A Dream That Became Reality

By Richard Buck

While over a million people danced in the streets of Natal, Brazil in the Carnatal (a local carnival), 250 believers gathered at a far different kind of party. They came from near and far to praise God for Berean Baptist Seminary's 50 years of preparing workers for God's harvest field.

Former faculty members who journeyed from North America included Gene and Earlene Wellsfry, Frank and Doris Jertberg, Frank and Brenda Bale, Richard and Patricia Glenny, Virginia Martin, Dorothy Leviness Tomkins, Agnes Haik, and Helen King. Missionaries from other fields who cooperated in the school's ministries also attended.

Among the former students on hand was Marcelice Gomes, a 1969 graduate, who flew in from the Amazon to be the keynote speaker. Pastor Marcelice spoke of his early days in Natal. He arrived at Berean from Benjamin Constant, on the Peruvian border, as a 15-year-old. In those days, the seminary offered a high-school completion program in which Marcelice studied.

He recalled an early experience when accompanying a missionary to the bus station to collect a new young woman student. In a gesture of helpfulness, he reached down to carry one of her suitcases. "Leave that alone, you brat!" the new student shouted. "That's okay," the missionary clarified. "He's a student, too."

God blessed that "brat" with successful pastorates and the opportunity to hold a high position in the Federal Education Ministry. His church has started four daughter works.

Another graduate, Pastor Sebastião Tenorio Rocha, introduced his new book. In it, he called the Berean Baptist Institute and Seminary, the fulfillment of Dr. Carleton Matthews' dream. The dream began in 1950 when the Baptist Bible Institute was born. Berean Seminary arose from a merger of Hephzibah Baptist Institute for women, started by ABWE missionaries Virginia LeSuer and Frona Mattox in Mossoro, and the Bible Baptist Institute for men, founded by Carleton Matthews who also arranged the merger. He directed the resulting Berean Seminary until his death in 1966.

The three-day commemoration opened on November 30, 2000 with a graduation banquet. Many people were reunited for the first time in 40 years or more. Graduation ceremonies followed on December 1, the date for the official jubilee celebration, and concluded with fellowship at Elim Camp the next day.

At this time, the school boasts 140 graduates, many of whom pastor churches or are faithful lay people in their local churches. The school has expanded to include a masters' program and is the first of the ABWE seminaries and institutes in Brazil to offer a missions major.