ticas). I have been participating in various exercise/dancing and water aerobics classes. I have met some amazing women. For some reason, they seem to like me, and with several I have actually become friends. I wanted to tell you about a great experience I have had lately. Last November I was involved in a small water aerobics class at a nearby pool, within walking distance from our house. This class was really starting to grow and develop. It was such fun even though we were small in number and the pool was small (and very cold!). Miriam, 36, the instructor who is from Columbia and quite beautiful, was propositioned one day by the owner of this pool to have sex with him. She, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and wanting to obey God rather than man, refused. Machoism is alive and well here in CR, and this made the owner very upset. He told her that if she did not change her mind by the next week, she would be fired. Several of us prayed for her. She gave him a firm "no!" and he fired her on the spot, told her to leave, and did not even pay her for the month. (These classes were a large part of her livlihood.) When we showed up at the pool, we found out what had just happened, we tried to speak to him, but he would not even come off of the soccer field to talk with us. (Macho-ego!) We then went to talk to his assistant, and I, in my broken Spanish, told him in no uncertain terms that we knew what was happening here, we knew of the proposition, and that the other man (the owner, "jefe") would not get away with this. We told him we would not return. He just laughed at us. We told other women about it and they were livid too. No one returned to that pool. Some of us prayed and waited and repeated the process. Then came the day, actually a few months later: Miriam, the instructor, was called and asked to begin her classes at a new, much bigger pool. We started few in number, invited others, and then by word of mouth many others started coming. The boss of this new pool is actually the brother of the "bad" guy we mentioned. The good brother told us that no one is attending the classes they have at the other pool (of his brother's) although they are trying to get women to come. So his brother is losing money!

This morning, however, we had 32 women--the largest class ever!--in Miriam's new location. It was so crowded and it seemed like electricity was in the air, as well as the Latin music blaring! We were exercising and dancing and everyone was so happy. We had the most amazing time. Three weeks ago, a few of the women asked if Miriam would pray with us after class. The boss approved. This started a practice. Once Miriam hesitated to pray--not to "force" the women, and THEY asked if she would pray with them. This morning, if you can just picture it, we 32 women, all in the pool after swimming and dancing in the water, are now all holding hands and praying. Many are not believers but do desire to pray and desire to know more about a living relationship with Jesus Christ. I lifted my head (during the prayer), and I stood amazed in the water, giving praise to God that He had allowed me to share in this experience. "Oh, what wonderful works the Lord has done."

God bless you all! Thank you for your interest in our ministries in Costa Rica and Cuba!