Our Goals and Dreams for the Future

In April of this year, we had the good fortune to partipate in the New Wineskins Missions Conference in North Carolina. One of the most helpful things I learned at the conference came during the Rev. Dr. Steve Noll’s workshop presentation on his work in Uganda. Steve mentioned something that immediately caught my attention. Apparently, The Saints Augustine is not alone in its struggle to be financially self-sufficient; many other third-world theological colleges and seminaries have faced the same problem. Some have had to close their doors in recent years because their programs are no longer sustainable.

In Uganda, however, Bishop Tucker Theological College has responded successfully to this difficulty in an ingenious way: by beginnning new academic programs and offering degrees in other subjects. They became Uganda Christian University, a full-fledged private university. This brought in many more students (in just 10 years, they have grown from 100 to over 5,000 students!), which in turn brought in the funds needed to support their theological program. Many other theological colleges (like the newly-established St. John’s University in Tanzania) are following UCU’s lead and experiencing similar success. UCU thus represents a new breed of Christian universities springing up around the world, particularly in the Global South.

Ever since Steve shared this, I have been praying about whether this would be a good strategy for us to imitate. It many ways, it would go hand-in-hand with our plans to seek accreditation from the Peruvian government. In order to be able to offer a recognized Bachelor degree, we would need to be incorporated as a University. And, one of the requirements for becoming a University is having more than one academic program.

Obviously, we are not now in the same situation that Bishop Tucker Theological College was in ten years ago. At that point, Bishop Tucker had already been in existence for almost 100 years, already had a relatively large campus with various facilities, and had strong support from the Ugandan government. We have none of these advantages, and our resources are decidedly more limited. Clearly, we would be foolish to begin such an enormous project without being certain that God wants us to do so! So, we are dedicating ourselves to a time of discernment—listening and watching for God’s direction, and for open doors.

In my own prayers, God has been bringing the possibility of a new degree program in Community and Economic Development to the forefront of my mind. Such a faculty would focus on principles for developing sustainable, holistic growth; methods of microenterprise and microcredit; community-based participation in reconstruction, relief and rehabilitation; local program management and administration; advocacy of the poor; women’s (especially single mothers’) economic empowerment; and entrepreneurship. Participants would have opportunities to apply what they are learning in practical, hands-on field experiences throughout the diocese.

Such a faculty would fit in perfectly because working with the poor and the marginalized is already a key emphasis of this diocese and central to our diocesan vision. We are already involved in various projects and have strong practical experience in this area. A new degree program would build upon those strengths and help us become more effective. At the end of the day, poverty is such a huge issue in Peru that to not train our students how to minister among the poor would be negligent.

This may also be an excellent opportunity for us to fill a void. According to the head of the economics department of one of the major Roman Catholic Universities here, there are currently no degree programs in Peru in Community and Economic Development. He was very interested in the idea, saying that it is a great need here and would fill an important “niche”.

Another possible academic program that has come up in our prayers is a faculty of Public Health. This program would focus on protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. Key components would include nutrition, maternal and child care, health education, and disease prevention.

Like Community and Economic Development, this is an area in which the diocese is already involved and which fits well into our diocesan vision. It is also a huge need here in Peru, since health issues go hand in hand with poverty issues.

I will just mention three other programs which have caught our imagination, but are less prominent in our discernment: Christian Counseling (which has long been a focus of the seminary), Education (which would help train up new teachers for our schools), and English (there is a huge demand for this one).

In addition, I have a dream to start up several centers, which may not have their own degree programs but could nevertheless provide important resources to our students:

  • Center for Andean Ministries: Reaching Quechua-speakers of the Rural Andes In much of the Andean region of Peru, Quechua is the primary language of the people. In fact, Quechua is spoken by more than 40% of Peru’s population. Most of the isolated towns and villages where they live are still a pioneer mission field. To minister effectively among them, it is vital to learn this language and to understand their culture. In addition, because much of the Quechuan population is illiterate, it is important to develop non-literary methods of evangelism and discipleship. The Saints Augustine would like to develop courses which will equip missionaries to reach out to these people, and send students to do missionary internships among them. Eventually, it would be live to establish a Center for Andean Ministries which would research, promote and facilitate ministry in that region.

  • Youth Ministry Center: Reaching the Young People of Peru Recent surveys have shown that an overwhelming 84% of Christians today became Christians before the age of 20. And although this is a U.S. statistic, we can bear witness that the pattern is the same in the Latin American context. When you consider this in conjunction with other statistics showing that almost 50% of the Peruvian population is under the age of 20, the conclusion is obvious: in Peru, the harvest is ripe! And the harvest is young.

    Unfortunately, Peru’s youth are also in trouble. Many come from broken families and often do not know their own fathers. Particularly in Lima, the temptations of drugs, alcohol and gangs are forever present. The majority cannot get into university and have little or no hope of getting a dignified job. They feel trapped and desperate because they have few options and opportunities.

    Yet, we have seen first-hand that God is doing something special among the youth here. The Saints Augustine is eager to train leaders to reach out effectively to youth, and to identify and support youth as they grow in leadership themselves. We would eventually like to develop a youth ministry certificate program.

  • Anglican Studies Center: Exploring the Depth of Anglican Spirituality For some time, the seminary has been working to strengthen the diocese’s sense of Anglican identity. We want our students to experience the depth of Anglican spirituality, and to appreciate the richness of our history and heritage. We want them to identify personally with the wider Anglican Communion, and be aware of their role within it. Unfortunately, there are very few “primary source materials” of Anglican authors available in Spanish. We want to translate and publish these materials to augment our library. We also hope to offer our students a certificate in Anglican Studies.

  • Pastoral Care Center for Students: Holiness, Inner Healing, and Spirituality We want our graduates to not merely have intellectual knowledge, but to be healthy spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, etc. We want them to have a depth of personal spirituality that will empower them in ministry, and a maturity that will show itself in holy living. As part of our program we would like to establish a Pastoral Care Center which will work to disciple them in these ways. This Center would include student mentors, counselors and chaplains who could “come alongside” seminarians and offer help. It would also include resources and space for prayer, counseling sessions, small group meetings, and personal reflection.

    Please keep us in your prayers and ask that God would give us clear discernment regarding the right way forward. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to put this together on my own, I am looking to see what doors God might open. In the end, there will need to be some fairly miraculous provision for this dream to become a reality.