April-June 2009 News

 

ProMETA/LATN has been busy for many weeks!  Our staff has been working long days to prepare for the new quarter which began in May.  When new courses are offered, it generates a certain sense of excitement as we realize that new ground is being broken in the equipping of leaders.  We trust that this edition of the LATNewsbytes will encourage you and motivate you to pray with a better understanding of what God is doing through this ministry.

 

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1.   Record enrollment for second quarter.

2.   ProMETA team spiritual retreat.

3.   ProMETA team training event.

4.   Partnerships in Venezuela.

5.   Teaching in Guatemala.

6.   Staff publication.

7.   Summit 2010.

8.   Prayer points.

9.   Student testimonial.

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1.   Record enrollment for second quarter.   Never before in the history of ProMETA have we received so many enrollments!  God has brought 39 leaders to be equipped this quarter, 14 of them new students, and seven of them enrolled in two courses.  We are humbled to have that responsibility.  These students will be in the following courses:  Contextos de la consejería (Counseling Contexts) facilitated by Dr. Gordon Pike,  Desarrollo Espiritual II (Spiritual Formation II) facilitated y Dr. Jeff David, Trasfondo del A.T. (Old Testament Background) facilitated by Dr. Merv Brenemen,  Modelos y destrezas del liderazgo (Skills and Models of leadership)facilitated by Dr. Tim McIntosh,  Interpretación bíblica en el mundo postmoderno (Biblical interpretation in a postmodern world) facilitated by Dr. Ted Kautzmann, and  Teología del liderazgo (Theology of Leadership) facilitated by Dr. Jeff David.  Please pray for these students as they juggle family, ministry, work, and ProMETA responsibilities.

 
2.   ProMETA team spiritual retreat.  For three days, the ProMETA team met for a spiritual retreat just outside San Jose.  Jim and Leta Van Meter, missionaries with Paraclete Ministries, led the team in a wonderfully relaxing, yet meaningful time of personal and corporate spiritual growth.  The focus was "Come and Get Away [with Jesus]."  Because the first goal of ProMETA's three year plan focuses on developing Christlikeness in staff and students, these events play a critical role.  Please pray for the spiritual growth of the team as we follow where the Lord wants to take us.

 

3.   ProMETA team training event.  The spiritual retreat was followed immediately by a team training event at the office. The leaders of the academic department (Ted Kautzmann and Gordon Pike), along with Mark Hendrickson, who leads in the area of systems and production, guided the staff during four days of training, brainstorming, fellowship, and some healthy give and take as ProMETA continues to develop a ministry for which there are no viable models in Latin America. One of the major paradigm-shifting presentations of the training time was a new approach to how ProMETA "does education" to develop critical thinking skills in adult learners.  Mark Hendrickson will be meeting with a team of educators, designers, and a project manager to develop this new approach.  Pray that the team will discern where God is leading!

 

4.    Partnership trip to Venezuela.  In July, Enrique Fernández and Keith Anderson will be traveling to Venezuela to meet with evangelical leaders who want to discuss the feasibility of forging partnerships.  There are two denominations and two institutions that have shown interest.  The travel to Venezuela will begin on July 18th.

 

5.    Teaching in Guatemala. Prior to the trip to Venezuela, a group of four will be traveling to Guatemala City to teach on leadership.  Both Enrique Fernández and Keith Anderson will be part of the group.  Enrique will be teaching on leadership and worldview and Keith on the Biblical theology of leadership.

 

6.  Staff publications.  We are always excited when staff members have their articles published.  Dr. Tim McIntosh published an article titled,  "Evaluating the Instrumento de Contribución al Liderazgo de Siervo (ICLS) for Reliability in Latin America" in The Journal of Virtues & Leadership, Vol. 1 Issue 1, 2008. A second article, "Investigating the Value of and Hindrances to Servant Leadership in the Latin American Context: Initial Findings from Peruvian Leaders" has been accepted for publication by the Journal of International Business and Cultural Studies. We congratulate Tim for these accomplishments and look forward to more articles in the future.

 

7.  Summit 2010.  Please mark your calendars for joining ProMETA staff and students in San Jose, Costa Rica for the 2010 ProMETA Summit. The dates are March 2-3, 2010, with arrival on the 1st and departure on the 4th.  Last year's Summit gave participants a comprehensive presentation of what ProMETA is doing in Latin America, where the ministry is headed in the coming years, and ProMETA's needs as well as the opportunity to meet the staff and some students. 

 

8.     Prayer points:  As always, ProMETA is in need of focused prayer.  Would you join us in praying for the following?

*  Pray that God would provide us with excellent country coordinators who can coordinate ProMETA's presence in a particular country.

* Pray that each of ProMETA's 73 enrolled students would be used by God to equip and strengthen the Latin American church.

* Pray that as a team and ministry we would demonstrate God's blessing through our Vision 2011 goals.

* Pray that the Lord would continue to provide resources for His ministry!

 

 

9.   Student testimonial.   Flor María, a Seminary Professor and teacher of Doctrine for New Believers in Venezuela, says:  From the first week of "Theology of the Christian Life," I began to feel excited and motivated, and I waited expectantly to see what God would do through this course.  My first great lesson came the first week:  "Theology cannot be viewed as something purely academic, intellectual, theoretical, informative, or objective; it has to go further than that.  Theology must impact the heart and mind, affecting one's life and behavior as well as one's commitment to God and the depth of one's relationship with God."  This caused me to reflect, because I was preparing to teach courses in Theology in the seminary where I serve.  God's timing in providing me with the opportunity to take this ProMETA course could not have been better!  For this reason, and for many more, this course has been of utmost value to me.  I am so grateful!   

 

"Pray for ProMETA as we seek to equip leaders to become difference-makers for Jesus!"