Cap-Haitien, Haiti.
On January 25, 2003 the Center for Biblical Training celebrated
its second graduation exercise in which eleven men were commended to
God as evangelists and workers in His kingdom. Present at these joyous
ceremonies were members of the board of the Haitian Christian Foundation,
representatives of both SIB! and AIBI,
local U.S. missionaries, as well as numerous Haitian
Christians accompanied by friends and family members.
The
first congregation of the church of
Christ in northern Haiti was established in 1978 by Brother Joseph
Albert (1938-1998), a native Haitian evangelist then from Portau-Prince.
The church in northern Haiti grew consistently to over 50 congregations with 5,000 members, and today
is the fastest growing in Haiti. The need for trained servant evangelists
and other church leaders was great, but opportunities were limited.
For years, Haitian church leaders, U. S. missionaries, and other supporters
of the Lord's work in Haiti had sought the Lord's guidance in forming
a foundation to establish a preacher training school in northern Haiti. As a result the Haitian Christian Foundation
(HCF) was formed in 1993. That same year a 6.4 acre tract of land was
purchased for the Center for Biblical (CBT) just outside of Cap-Haitien in the area of Galman-duPlaa,
and ground breaking occurred in 1994. After raising the necessary funds,
building the campus, selecting on-site
U.S. missionaries and the first student body,
the Lord blessed CBT with their opening ceremony in January of 1997.
The
student body generally consists of twelve men who go through a three
year mentoring and academic program with a core heavy in biblical and
related studies. The first class of students graduated in January, 2000
and continues to faithfully serve the Lord throughout northern Haiti.
The
newest class of students is scheduled to begin their studies in March
and will follow the most in-depth curriculum thus far. Their training
will include courses focusing on hermeneutics, exegesis, textual studies
of all the books of the Bible, the minister's spiritual life, the Christian
home, ethics, effective church leadership, counseling, legal matters,
history, homiletics, and Greek, as well as doctrinal issues. Also, considering
Haiti's unique culture and the Creole language which is spoken there,
the students will also receive abundant training in French and English
(due to the greater number of biblical resources available in those
languages), and Animism (due to the deeply imbedded beliefs concerning
the role and impact of personal spiritual beings and impersonal spiritual
forces in human affairs). It is our prayer that through this program
the Lord will transform and more fully equip these men for the ministry
to which they have been called.
CBT
was established "to prepare selected students to be servant evangelists
to spread the gospel of Christ, and to minister to the needs of the
Haitian people in the spirit and likeness of Christ." With a desire
to continue growing and maturing in this noble endeavor HCF/CBT approached
SIBI regarding the possibility of forming a ministry training
partnership agreement. After several months of ironing out the details
this partnership was officially formed on January 25, 2003,
the same day as CBT's graduation. AIBl,
due to its proximity and work already being conducted in the Caribbean,
will now be largely responsible for interfacing with David Dirrim, the
present director of the CBT. We praise God for this new development
and request your continued prayers. Blessings to all.
COMING
EVENTS!
1. Second teaching
cycle 2003: March 3-April 25
2. First quarter
Evaluation and Planning Session: March
1.
3. Annual Conferences: "A Shelter in the Storm," March
21-23.
4. Next Cuba Seminar School: May 6-8.
SPECIAL
NEEDS!
1. Field Representative
2. Projector
(for PowerPoint presentations)
3. New and
used computers
4. TV &
VCR (For our Video Classes)
5. Support
for instructors: $1,000/month
6. School operating
expenses: $1,800/month
7. Spanish
and English books for library.
Atlantic International
Bible Institute (AIBl)
7700 W. 20th Avenue
Hialeah, FL 33016
Phone: (305)
558-8058
www.sunsetinternational.org
Kirk A. McMee
Dean of AIBI/instructor
E-mail: aibil@msn.com
Armando Alaniz
Academic Dean/instructor
E-mail: aalaniz2@hotmail.com
Jorge Pineda
Extension School Dean! Instructor
E-mail: pineda591@yahoo.com
