When Gracie and I lived in rural Honduras in the 1980s we were deeply impacted by the education gap between ourselves and the people there. We had recently graduated from university at age 24 and 22. In those days it was rare to find any Honduran who had gone past third grade. A huge percentage of rural Hondurans were illiterate.
We learned to teach sustainable farming and preventative health in ways that were hands-on, simple but not simplistic. When we began offering Bible studies we quickly discovered that reading shorter portions of Scripture, identifying local equivalents to biblical locations, characters, and Jesus’ liberating message, required deliberation and creativity. We saw that acting-out Biblical stories made them much more understandable, relevant and fun. This has marked our ministry up to the present.
We were and continue to be inspired by Jesus, who seems to have mostly taught outdoors (as we did in Honduras)– on mountainsides, along the seashore, roadsides, and also in places of worship (synagogues and the temple).
Paulo Freire’s writings on educating for critical awareness, the contextual Bible study innovators like Carlos Mesters and Gerald West inspired us. The People’s Seminary was born under the shade of mango trees, on the slopes of corn fields and in humble homes.
We pursued graduate studies with the objective of making quality education accessible to the poor and excluded. Now, The People’s Seminary is the training arm of Tierra Nueva. Locally we equip people to read the Bible for personal and social transformation, with a focus on the incarcerated, addicted, unhoused and recovering addicts.
We’ve developed our Certificate in Transformational Ministry at the Margins (CTMM), consisting of three modules (42 sessions) which can be delivered in four days per module. We have now completed 32 full CTMMs to around 2,000 people in 19 countries.
Last week we returned from Zambia and South Africa, where we offered the third of three modules, “The Word on the Street: Transformational Bible Study, Justice and Peacemaking.” This module focussed on helping people read the Bible closely and in direct rapport with their lives.
Much of this last module involved breaking up the larger group of 250 participants (in Zambia), and 30 plus in Cape Town, into smaller groups to discuss stories from the Bible that addressed social issues like racism (Acts 10), sexual violence (the rape of Tamar), retributive violence (Luke 6), hospitality to strangers (Genesis 18-19) and liberating messages from the Gospels. Whenever possible we acted out Biblical texts– which was a lot of fun and made the Scriptures come alive.
In Zambia we came with a team of nine trainers, each of whom had already graduated from CTMMs in their countries, including three from Zimbabwe, three from Mauritius, one from Winnipeg, and Gracie and I (photo below). Our objective is to develop more and more teams to offer new CTMMs (without us) in other countries where we are invited.
Already, my brother Andy has offered numerous CTMMs in Kenya and Uganda together with a team of African trainers through his Beautiful Gate Ministries.
National host communities provide the venue, do all the on-the-ground organizing, including meal preparation, worship and local transportation.
Our main objective is to offer training to people who normally would have little to no access due to lack of qualifications, finances or remote locations. For theological education and ministry training to be accessible, we must go to where the people are– whether that be a prison cell, an African village or an impoverished slum.
After our trip to Zambia we traveled to Cape Town, where we offered our final module to the Tree of Life community, which works with young women and men coming out of gangs in the township of Manenberg.
Street ministry with Tree of Life team in Manenberg (above). Graduates from Tree of Life CTMM (below).
We were deeply touched by a final graduation ceremony organized by the Zambian Bishop Boyd, who hosted us. Most of the graduates had never received a formal certificate for any kind of training. Many had not gone beyond sixth grade.
This ceremony was complete with marching band (see video below), and caps and gowns for the nine of us trainers. Somehow our host had come up with their own resources to have tee shirts printed for every participant. We learned that the band members played in exchange for a simple lunch!
Currently we are preparing new CTMMs in Burundi (beginning late August), Lesotho and Malawi (September). We are also offering Zoom trainings for Christians in the underground church in Iran. Our vision includes:
- Expanding our Certificate in Reading the Bible for Liberation to more inmates in the Washington State prison system and beyond, using my Guerrilla Gospel and Guerrilla Bible Studies series.
- Offering more Zoom and online training to people in restricted countries.
- Expanding CTMMs in Francophone Africa.
- Starting new CTMMs to train ministry workers serving excluded populations in the West.
- Continue publishing books, manuals and other training resources through The People’s Seminary Press.
Check out our online courses, including the CTMM, here.
Sign up for CTMM Module 3, “Word on the street: transformational Bible study, social justice & peacemaking,” beginning April 9 here.
Please consider helping us fund these trainings, which involve covering travel expenses for trainers, manuals and one meal per day for course participants. You can contribute online here, or by sending a donation earmarked The People’s Seminary to PO Box 410, Burlington, WA 98233.