Guatemala Trip
I am excited to announce how God is allowing us to move ahead with the upgrading of the video and audio studio at the Guatemala Bible Seminary (GBS). In the past 23 years, CMRC has partnered with GBS and with our associate, Professor Cesar Arreaga, in producing courses by Seminary professors, which we have distributed for free to pastors in Latin America.
Most of these pastors were in Cuba and the Peruvian Amazon. In January 2024, GBS made some changes, and Cesar moved into the position of Media Director. Along with this change, the new President, Uri Barbosa, arrived. The changes allowed CMRC to become more active in the production of new seminars. It was decided that the 23-year-old studio and equipment were not capable of producing quality, digital courses. CMRC’s goal is to help pastors in communities of poverty, and this change allowed us to produce more updated courses.
We have also started a YouTube channel where any Spanish speaking person can take the courses (m.youtube.com/@SBGCMRC). This spring and summer, we were able to raise $30,000 to buy new equipment and renovate the existing Studio A. We were thrilled when President Uri encouraged us to make another new Studio B which will be a great asset to the school as well. Thank you to all of those who generously donated to see this project come to fruition. Keep tuned to follow the project along.
Doug Springer
Exectutive Director
Guatemala Studio Project
I recently had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala with Doug Springer. The fund raising for the studio project was a real blessing as we were able to raise all the funds needed; and so Doug and I travelled down to Guatemala to start the project without any delay.
When we sat down with Cesar to plan out how we should proceed, we had planned on doing some major work to make the studio larger and more versatile. This required reducing the size of the audio production booth, which was significant work. However, as God is apt to do when men make plans, ours were totally changed.
We met with the President of the Seminary, and after we had presented the plan on how we were going to proceed, he said: “why don’t you just take the adjoining two rooms and add them to the studio?” This was amazing. We could now have two very good separate studios plus a center office with a room for meetings. This was a much larger area to renovate, but also much easier. It also allowed one studio to be done while the other was kept in use, and Cesar would have no down time in production. God was blessing the project every step of the way!
Doug and I were fortunate to be able to spend two days working with Cesar doing tear downs and relocating walls. I find real enjoyment in being able to be part of the actual construction.
I would like to thank all those who contributed funds and prayers for this project. It could only have happened with God’s blessing and your support.
Terry Pasiuk
Board Member
During our recent trip to Guatemala for the studio project, Cesar (Director of Media for SBG and CMRC Associates) had the opportunity to discuss the project with Uri Barbosa, the President of the Seminary.
Cesar: Uri, how do you see the future of education?
Uri: I see a future with more creative and effective ways of learning online and in hybrid formats. Technology will provide the potential to enhance, if not replace, traditional classroom learning with new methods of self-guided learning, with better content, and with higher pedagogical tools.
Cesar: How do you see CMRC’s project with regard to the training of ministers and church servants?
Uri: It is pedagogically relevant to almost any academic content, and offers the potential for adaptability to all type of environments, whether urban or rural, remote or nearby; and for all kinds of students, whether they be highly academic, or moderately or lowly educated. While it still has potential for improvement, the media means we will allow for greater scale, choice and reach.
Cesar: How does the CMRC project fit into what the SBG does in its educational process in preparation for training ministers and church servants?
Uri: In the projections drawn up for the SBG Academy, the online teaching methods and hybrid ways (synchronous and asynchronous) are imperative. Faced with this challenge, having the support of CMRC is, in addition to being pertinent, very necessary. The recording, editing, and adaptation of academic content in audiovisual media are all part of the challenges of the next phase that the SBG needs to face. Therefore, the collaboration and connection of CMRC with the SBG in this project fit providentially.
GBS’s President: Uri Rafael Barbosa and his wife Nataly de Barbosa
Paxy is one of the young women in the medical course we are providing. This semester, Paxy has changed her schedule from mornings to afternoons, from 1:00 to 6:30 pm. This is in order to be able to help her mother at home during the mornings. Her class schedule includes:
- Health promotion and prevention in pharmacy
- Application of pharmacological bases of medication II
- Research and technological innovation projects
- Study of diseases and pharmacological treatment II
- Natural resource transformation techniques
- Drug classification.
Paxy writes: “First of I want to thank God for all things, for giving me health and well-being, and also for the lessons He has taught me and continues to teach me, and for the opportunities He has put in my path. Every day I recognize His loving hand in everything that surrounds me and in every experience I live. I also thank my parents and siblings for their unconditional love; they are the pillars on which I build my life and my dreams. And overall, I thank CMRC for the invaluable opportunity they have given me by being selected as beneficiary of their scholarship program. Their generosity and support are a beacon of light on my educational path, and I am deeply grateful for the trust they have placed in me.”
Prayer Requests
- Karen in Iquitos Peru asks for her family and her mother’s health.
- Karen is looking for a job and has applied to the government, but it is a long process (her work with CMRC does not pay full time.)
- Pray for Doug as he travels to Cuba from the 14th to the 23rd of October.
- Pray for safety in travel, and to keep him healthy. Mosquitoes carry disease, and so it is a challenge to keep healthy.
- Pray that Cesar will find good carpenters and workers at a good price to renovate the studios.
