Chile 2010 Summit:
Momentum for Leadership Training
By Rod and Sherry Boyd

We just concluded the 2010 Educators Summit for South America. The Summit was held August 30th through September 2nd in El Quisco, Chile. We are amazed at how God continues to bless these educator conferences. National leaders, Bible school directors, teachers and even our own missionaries recognize the value of these “iron sharpens iron” events. We all look forward to strengthening our skills and programs and the inspiration that comes from seeing what God is doing in the various countries in Latin America. Each person pays a moderate registration fee that covers their food, lodging and materials.

Our attendance goal for the South America Summit was 200. We had 175 at the 2008 Summit in Argentina. We weren’t sure what affect the January earthquake would have on those that would attend from Chile. Registrations started coming in the end of June. We had reached 275 by the time pre-registration closed the end of July! Our final attendance was 318 from 15 different countries. This was 3 more than had attended the Summit in Managua in March! For the first time we had representation from all 9 Spanish-speaking countries in South America accounting for 284 or nearly 90% of the attendance. This is a breakthrough!

The South America Summit followed the Central America/Caribbean Summit that was conducted March 1-4 in Managua Nicaragua (see Educators Summit 2010: Multiplying Generations of Leaders). The combined attendance for the two Summits in 2008 was 396. The combined attendance this year was 635, an increase of more than 60%!

Our greatest challenge was providing transportation for 200 participants from the various delegations that were arriving to Santiago by plane, bus and automobile. The conference center that we used is located on the Pacific coast, about 90 minutes due east of Santiago. We used our Bible school in Santiago as a “collecting site”. Four large “pusher” buses carried the participants to Punta de Tralca located next to the town of El Quisco. The remaining participants arrived directly in their own buses or cars.

The increased attendance required significant adjustments in the facilities we were using—a camp-like conference center called Casa de Ejercicios (Exercise House). We filled the chapel and dining facilities to capacity! We had to find off-site housing for some and additional workshop rooms. Although we had warned each participant that there would be no heat in the rooms, none of us were totally prepared for the near-freezing temperatures. Even so the presence of the Holy Spirit and good fellowship kept everyone warm during our times together in the chapel and workshops. Everyone managed well in spite of the rustic conditions.

The theme of this year’s Summits was Priority 1: Transgenerational Ministry Formation taken from 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witness entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” The emphasis was on the need to return to discipleship and mentoring as the principle task of teaching. As disciplers we must focus on training other disciplers, always leveraging into future generations. We were honored to have Dick Nicholson (AGWM Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean) who challenged us with the urgency of the task and Monroe Grams and his two missionary children who shared from their experiences to emphasize the need to be faithful and constant in passing on ministry to future generations.

Participants were able to choose from 21 different workshops in 5 periods. Five were Procepa workshops. This is a new program that began two years ago that leads towards certification for Bible school teachers and administrative staff. More than 1,200 teachers have now taken at least one Procepa workshop in the last 2 ½ years!

We were pleased to have six publishers whose sponsorship helps to underwrite the cost of the event. Each of these publishers brings one book for each participant and an assortment of books that are raffled off during the Summit, especially in the closing session. This creates a festive atmosphere and adds a special touch due to the expense and shortage of books in most of our Bible schools. We were able to give each participant a copy of the Plan Basico 2010, the updated curriculum guide for our Bible schools.

It is impossible to expect that we will see souls saved and conserved for the kingdom if we neglect the training of ministry leaders. We believe that the Educator Summits are giving needed emphasis to training pastors, teachers, missionaries, evangelists and so many that serve in specialized ministries in the local church. We have received so many positive comments about these Summits. A missionary colleague wrote, “There can be no doubt that Christian Education, especially on the ministerial training level, is being strengthened significantly in our region. Record numbers of participants in both Summits (Central America/Caribbean and South America) this year demonstrate that.”

We definitely sense God’s momentum and are praying that He will continue to empower our educational leaders throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Even now we have begun plans for the 2012 Summits. We will be hosting the national leaders in Panama at the 2011 Educational Leaders Dialogue. We will evaluate the Summits, consider the needs in our countries and begin planning for the 2012 Summits. Please pray with us that God would give us wisdom and favor.