The EBI Vision

Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2002

Exciting End to a Busy Year

Now that we are well into the year 2002, we can take a quick glance over our shoulder and see that 2001 was a very good year. Sales reached record levels. Our building was completely refurbished on the outside and three new offices built inside. The Ministry Enrichment Program remained strong, with the total number of libraries provided to needy pastors exceeding 300. However, we cannot look back for very long because too much is happening in 2002.

Exciting Beginning to a New Year

One of EBI’s primary goals is to provide a complete Bible school curriculum through its Theological Education by Extension (TEE) courses. However, the number of individuals qualified to write this type of material is small. The work can be tedious. It requires attention to detail. It requires knowledge of the subject. It demands organization. It is time consuming. It requires testing of the material once it is written, often resulting in substantial rewrites and retesting. However, it is extremely important, too!

In order to try to train more writers, EBI sponsored a TEE Writers’ Workshop in Sebring, January 19-26. Charles Porter, who has written the majority of the TEE books EBI carries, taught the course. Six missionaries, representing Spanish and Portuguese language fields, attended the course. After seven days of instruction and practice writing, no one went away feeling confident that they had mastered this writing style. Yet, most seemed to leave with a burden to accomplish something. The success of this effort will not be known for a year or two because that is the earliest we can expect to see a completed course from any of these six men. Pray with us that God will burden these men for this ministry and allow them to find time to write.

Before the workshop was even over, the question was asked if we would do this again? If God would lead us to several more men who would like to learn how to write, absolutely! It is not necessary to write in a foreign language, though that is helpful. However, it is important for the writer to be familiar with the culture and education level of the people for whom he is writing. If you happen to be reading this and wondering if you could be used by God in this manner, contact EBI.

Annual Board Meeting a Great Success

EBI’s Board of Directors met January 29 and 30. After routine election of new board members and new board officers for the next year, the board was divided into committees to tackle EBI’s Policy Manual. Each committee also had a staff member who acted as a resource person. This manual was a compilation of 20 years of actions taken by the board. After several hours of working in committee, the board came back together to review the recommendations of each committee. Many sections of the manual were eliminated. Only the sections that were true policy were retained, and most of them were rewritten to reflect current policy. In some cases, new policy was recommended where no relevant policy existed. After a day and a half, the policy manual took on a whole new appearance. Though it will still need some editing to get everything into good form and language, the work of the board members is to be commended. Praise God for the faithful men who serve on EBI’s board and who gave their time for this effort.

Print Shop Suffers from Press Woes

Though the print shop did not come to a screeching halt, it has been greatly hindered by the breakdown of the large Heidelberg press in November. We are still waiting for parts coming from Germany. This workhorse seldom breaks down, but when it does it becomes a serious problem. Several jobs were in the middle of being printed and are piled around the print shop waiting to be completed. The other presses are running, so some work was still able to be completed. Pray that we will be able to get the press working very soon and that we will be able to get caught up with the backlog of projects, several of which are completely out of print at this point.

Junior Level Sunday School Materials

It seems that we have been talking about the junior level Sunday school materials for ages. The first few quarters are going through final review and should be ready to go to press by the end of February. This is a new set of projects not even scheduled for the Heidelberg yet, so it is imperative that we get that press running soon. Once we have at least three quarters of materials available, we will release them for sale. Since these are sequential lessons, we must keep the succeeding lessons coming until all twelve are completed. Continue to pray for those directly involved in this project. In addition to the new Sunday school materials, we have completed the first in a series of women’s Bible study books. These are being printed and will be available in a few weeks. Both of these projects are a result of repeated requests for these materials.

Future Developments

What direction does EBI take in the next five years and how do we get there? That will be the topic of a staff retreat March 11-14. The staff will spend most of three days looking at our current outreach and future options, discussing ways of implementing what is needed and praying for God’s leading in these matters. Please pray for us during this time of setting critical direction.

Pastors’ Libraries

Though we have sent out over 300 libraries, we continue to receive requests for more libraries for needy pastors. If you have never participated in this project, pray about what you could do to help in this effort. If you do not feel that you can give the full $150, talk to your Sunday school class, youth group, missions group or even your summer Bible school about this project. Contact EBI for more information.

To show you the impact that these libraries can have, let us share three recommendations we received from a missionary in Mexico.

Julian Ramirez is pastor of the Iglesia Bautista El Buen Pastor. Julian was saved as a young teen at the church. He surrendered to preach and began to study at the Bible Institute at the age of 20. He is from a very poor colonia called Burocratas Municipales. Although serving in a very poor area he has been very faithful through the years. While in his home recently I noticed his complete library of about 5 books.

Alejandro Castillo Pecina is pastor of our most recent work, La Iglesia Bautista La Fe. Alejandro was saved years ago in youth camp. He had lived in an area with no church for several years. He is now 43 years old, is married and has a daughter Monica. Monica is severely retarded. Alejandro had been very faithful in church services, visitation, and in teaching the young adult class. He gave up a position in an auto parts factory to pastor this church full time earning only ¼ the salary. He has been very faithful in the Lord’s work for years and could put the pastor’s library to very good use as he pastors this church.

Luis Gerardo Villa Luis was saved in our church (La Iglesia Bautista La Fe) some 8 years ago. At the age of 18 he felt called to preach, and we sent him to a Bible Institute in Ciudad Mante, Mexico. We recently ordained him to the ministry and sent him out as a missionary of our church. He works in a small city about 5 hours from Monterrey and has been faithful to serve the Lord even though living with his wife and small child in extreme poverty. Our church supports him the best it can, and we often take trips to see him, taking food, clothing and offerings from our congregation. The things he requests every time we see him are books to study. We are sure this pastor’s library would be a great help and encouragement to him as he serves sacrificially in a very difficult area.

Ministry Enrichment Library

Library content (all in Spanish):

1. Wiersbe N.T. commentaries (12 volumes)*
2. Elemental Theology, Bancroft
3. Old Testament Moody Bible Commentary
4. New Testament Moody Bible Commentary
5. Complete Bible Concordance, Denyer
6. Vine’s Expository Dictionary (one volume)
7. The Student Bible Atlas, Dowley
8. The Charismatics, MacArthur
9. How to Prepare Bible Messages, Braga
10. A Guide for Organizing and Conducting a Baptist Church, Reese*
11. Doctrine of the Local Church, Jackson*
12. Biblical Basis for Baptists, Brown*
13. Adult Sunday School Manual*
14. Junior High Sunday School Manual*
15. Unger’s New Bible Manual
(* EBI publications)

Retail value of these 26 volumes = $330

EBI’s program: A $150 donation from individual or church in the States; a $20 contribution by recipient pastor or his church, if able to afford it. Shipping costs are paid by EBI.

Qualifications of recipients:

1. A Spanish-speaking pastor active in the ministry. 2. A Baptist by his demonstrated ministry. 3. A national, having demonstrated need (need, not age, the factor). 4. Recommended by a cooperating missionary (an active customer of EBI). 5. Asked to contribute $20 towards the library (may come from pastor’s church).

Donations may be sent to EBI, designated for the pastors’ libraries.