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| Sharing resources benefits the Kingdom |
OC is encouraged to see partner schools reaching out to other schools in their regions and sharing resources. Central American Theological Seminary (CATS) in Guatemala City, Guatemala, is one such example. The seminary of 1000+ students recently shared resources with Seminario Biblico de Guatemala (SBG), located outside the capital city in Chimaltenango.
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After receiving initial encouragement from a visiting OC Board member, Lic. Heber Higueros (pictured with OC RD Josué Fernández) in turn challenged local businessmen at the SBG fundraising dinner.
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OC Regional Director Josué Fernández, along with CATS President Jim Adams and Director of Communication and Fundraising Edna de Ponce, held a training seminar on communication and fundraising for SBG staff, many of whom studied at CATS. SBG then held its first fundraising dinner and raised a great offering and many commitments of support. Four more fundraising dinners have since been planned. Recently, de Ponce traveled to Mexico to help the presidents of several seminaries develop their fundraising vision as well.
CATS' willingness to share resources with other schools in its region is a practice that OC supports. Although SBG is not an OC partner school, the Kingdom is ultimately blessed by partners in training and servant leadership. Fernández continues to encourage Kingdom spirit and the Body of Christ networking for the greater good. "It is something we are trying to accomplish in many Latin American countries...helping them see the potential of networking. A great challenge, but we are going in that direction," he says.
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São Paulo Institute
The next Institute
for Excellence is taking place April 7-11 at Word of Life Seminary (WOL) in São Paulo, Brazil.
Please pray for the 25 participants and their leadership training.
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Visit Latin America with OC -
Register by
August 1st
OC's Latin
America Vision Tour
will take place September 12-21, 2008. Visit OC partner schools SATS, Brazil; IBBA, Argentina; and SEMISUD, Ecuador.
Sightseeing includes Iguazu Falls, historic Buenos Aires, The Center of the World, Colonial City, the Virgin of Quito statue and a scenic bus ride into Argentina.
Register by August 1st, 2008.
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Thank you from OC scholars
"I want to thank you very much for choosing to help me with this scholarship...The night [before I was selected], I talked to my wife about our financial difficulty and told her we needed to pray fervently, so I could avoid withdrawing from the seminary... God has used you to keep me in school, for which I am extremely grateful."
 - Joel Augustin, OC Scholarship Student, Evangelical Theological Seminary of Port-au-Prince (STEP), Haiti
"The scholarship that I have received through ESEPA has been of great importance, since it gives me the opportunity to move ahead in my master's studies, giving me better tools to serve in ministry."
 - Pablo Calderon, OC Scholarship Student, Evangelical Seminary for Pastoral Education (ESEPA), Costa Rica |
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How can you be involved
with OC?
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St. Petersburg Institute
speaker list
- Vadim Babashkin (Development Associates International, Finland)
- Dan Brewster (Compassion International)
- Volodymyr Degtyaryov (Zaporozhye Bible College and Seminary, Ukraine)
- Anatoliy Glukhovskyy (Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary, Ukraine)
- Leonid Mikhovich (Minsk Theological Seminary, Belarus)
- Serghei Namesnic (College of Theology and Education, Moldova)
- Alexander Negrov (SPCU)
- Sergiy Sannikov (Eurasian Accrediting Association, Ukraine)
- Igor Savich (SPCU)
- Volodymyr Shemchyshyn (Odessa Theological Seminary and Kiev Christian University, Ukraine)
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| Graduate's ministry speaks well of partner school |
Oscar and his wife, Nancy, with their two children
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A graduate of Puebla Bible Seminary (PBS) in Mexico, Oscar Haro serves as the pastor of Nuevo Panorama Church in Uruapan, a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán. The church is a mature body that is regularly involved in outreach to small villages surrounding Uruapan. Gospel-deprived areas near the city continue to see churches planted as a result of the ministry.
Oscar's ministry is pointing others, including church members, to study at his alma mater. Jezreel, a key leader in the church's middle and high school ministry, is now a PBS student, and married church members, Josué and Monica, have become students as well.
PBS is encouraged to see the lives of graduates recommending the very institution the Lord used to prepare them as emerging leaders. Through a variety of programs, the interdenominational seminary of 230+ graduates continues to train students to biblically address major societal challenges, such as poverty, corruption and conflict.
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| OC Expert overview |
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OC's Regional Director Josué Fernández offers his expert overview of Latin America and its challenges to leadership training.
Leadership training in Latin America has three main challenges. First, institutions must understand and adjust to new societal realities, such as poverty, unemployment, corruption, civil conflict and disintegration of families, as they prepare leaders with a relevant mindset for the present and future.
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Josué Fernández
OC Latin America
Regional Director
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Secondly, our partner schools in Latin America realize the impact of spiritual formation on leadership and must decide how to incorporate it into school curricula. Lastly, partner schools face the demand of new technology and having the funding in place for an affordable e-learning delivery system.
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OC's partner schools are addressing these challenges in various ways. Alliance Biblical Seminary (ABSE) in Ecuador works with an agency to offer a Community Services program to challenge and equip new leaders with a vision for social service. Evangelical Seminary for Pastoral Education (ESEPA) in Costa Rica emphasizes accountability in ethics, finance and decision-making in every course. South American Theological Seminary (SATS) in Brazil has implemented an e-learning platform called SATS-Online, enhancing the seminary's ability to provide cutting-edge theological education.
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Amidst the challenges that face leadership training in Latin America, OC's partner schools are preparing and equipping students with relevant tools needed to make an impact for Christ.
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| Third OC Institute concludes in St. Petersburg, Russia |
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22 leaders of strategic training programs in the region attended the Institute, representing Azerbaijan, Belarus, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.
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During the five-day Institute themed "Leadership Matters," participants focused on topics designed to equip them to more effectively lead their schools. Local leaders delivered all presentations in Russian.
"It was a blessed time for me personally to visit and participate at the Institute," shares Dr. Volodymyr Shemchyshyn, President of Odessa Theological Seminary (OTS), Ukraine. "I am glad that we have such a great opportunity not only to receive new knowledge and discuss significant topics but also to have fellowship, know more about the other theological schools, pray together and to see the new ways of dealing with old problems. I am very thankful to OC for these Institutes."
[See St. Petersburg Institute speaker list in sidebar]
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OC's third 2008 
