They came! The Speed-The-Light team from California was here in the Patagonia for a very special time of ministry and edification! The team consisted of Steve Edwards, founder of Global Passion Ministries, the Student Ministry Directors from N. and S. California districts, Eddie De La Rosa and Tom Hammel, and four other youth pastors that they brought along.On behalf of N.CA/NV district, Eddie De La Rosa presented us with the funds for a new STL vehicle. We are so thankful to have had the honor and privilege of not only hosting and getting to know this tremendous group, but also of working alongside and sharing our ministry with them. Both Eddie and Felicia had fun interpreting for each team member as they shared with local youth leaders and our students.
Because of their timely visit, the 2nd term at IBP started with a Bang! The students were blessed to sit under their teaching those first few days of classes. Thank you for coming Steve, Eddie, Tom, Jessica Cebrowski, Pat McConville, Daniel Martinez, and Jerad Macauley. The semester took off after that first week with the students ready to dive in and learn from those the Lord prepared in advance to teach this semester.
VEN Church Planting Seminar
In late October we held our regular School of Formation for Pioneer Church Planters - a church planters seminar on our campus. It was presented by our national church planting department (VEN), and one of the two presenters was one of our alumni, pastor Daniel (& Analia) Ayelef, who was also recently selected to be the national treasurer of VEN. It was great to see how well Daniel and Analia (center in pic on right) are doing, and how they have been faithful for these many years since they graduated. In the 15 years since he graduated (1998), Daniel has planted a thriving church and sent 7 students (see pic) to IBP; two of them graduated this year.
SPIRITUAL EMPHASIS WEEK
Our Spiritual Emphasis week, during the first week of November, featured pastors Ruben Daconte (our speaker) and Sergio Bonacina (our teacher), both from thriving ministries in Buenos Aires. They challenged our students to believe God for His help that is available to them every day. Both pastors focused on evangelism, drawing from their lives rich in experience in that area. At left is a picture of our students along with both pastors.
One of the highlights of every school year is our annual IBP Joven (youth) event.
Pastor Sergio Bonacina was previously invited to stick around after spiritual emphasis for this weekend of ministry.That Saturday,
approximately 200 youth from nearby cities came through our gates for an all day event filled with evangelism training, music, and fellowship, followed by an
inspiring message by our awesome invited speaker.
