Bible Institute

October 1966: Chuck and Charla Pereau and Roy and Nell Bean were lost in the Baja Peninsula. Seeking help, an elderly man led them to the old adobe buildings once used for a gambling casino and brothel. Charla heard children's voices where there were no children...and was given a vision of a waving field of grain. The four joined hands and prayed that God would use this place for the homeless children that roamed the streets and forged for their daily bread from the garbage dumps in Mexico. They interpreted the waving field of grain to mean that one day this would be the site of a great harvest of souls. Charla said, "Someday there will be a Bible school here, like the one I attended, where Jesus became the Lord of my life." They never believed that God would use them as part of the fulfillment of the prophetic vision.

  First graduating class

  Bible Institute Students 2007

  Some of the students from the Class of 2008

It took more than twenty years for the Bible Institute to be birthed out of the vision that Charla received on that day in 1966. But in January 1989, the doors opened for the first class of students.

How You Can Be a Part of This Vital Ministry: Sponsor a Student   **  Support the Building Expansion Project

 

 

The Children's Home had been established long before, and many changes had come to the San Quintin Valley. One change was the discovery of an underground river that made farming very profitable. Large ranchers in the area began to import hundreds of Indians from the interior of Mexico to work in their fields, placing them in camps with deplorable living conditions. The need of these people was so great--the Mission outreach mercy ministry was born. Thousands of field workers accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord--churches were raised up almost overnight, and the envisioned "field ripe for harvest" became a reality.

One critical need remained. Where were the leaders that each new church must have? While visiting friends at the Christian Renewal Center in Silverton, Oregon, Charla presented the unfulfilled vision of a Bible school for training nationals (especially indigenous peoples) for the work of the ministry. They responded by sponsoring a remarkable young man, Terry Yarbrough, who came to Guerrero in 1988 to administrate the founding of a Bible Institute and Discipleship Training. The dedication of the school was in 1989.

A devastating flood washed away the buildings in January 1993, but the school carried on, and new buildings were constructed and dedicated in 1997.

Today, the graduates of our two-year training program include pastors, teachers, evangelists and missionaries ministering throughout Mexico, Latin America, and the world.

This vision has grown into a vital ministry. Mexican nationals are being trained and sent as pastors, teachers, church planters, and lay workers to reach all of Mexico. At the Bible Institute, we equip Mexican nationals to preach the Gospel. We have a special heart for working w with the largely unreached indigenous people groups from the state of Oaxaca (wa-ha-ka) in southern Mexico.  

Fields are Ripe for Harvest

In Baja California, Mexico, there is a tremendous openness to the Gospel, although only 5% of Mexico’s population is Evangelical Christian. This openness is especially true among the indigenous peoples from Oaxaca who have come as migrant farm workers to Baja California, right to the very door of our Bible Institute!

Yet there are significant challenges to bringing the Gospel to Mexico and to the indigenous Oaxacan peoples in particular. For many years, churches of the U.S. and Canada sent missionaries and much of their work bore fruit. But costs of recruitment, training, and support, as well as the barriers of culture and ethnicity have limited the effectiveness of these foreign missionaries.

Many Mexican nationals desire to work full-time in the ministry but do not have the resources, the training, or pastoral experience to do the work they have been called to do.  

Here’s what’s being accomplished

Our primary focus is to train indigenous people to return to southern Mexico where the largest group of unreached people in the Americas exists. Cristo por su Mundo Bible Institute is the only ministerial training school in Mexico where students can acquire the skills they need without tuition or living expense. There is no charge to the student. In addition, because many prospective students have minimal formal education, classes in fundamental reading, writing, and communication skills are also included when appropriate. We offer a full range of Bible courses, ministry studies and practice in preaching, evangelism, worship, and church management, as well as practical discipleship and pastoral care, including:

How You Can Be a Part of This Vital Ministry: Sponsor a Student   **  Support the Building Expansion Project

Miguel is one of our graduates and I quote his words while at the Institute,

"Some day soon I will be able to bring God's word to my people in our language. I know God can work miracles. The Bible says we are clay in His hands. I am looking forward to His purpose for me in the lives of my poor neighbors and friends. With this training I am confident God will use me in the fields around Hogar Para Niños, to save souls unto Himself. I know He works miracles ... Just look at me!"  

 

Each year after the school year ends, usually in late May or early June, all the students and instructors go by bus to the mountains of Oaxaca ... to minister .... and to serve.

How You Can Be a Part of This Vital Ministry: Sponsor a Student   **  Support the Building Expansion Project
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