Colombians seek a fresh start.
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A time for this.

What a time for investing in the lives of emerging Christian leaders in Latin America!

In this stage of a peace process that has attempted to bring fifty years of civil war to an end, Colombians long for a different nation than the one they’ve known. Don’t get me wrong. There is much to love in the rich legacy of regions and cultures that makes up today’s Colombia. At the same time, many tears and too much blood have flowed in a country in which resurgent violence has been the wolf at each generation’s door.

Colombians want to move beyond, to create a new Colombia for themselves and their children. You can feel it in the air, you can see it signs along the street, you can discern it in the mingled stories of displacement, of forgiveness, in the attempt to manage expectations that have been betrayed too many times.

You can almost feel the hope. And hope, in this region of the world, does not come cheap.
What a privilege to be invited into the lives of Colombia’s emerging Christian leaders at a time like this!

In the last few years, our Biblical Seminary of Colombia (BSC) has stepped outside of the safer confines of the evangelical community to take its place among the accredited universities of this country of nearly 50 million people. Firmly anchored in biblical conviction, the BSC now competes on quality alongside the established giants and the peppy newcomers of the Colombian educational scene. Our arrival (soon, we hope!) in Colombia and our integration into the BSC team are part of the plan to deepen BSC’s ministry and extend its reach into higher levels of degree offerings.

Colombians look towards a nuevo futuro: a new future. The nation’s Christian citizens will have a voice in shaping that future. We Baers get a front row seat and an oar in the water as soon-to-be residents of this unique and compelling country.
This is a season of ‘holy risk-taking’ at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia. The Lord is drawing not only exceptional emerging leaders onto its roster of students. He is also populating the leadership and faculty of the BSC with an astonishing mix of Colombians and other leaders who are prepared to mentor a generation of Latin America’s finest Christian leaders in the direction of their full stature. Over the next years, we will introduce you to some of these tremendous new colleagues.

Meanwhile, have a look at this recently produced English-language video about the BSC. I just watched it again. I confess that, every time I view it, this brief video moistens my eyes with a sense of deep privilege that we get to be a part of this. And the real thing is even better than the video.

The Biblical Seminary of Colombia has an honored legacy of 72 years of service. Right now, in what feels to all involved as a very special moment, the seminary under great leadership is moving from strength to strength.
Our support level has reached


57.18%

When we hit 60%, we’re cleared for pre-field training (5 weeks).
When we hit 100%, we’re on our way to Colombia.
Click here to join our support team!
We were talking about critical moments for theological education and leader training. This is certainly one of those in Colombia.

You’ve read about the peace agreement between the government and the largest rebel group (called FARC). The terms were controversial. People of good will found themselves on opposite sides of the debate and the referendum. Matters of justice and forgiveness should have been at the core of Colombian Christians’ consideration of the issue and, in many cases, they were. Answers have not come easily. 

Yet everyone is weary of conflict and eager for a fresh start.

When I was last in Colombia, the FARC guerrillas were ‘pre-mobilizing’ for the laying down of their weapons and their integration into Colombia society. The Biblical Seminary of Colombia has had students who are former soldiers of the Colombian Armed Forces and others who are former guerillas. Just think of the dorm room conversations. Think of the demand for and the opportunities for genuine, hard-won reconciliation.

Here’s a fascinating glimpse of young FARC guerrillas on the eve of demobilization. Betcha’ they look differently than you imagine.

And here’s a great quiz that will test your knowledge of Colombia. We want you to know all that you can about our future home. After all, you’ll visit us.
In other news: we’ve sold our home!

The transaction is scheduled to close on May 10. This is a HUGE step on our path to Colombia.
The Indianapolis church group that is our spiritual family here (called CHEERS) had an Orange Party. Don’t ask me, I don’t know where these ideas come from, either.
And finally …
  • Karen continues to work diligently on Spanish via Skype with her teacher Magdalena in Colombia. She’s progressing nicely, although we can still only speak together in Spanish in the present text. If it happened last week, we’ll need to do English. If it hasn’t happened yet, same thing. If it’s goin’ on right now, we’ll amaze you.
  • We’ve already moved some things into the Haven House, where we’ll live in the company of the good folks (really just redeemed sinners, at the root of things, but beautiful people because grace makes all things beautiful) at David’s Community Bible Church in Millersburg, Pennsylvania for the duration of our support-raising season. We’ll move in bodily in the first week of May. This is going to be an amazing gift of reconnection and we hope to serve this community well during our stay.
  • My (Dave’s) father, Raymond ‘Mim’ Baer, recently entered a nursing home near Millersburg. It’ll be wonderful to be near Dad and Mom Baer.
  • David is working with Eduardo Vargas, a recent graduate of the Biblical Seminary of Colombia, to get the phenomenal on-line Hebrew-learning materials produced by Bible Mesh transitioned into Spanish. We’re making great progress, although there’s no such thing as an uncomplicated issue when we merge an ancient language and modern technology from two continents in the way that we’re doing. I’m loving it.
  • The other side of Dave’s work (developing our United World Mission’s Theological Education Initiative) is blossoming. We’ll tell you about it.
  • Leaving our wonderful home in Indy is bitter-sweet. But we are buoyed by the promise of new things that await us. This continues to be a profoundly vulnerable and blessed season, all at the same time. We’re pumped.
Our mailing address is now:

739 Church Street, Millersburg, PA 17061 (yippee!)

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