Teaching continues apace for Gustavo this semester.
For the new Masters program, he developed and is teaching the Greco-Roman Background of the New Testament covering the political, religious, philosophical and social dynamics of the Roman Empire.
This is the second historical class on the New Testament he has developed and taught for the Masters program (Jewish background was last semester). The class size doubled as well, from 8 to 16 which is great news for the seminary and its finances.
This bimester (the last 8 weeks of a semester) Gustavo is also teaching a course on Pauline Literature through the seminary’s virtual program. This class has 26 students. Yikes! As always, working through Paul’s letters is an adventure as there are students from varied perspectives.
Student Profiles
I’m pleased to introduce Juan Felipe and Maria Fernanda (with their son Nicolas), who have been married for 13 years. They actually met when they were 15 and dated a long, long, time before tying the knot.
They are both in the Masters program and in my Greco-Roman Context of the New Testament class.
Juan Felipe is an environmental engineer by trade, while Maria Fernanda is a physiotherapist. They caught the missions bug when they had the privilege of completing part of their first Masters in Norway through an exchange program with Colombia.
They both currently serve on staff of their church in Bogotá in two areas: pastors of couples and families as well as pastors of Missions. Their longer-term goal is to serve in Southern Spain as tentmakers with Frontiers in the area of church planting.
Time to Play
The seminary purchased a new playground recently after the old wooden one began to deteriorate. Our own children fondly remember playing on the old one when they lived here from 2011-2015.
One of the dads (a missionary and professor here) also saved the old steel swing structure. He patiently sanded it, his kids painted it, and he installed new hardware plus set it in concrete. Looks brand new (green, far right, on the end), and the older kids love it.
We are grateful to have joined some of the professors and staff in contributing some funds for what is an important community and recreational meeting place for families and their children.
Thanksgiving / Prayer Requests
We are thankful for the addition of two new professors for our Masters program. One is a Colombian national who completed his PhD in New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. Another is from the Netherlands who holds a PhD in Old Testament and who also taught in Chile for 8 years.
Please continue to pray for the growth of our Masters program. We have hired a new social media manager who is doing a great job promoting all of the programs, particularly on Instagram where one of our target markets resides.
One big need is student scholarships (especially for female students) – A full year in our Masters program is $3,600. Please contact us directly if you wish to contribute toward this need.
Family Update
We are grateful that we’ll be able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with our kiddos this year. Gustavo needs to return to the states for the annual SBL conference (Society of Biblical Literature) held in Denver, CO this year. SBL is always held the weekend before Thanksgiving.
Speaking of our children, here’s a quick update. Emilio graduated from Vanderbilt University in May. In July, he drove across country to arrive in San Francisco just in time to start his new career. He’s working for Sumeru Equity Partners, a technology-focused growth capital firm. He’s working long hours and learning tons! In his limited free time, he’s trying to make friends and develop new hobbies such as hiking and indoor rock climbing.
Caroline is a senior at Connecticut College. After spending last semester in Rome and then traveling throughout Europe for a few weeks, she’s back on campus focusing on her senior-year capstone project, which will culminate in an exhibition in May judged by professional guest artists. Her goal is to create 10 – 15 original art pieces in all sorts of medium including printmaking, oil, wood, ink/pencil/charcoal, watercolor, acrylic and photography. She has her 2nd critique by Conn College art professors this week! In her spare time, she’s taking classes and hopefully will teach a class at her new favorite place: Spark Makerspace | New London, CT
Natalie is a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis studying Biomedical Engineering. She’s also hoping to minor in Computer Science and Spanish. This semester she’s keeping busy with 21 credits (including Organic Chemistry!) while being the treasurer for the Biomedical Engineering Society, the Secretary for the Society of Women in Engineering and tutoring in various STEM classes including physics, differential equations and calculus III. In her spare time, she attempts to see every Broadway play touring through St. Louis!
Rochelle is coming up on her 2nd year anniversary working as a student systems analyst with Phillips Exeter Academy. She’s 100% remote and loves the work, her coworkers and the mission of the school. In Rochelle’s spare time, she continues her addiction of Korean Dramas on Netflix. The “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” is the bomb!
For those of you who have tried to keep up with our real estate antics, the summary is that we sold our house in Connecticut and moved back into our home of 21 years in Everett, MA. We are especially thankful for two new housemates who are so kind to take care of the house and the cats while we are in Colombia.