The Living Word for Children, Too
Bible Correspondance School in Chile
By Becky Patton
It has been said that "the pen is mightier than the sword," but
in Chile the pen is used to wield the Sword of the Spirit which
mightily impacts lives. For almost 30 years the Holy Spirit has
used La Palabra Viva (The Living Word) Bible Correspondence School
in Santiago, Chile to change and challenge the lives of children,
young people and adults. Chile is a land steeped in the Roman Catholic
tradition where most people know little of the pure Word of God.
In the early 1970's when ABWE missionary Larry Smith started
La Palabra Viva, he challenged 10-year-old Ana Gibson to study
God's Word using a Bible Correspondence Course. She found the courses
so helpful that she continued to study throughout her teen years
before enrolling in the Santiago Baptist Bible Institute at age
20. At that time, because she considered the lessons much too valuable
to keep to herself, she began working as secretary for ABWE missionary
Sharon Row, who has directed the school since 1973. Ana corrects
and mails out lessons and answers students' questions. As
Ana serves with her husband, Celindo Barriga, pastor of Trinity
Baptist Church, she continues to use the Bible correspondence school
courses to teach and disciple others.
The children's course includes 40 lessons on Mark, Luke, John
and Acts. It was developed by Pan American Literature Mission based
in Tucson, AZ, but is now printed in Chile. On completion, students
receive a New Testament and a special diploma. For the last five
years we have mailed over 50 diplomas yearly to children who completed
the course. Christian children often give their unsaved schoolmates
a coupon to receive a free lesson. Groups of ten or fifteen children
from many different schools study God's Word through these courses.
The studies have also been used to teach children in government-operated
orphanages.
Church members visit homes in their communities, offering the
correspondence course to those who wish to study the Bible. Believers
then deliver the lessons each week to enrolled students, building
relationships with the families. As a result, several people have
been saved. One church had the joy of baptizing 11 new converts
who had been reached through the Bible correspondence lessons.
Pastor Barriga, who serves as co-director of the Santiago Bible
Institute and Seminary explains, "God used the courses in
my youth to kindle a desire for deeper study of the Word. I have
noticed that many of the students at the seminary and Bible institute
have studied La Palabra Viva courses and these lessons have served
as a bridge into formal training for Christian service."
Coupons for lessons are handed out at the close of Christian camps,
Vacation Bible Schools and Joy Clubs as a method of discipling
children who have made decisions. Sometimes the coupons travel
far. A group of children in Los Andes, a small copper mining town
high in the Andes Mountains, is now studying the Bible. We recently
received a letter from a young girl in Cuba who has completed several
lessons.
The Living Word can go where missionaries can not go, can stay
after Christian workers have to leave, and can penetrate deeply
into hearts and lives.
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