October 2006 News

October 2006

Vol. 3, Issue 2

Greetings once again from LATN.  A new trimester has begun, and with it the need to update you with what God is doing in and through LATN.God has been at work in the ministry of LATN.  We are grateful to God for His continued leading, guidance and provision as we forge ahead in a ministry designed to "equip the equippers of Latin America's church planting movements."  We trust this brief note will encourage you to continue praying for the LATN ministry as well as bring you up-to-date.

  1. New trimester begins.
  2. Two new courses taught.
  3. Web promotions.
  4. Arrival of Judy Muselman.
  5. Kara Pedersen and the McIntoshes.
  6. Strategic Planning Summit.
  7. LATN now training other professors.
  8. Growing partnerships (ESEPA, MAF, FIEIDE).
  9. Course schedule into 2008.
  10. Fund raising.
  11. Staff travels.
  12. Interesting “coincidences.”
  13. Prayer requests.
  14. A grateful note of thanks.
  15. Student comment.

 

1.    New trimester begins.On September 4th, the final trimester of 2006 began with 34 students enrolled in four courses.The course called “Biblical interpretation for a post modern world” (LATN’s hermeneutics course) is once again being taught by a Guatemalan leader who is facilitating the course from Guatemala City.His students are in four Latin American countries (his students include a pediatrician and three engineers).It is overwhelming to see how this course, originally designed and taught by Ted Kautzmann, is now being taught by a former student – the principle of multiplication has kicked in! Soon, some of the students of the student will also be teaching that course.We expect this to happen in all of LATN’s courses.

 

2.   Two new courses being taught.As LATN develops its curriculum, new courses must continually be added, especially as current students finish taking those already developed.This trimester, two new courses are being taught.Gordon Pike has developed and is now teaching a course called “Interpersonal communication and mentoring” and Enrique (Quique) Fernández is teaching the course he developed on “World view.” Thus far, the responses from the students regarding the content of these new courses are positive and encouraging.Another great aspect of these courses is that both Enrique and Gordon will be traveling in Latin America while they are teaching and the students will most likely not even notice!

 

3.    Web promotions.A few months ago, in July to be exact, we placed a banner ad on a very popular Latin American evangelical web site.The purpose of the banner was to let Latin Americans know about LATN (called ProMETA in Spanish).As a result, over 90 new applications were received.Nearly a 1,000 serious “hits” were made on our website as the result of the ad.Inquiries were received from six countries where LATN yet has no students.There were even inquiries from Kenya and Australia!In any case, the need for equipping leaders to equip others was quite evident.And as LATN becomes better known in the region, the requests will only increase.

 

4.    Arrival of Judy Muselman.With the increase in students and courses, it is crucial that the design of LATN’s academic administration sub-system be in place to accommodate growth and efficiency.Wouldn’t you know it, but God brought Judy Muselman to LATN.Judy has her masters in Higher Ed Administration as well as 16 years of experience in a major stateside university.She also has experience working in Latin America and a heart for leadership development.We praise God for the timing of her arrival.(Please pray that all of her support will come in so she can help us long term!)

 

5.    Kara Pedersen and the McIntoshes.  As the ministry grows, so do LATN’s needs for more help from missionary specialists.One of the keys to equipping Latin American leaders online is the availability of online resources for research.Kara Pedersen (with her masters in Library Science) has joined LATN and plans on arriving in Costa Rica in January 2007. The timing of her arrival is amazing since LATN is now at the point where the needed online resources must be made available.Another key addition to LATN is the McIntosh family.Tim and Debbie are a welcome addition to the team.Tim is finishing up his PhD in Organizational Leadership and will be developing key courses in leadership.We give thanks to God for all those He is bringing to this highly focused team.

6.    Strategic Planning Summit.The final week of September, LATN staff met to evaluate and plan.It was quite clear that LATN is no longer a “mom and pop” organization but rather a growing and complex cross-cultural leadership training ministry which will require significant changes and adjustments as it transitions over the next few years.We praise God that He led us through our meetings and that significant steps were taken that we trust will ultimately glorify Him as we faithfully follow His leading.

7.    LATN now training other professors.One of the exercises we did at last week’s Strategic Planning Summit was to revisit a document written five years ago which projected LATN’s “accomplishments” in the next ten years.One of the 15 accomplishments addressed LATN’s desire to serve as a catalyst for online/distance learning for other institutions in the region.We thank God that this past month LATN sponsored training sessions in instructional design for the faculty of a sister school. These sessions were facilitated by Mery Florez and Ted Kautzmann.

