500 x 5 x 5 “GOING GLOBAL” WITH GROUNDBREAKING HEBREW CLASS In Partnership with Uruguay’s FEBU Bible School
GREENVILLE, SC AND MONTEVIDEO, URUGUARY – BJU Seminary has launched its “GOING GLOBAL” campaign to extend its 500 x 5 x 5 strategic vision internationally with a groundbreaking Hebrew class conducted in cooperation with FEBU (Facultad de Estudios Bíblicos del Uruguay / Faculty of Biblical Studies of Uruguay).
A total of 18 students from Uruguay, Mexico, Chile, and Venezuela were led by BJU Seminary graduate, Carlos Cruz in basic Hebrew studies, with materials from BJU Seminary and support from Old Testament languages professor and Spanish speaker, Ken Casillas.
Among the students was BJU Seminary grad Dr. David Cortés—who has appeared on the Theologically Speaking podcast. Dr. Cortés noted that his DMin degree program did not require him to study Hebrew and expressed his gratitude for a post-graduate opportunity to enrich his ministry:
“As I continue to study the Word of God to feed myself and my congregation, I believe that the basic knowledge of this beautiful language will aid my understanding…. Carlos’ explanation of the method and value of word studies, his lecture on discourse analysis, and his methodical explanation on how to identify Hebrew themes will all be tools that I use frequently in my studies.”
Pedro Dominguez pastors Iglesia Bautista El Redentor in Caborca, Mexico and also teaches God’s Word in nearby towns, with the goal of starting more churches. He commented, “When I consulted lexicons or dictionaries, I felt that I needed to know more. What I have now learned has been very useful to me, and with God’s favor I will continue improving in the interpretation and application of the biblical text.”
Another student, Lucas Bizoso, leads worship at the church his dad pastors in Uruguay and has recently begun preaching as well. He expressed his gratitude for “a tool to study the Word and to have more confidence when approaching the Old Testament.”
Under the Going Global initiative, BJU Seminary will extend its vision of putting pastors on the path to the pulpit internationally as well as in the U.S., partnering with seminaries training their own national leaders—initially targeting India in addition to Uruguay.
Further initiatives under development include: a program to provide a “Teaching Bible” graduate certificate to students in Northeast India. Most of the pastors who live in this region have had very little Bible training. We are in need of scholarship funds for these students, as they are only able to pay a portion of what it costs to offer the courses (5 classes).