Seminaries supporting seminaries

The first story I covered in Lima, Peru, was about a pastors’ conference led by a group from a seminary in New Orleans. But, as sometimes happens, the real story was something else.

A month before the conference, the Peruvian government passed a law saying for the first time in the nation’s history that non-Catholic seminaries can receive official accreditation. It’s a new opportunity for evangelical schools in Peru, but the possibility also comes with some challenges. So while the group from New Orleans was there, they met with leaders from the Baptist seminaries in Peru, and offered their perspective.

But we still covered the pastor’s conference. The New Orleans seminary president and a professor led the men’s conference and talked about leadership qualities. Meanwhile, their wives led a woman’s conference to talk to the women about walking with the Lord.

More than a hundred people came for all three nights of the conference, some of them traveling more than 2 hours both ways to be there. A question-and-answer session in the men’s conference revealed that the material was valuable to those in attendance – particularly when it came to how to lead a family in a godly way.

It was great to see Christians from one culture reaching out to encourage their brothers in another culture. In particular I was impressed with the man who translated everything – He did a great job.