8.Growing partnerships.LATN has a partnership with ESEPA, a Costa Rican evangelical seminary, that is moving ahead with projects, even as the formal, written partnership is being developed.In January 2007, ESEPA plans on launching its own series of bachelor’s level online courses.(We are currently assisting with an ESEPA course taught by a facilitator who has eight students at the bachelor’s level.) This will be accomplished with LATN’s help.Next year a Latin American MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) missionary will join LATN in Costa Rica, at least for a couple of years, as MAF and LATN develop a stronger partnership in the area of software and distance learning.A third partnership under development is with the Free Churches of Spain and we trust a written partnership will be finalized before the end of the year.

9.Course schedule into 2008.As LATN grows, it becomes even more important to plan ahead.We thank God that the curriculum LATN plans on offering (including both current and new courses to offer) now extends into 2008.On the drawing board are 12 new courses to be developed between now and the middle of 2008.

10.Fund raising.With all the growth taking place, it is quite clear that God will need to resource LATN in miraculous ways for this ministry to continue growing.We thank God that LATN is (and we trust, will always be) a comparatively low budget ministry.We are amazed as we think back to our first course production budgets projected to be around $35,000 and how with today’s technology, we can produce a course for less than a third of that amount.Yet, God still must provide those funds.So, next year we plan on presenting LATN to churches, individuals, organizations, and foundations as we pray even more earnestly that God would provide.

11.Staff travels.The months of October and November are high travel months for LATN staff.The Hendricksons, currently on a one year home assignment, are visiting churches and supporters.Mery Flórez is on a six-week home assignment and Ted Kautzmann is traveling on a five-week home assignment.Mark Flach is gone from Costa Rica for a week to speak at a missions conference and be trained in network administration. Quique Fernández is visiting and teaching in Guatemala and Gordon Pike will soon leave to teach for a week in Uruguay, Keith will be traveling to Miami and then going to Mexico (with his wife Judy) and on to Spain.In a virtual ministry, the ministry continues on from remote areas, in spite of all the needed travels.

12.Interesting “coincidences.”It’s dangerous” to be on the LATN team, especially at the beginning of a new trimester!Consider the following:At the beginning of the January trimester, the Flach family was struck with a number of issues that sent two members of the family to the hospital (at one time father and son were in the same hospital room!).At the beginning of the second trimester, Rod Chavarría, a Costa Rican LAM missionary assigned to work with LATN full-time as a course writer, had a horrible motorcycle accident and was hospitalized in serious condition. As we approached the beginning of the third trimester, Ted Kautzmann’s hard drive crashed, loosing much valuable information. And shortly after the beginning of the trimester, Ted’s wife, spent four days in the hospital.Hmmm.We certainly appreciate and need all your prayers!

13.A grateful note of thanks.In August, Jack Lilley, LATN’s most prolific course developer resigned as a full-time missionary to take on a new position as pastor of a Hispanic congregation.Although Jack will continue working with LATN as a consultant and even writing more courses (at least one more course), we will miss him as a constant member of the team.We thank God and we thank Jack’s faithfulness for these last six years of productive work.One of the beautiful aspects of LATN’s ministry is that Jack’s courses (four, so far) will continue to be taught by those who have been “multiplied” as leaders!

14.Prayer requests.

*Pray for each of the items above.You can use them as prayer requests as well!

   *  Pray for LATN’s students.  They need to be highly disciplined in order to manage online learning and their ministry responsibilities.

   *  Pray for the courses that are being developed for teaching in the January 2007 term.These courses, along with those already developed require God’s guidance to make sure they truly are tools for equipping Latin America’s evangelical leaders.

   *  Pray that God would continue to supply our financial needs.  Although LATN is a relatively low-budget ministry, it still requires God to supply our needs. Funds are needed for developing courses as well as for administrative costs.  And pray for the following missionaries needing significant support: Judy Muselman and the Fernandezes (we need these missionaries in Costa Rica full-time!)

15.Student comment.The other day I was sitting at the computer when my computer “rang.” It was a Skype (internet) phone call from one of LATN’s students in Venezuela.This particular student has taken nearly all the courses LATN has developed thus far.He was calling just to encourage us to continue to press on.“Don’t give up,” he said.“And don’t lower your standards.Keep your quality at the highest levels.I have other options of study but they are not as serious in quality as LATN’s program.”Needless to say, this was an encouraging phone call.This particular student is one of the significant leaders of a denomination of over 50 churches.We are humbled that God uses LATN as a tool to reach this choice leader of the church.

"Pray for LATN as we seek to make quality theological education accessible to Latin America's evangelical leaders."

 LATNewsbytes is produced by Keith Anderson and the LATN missionaries of the EFCA International Mission. You may contact Keith at kanderson@efcaim.org.

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