From May 11 – 23, 2014, SENDAS hosted a group of twelve doctoral students who are part of the Hispanic program at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. The students are from two different Regions: Mesoamerica (MAR) and South America (SAM).

For two weeks the students completed their final course of the Doctor of Ministry degree program (DMin): Contextualization of Wesleyan Ministry and the Realities in the Latin American Context. SENDAS as well as the South American Seminary in Ecuador were the host institutions for the NTS program.

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Dr. Judith Schwanz was the guide for the student mentors. The four mentors included Dr. Eduardo Duque, Dr. H. Fernando Bullon, Dr. Oswaldo Fernandez y el Dr. Edgar Baldeon. The professors for the final course were Dr. Ruben Fernandez (President of SENDAS) and Dr. Jorge Julca (President of the Nazarene Theological Seminary of the South Cone, South America).

Dr. Schwanz shares this about her experiences with the doctoral students. “I have been present at all four seminars — two in Quito, Ecuador and two at SENDAS — and have come to deeply appreciate the students in this program. I am blessed by the stories of their ministries and the opportunity to play a small part in their spiritual and ministerial growth. As we have discussed their plans for Pastoral Research Projects, I am so excited about their continuing impact throughout Latin America for building the Kingdom of God.”

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The students who completed this final course included these:

Mesoamerica Region
Luis Flores from El Salvador
Milton Gay from El Salvador, Serving in Guatemala
Obdulia Martinez from México
Edgar Menendez from Guatemala
Herson Santa from Puerto Rico
María Delia Varela from El Salvador, Serving in Panama
Marco Velasco from México

South America Region
Carlos Abejer from Argentina, Serving in Brazil
Ernesto Ferreira from Brazil
Jean David Larochelle from Haití, Serving in Ecuador
Roberto Quinatoa from Ecuador
Juana Quiroga from Bolivia

Each day the class had a special guest speaker that included Latin American authors, theologians and pastors such as Dr. Harold Segura, Dr. Juan Stam, Dr. Ruth Padilla, Dr. Chris Shaw, Dr. Monica Mastronardi, Dr. Sonia Abarca, Dr. Alexander Cabezas and Dr. Jose Chacon.

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One of the doctoral students, Edgar Menendez, shares this about the course: “It really enriched me to experience openness and maturity in the class as students shared their reflections and comments in relation to the content and their daily experiences, both in ministry and in theological education. I so appreciated having recognized guest speakers who shared out of their richness of knowledge and ministry experience, and this made the class a great success, but in addition, the speakers conducted themselves in such a humble and accessible way that is worthy of us repeating. I know that in the midst of so much ministerial work, SENDAS and also the teachers gave the best in terms of effort, resources and excellent hospitality.

Also, Dr. Carla Sunberg, President of NTS, encouraged and challenged the students at the beginning of the course. The students completed the course successfully and are now preparing their final projects in anticipation of next year’s graduation.

It has been a pleasure for SENDAS to offer our campus to these students, mentors, professors and invited guests during the doctoral program in ministry. We pray for God’s blessings on each student as they continue in their studies and their ministries.

 

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