The first week of classes is finished, and it seems to have gone well. I have found the classroom, received a list of students, figured out how to arrange the canon (PowerPoint projector), and engaged the students in both Las Epístolas Paulinas (class photos here) and Homilética.


At the seminary the weekly schedule of classes begins Monday at around 10 in the morning and concludes around noon on Thursday. After the last class of the week there is a chapel in a church adjacent to the seminary, then the students go to their campo, their place of ministry and service. Every student has at least one campo, and the professors do as well.

The campo is always a church, and while some are in the city of Merida, most are outside the city in one of the small rural Mayan villages that dot the jungles of the Yucatan. The students go to their campo and stay there, usually sleeping in a hammock in a room in the church. They arrive when they can on Thursday or Friday, and stay until the last church service is held, which is usually Sunday evening. Then the student returns to Merida, to the dorms, and begins classes Monday. Since some of the campos are as far as five hours by bus (almost all students travel by bus) this often means arriving in the village on Thursday evening and returning to the seminary in the early morning hours on Monday. Quite a schedule!

Some of the churches compensate the students a bit, but many only receive enough support from the church to pay for the bus to and from the campo. Their meals are provided by members of the church (cooked in a kitchen like that in the photo), and their ministry includes visitation, youth work, worship leading and teaching and preaching. Many of the students are in effect pastors of the churches they serve, and most of the churches are very small and have no other staff of any kind.


The professors usually serve as the pastor of one of the larger churches in the area, but that does not mean the church is large. Or that the building is expansive. Or that the compensation is generous. What it does mean is that both student and professor work hard and for little remuneration. In fact the seminary life here is one which is so demanding that I doubt many seminary students or staff in the United States would tolerate it for very long. But it is the way of life here…

Last night I heard a rustle of footsteps outside my window, then the music began. I went to the front door and there was most of the student body of the seminary—they were there to serenade me for my 65th birthday. I was very surprised and honored as they gathered around and, with two Mexican guitar accompanists, sang traditional Mexican fiesta and cumpleaño songs and shouted the usual Mexican cries of enthusiasm. When the singing was over each person came up to me, hugged or shook my hand and said a few words of blessing for my birthday. Then they went back to the dorms. Their genuine expressions of blessing and well-wishing were moving to me, while I must admit that their appearance was amusing. The weather here has not been hot since my arrival—it only reached 86 degrees yesterday and the evening was cool enough that I put on a long sleeved tshirt-but it was amusing to me that to the people here it was so cold that the singers were dressed in heavy coats, hats and scarves. As they sang they reminded me of Christmas carolers back home, and I guess the air to them felt like winter snow to us…


Such is the stuff of life here. Teaching classes, getting to know people, and sharing in life in another culture. Once again I am thankful to God for the opportunity to enrich and to be enriched—for his call to serve and the blessings it brings. Giving to others while learning to see faith through their eyes is one of the great joys of life. It is the body of Christ in its diversity and humanity, the way it was meant to be. And Nancy and I get to be a part of it!