KBI Board of Directors Meeting

Today I (Jimmy) met with the other men that make up the Board of Directors for our future Kekchi Bible Institute. 

I have been working on a lot of the paperwork and plans that need to be done before we start classes. The first thing I did was put together a list of what 60 courses the guys would need to learn over the 3 years they are studying. 

{The 60 courses and their descriptions}

Then I had to prioritize those courses into which year they would be taken and then into which of the 5 sessions per year. Once I had that I made a calendar for the next three years including breaks for Christmas, Independence Day and Easter. Our first Graduation will be December 18, 2016 and I can tell you what I'll be teaching on any specific date for the next three years. In a world where having no schedule is a necessity, it is strange to have my weeks planned out this far in advance.

Our first day of class is January 7, 2014. Classes will held from Tuesday through Friday from 1pm-4pm with each day dedicated to only one class. For example, "The History of the Bible" will be taught every Tuesday for 8 weeks and "The Gospels" will be taught every Thursday for 8 weeks. There will be a two week break in between classes and the Students will live full time on campus year round. The two week breaks will be necessary for the students to get extra work done on their agricultural projects and to have time to report in to their home churches. We also hope to use that time to take them on excursions to far away villages where they can be involved in evangelism.

After the calendar was done I made a booklet for us to hand out to the Kekchi churches here with a complete overview of the Institute and its purposes with the course calendar included with our Doctrinal statement and admission requirements.

Here is the translation of our admission requirements:

1. Over 18
2. Able to express a testimony of true faith in Jesus Christ
3. Be called to the ministry of a Pastor
4. Have at least two years of experience working in the ministries of your local church
5. Physically able to work in the agricultural projects of the Institute
6. Able to read and write in Spanish (*this is only for this first group of students)
7. Have a letter of recommendation from your Pastor
8. Complete the admissions form and attach $1.25 application fee
9. Submit your application before October 2, 2013.

Juan helped me greatly by putting together an application for our Students. It is 3 pages and will really help us find the best students for this first round of classes. There are already several who have expressed serious interest in attending.

{Application for Admissions}

I also presented today the financial plan for the Institute over the next three years and what that will look like when we expand to 50 students. We are going to need help during our first year, but after that the Institute should be fully self supporting.

So I showed up with all of my information in an organized, linear fashion ready to talk point by point with the guys, but knowing you can't hold a meeting like that here. So what we really did was contextualize everything and instead of thinking A, B, C we talked about what a day in the life of a student would look like. Then as questions arose I could point the guys to where that information was located in their books. It can be fun to merge cultures this way if you expect it going in. We made several adjustments to my original plan, but overall everything was readily accepted and the guys are really excited.

 We don't announce these plans formally until August 7th when there is already a big pastors meeting planned. I will have the final draft of the books with the changes we made today included with applications for each of the pastors to present to his church. Pray that we will be able to effectively communicate so that God will bring the exact students He wants to attend. Pray for wisdom as we go over the applications and pray that we get the last remaining funds needed to finish the Institute in time for these students.

UPDATE: Our dear friend, pastor Andy, is also on the board of directors. We found out that he had heart surgery yesterday (Wednesday). As far as we know all went well. Please pray for him and his family as he recovers. Thank you!

CUTE ITEM OF THE DAY: 

The other morning the boys decided that they wanted to go to work with daddy. They came home a little bit after lunch looking like this!