COVID-19 STORY
COVID-19 HELPS GROW URUGUAYAN SEMINARY
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BY TIANNA HAAS
Uruguay’s long resistance to the gospel has earned it the With many people laid off from work, the seminary name, Graveyard of Missions. It is the most secularised has waived tuition costs for the semester. Subsequent nation in Latin America with the highest percentage of semesters will be half price until the economy recovers. atheists and agnostics; it also claims the highest rates of Funds raised through SIM project 91173 will help with suicide and depression on the continent. some of the shortfall. Yet today, more Uruguayan church leaders than ever Dueck and SIM Uruguay Director Andres Corrales, have gained access to biblical and theological training. from Costa Rica, both envision church growth as Why? One could say it’s because of COVID-19. a direct outcome of the programme. In one church Previously, education through the Biblical alone, 14 worship leaders are attending the school of Seminary of Uruguay was mostly limited to those who worship. Before the coronavirus, none of them could could attend the campus in the capital of Montevideo. travel to the classes. Some professors travelled and hosted trainings in 35 The classes have also created a sense of cities. Still, this was beyond the reach of many. camaraderie, no small feat during prolonged weeks of This year, in partnership isolation and hardships with SIM, the seminary brought on by the PLEASE PRAY: launched a new two-year coronavirus. For professors as they teach on new platforms, course with 200 pastors In 1995, just 1,000 navigate technological setbacks, and continue and church leaders enrolled churches existed in the rightly discerning the scripture. — an encouraging number. entire country, most For students to persevere in faith and in But barely a week in, the with between 30 and 50 their studies. Pray the Lord provides income president announced a members. Today, there are for them and for the seminary. national lockdown. Even several thousand, but a For the Uruguayan church to strengthen those living nearby could deficit of trained leaders spiritually and in number. not attend. means they are not always For more professors and staff to come from So, the seminary decided equipped to speak into the around the world and help grow the seminary. to try recording the classes challenges in their society. on video and distributing Ernesto said: “Even in them on YouTube and WhatsApp. Students began to this hard time, they are acquiring knowledge and skills to interact in Zoom sessions. Today, virtual learning has serve in significant ways when all this finally over.” overcome the barrier of distance. At a glance, one might think the seminary campus Seminary director Ernesto Dueck said: “We is the ‘graveyard of missions’ with its locked doors and know that this is a strategic moment to continue empty classrooms. Yet the student body has jumped to encourage and prepare leaders for the harvest, 30 per cent within weeks and is set to grow beyond especially during and after this crisis. Uruguayans to Spanish-speakers anywhere. “The students are sharing the video classes with their It has taken an historic pandemic to grow this teams and people who couldn’t travel to Montevideo. We young seminary in the Western hemisphere’s most are anticipating many more people following the courses ‘non-religious’ nation. than before. We can serve more people!” www.facebook.com/seminariobiblicouruguay/ WWW.SIM.ORG
