Graduation 2021
TIBI graduates with their families and some church members during the final prayer of graduation
On Saturday, July 24, TIBI celebrated its 16th graduation ceremony. For the second year in a row, it was mostly a Spanish service, and also a virtual one. In all, 8 different nations were represented among the 11 graduates that night.
During the evening we initiated several new aspects of our program. First of all, TIBI awarded its first Bachelor of Ministry and Biblical Studies degree to Harry Palacio, from San Miguel, El Salvador (see picture on p. 2). This is the diploma certified by the Hispanic Theological Education Association (AETH in Spanish). Students take a total of 42 courses, most of which must be taken live by Zoom for the interaction with professors and students.).
Second, this was also the first time we had included a section of our graduation service about our Local Bible School project, coordinated by Silvia Acuña. She explained the purpose and function of the program, and gave various statistics. One such was 123—the number of students in various EBL in Latin America. Another was 2130, the approximate number of students in EBLs in Cuba. We believe this program will be responsible for much future growth of TIBI.
In addition, Sandra LaTorre, from Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico, was one of our first graduates of an EBL, outside of Cuba. Guillermo Palestina Sanchez facilitates an active ans successful EBL program in Mexico. Sandra received a Christian Worker Certificate (16 courses). So we are proud of the wonderful work Silvia is doing with the EBLs, and of all the students working hard for various certificate.
We awarded Bachelor of Biblical Studies degrees to José Dolores Aleman García (Nicaragua); Pablo Yuri da Silva and Angelo Blanco (Bolivia); Edward Calvo (Costa Rica); Ramón Oliva (Mexico); Federico Velasquez (Guatemala); Joel Perez (USA); and Franklin Diaz and César Hernández (Venezuela). In addition, Amador Isidro, from Mexico City, earned a Certificate of Biblical Studies.
We are proud of them, their accomplishments, their character, and in particular the way in which they desire to serve the Lord faithfully. We ask you to pray for them in this new stage of their lives.
TIBI receives grant from Duke Divinity School
We are happy to announce that in January 2021, as a colleague of AETH, TIBI was awarded a grant from the Leadership Education program at Duke Divinity School, part of Duke University. It is a grant that comes indirectly from the well-known Lilly Foundation.
This grant is specifically for the equipping of our professors at TIBI. We will give them several useful resources for study and class preparation, such as Logos software, 56 DVDs of photos and biblical lands, and seminars granted by the producers of these resources. These experts will train our teachers how to utilize them best in their class preparation. We are also finalizing details of two other important resources.
This will take place during a 12-month period, from March 2021-March 2022. We are grateful to God for this opportunity to continue improving the quality of our instruction and our program.
TIBI receives the Platinum Seal from GuideStar for 2021
Guidestar, the world’s largest and leading source of information about nonprofit organizations, has awarded TIBI its Platinum Seal of Transparency for 2021. This is the highest seal awarded.
It indicates that TIBI is among the top thousandth of one percent of the 2.7 million nonprofits in the US in terms of transparency regarding our goals, methods, metrics, data, and results.
More than 10 million people visit GuideStar each year for guidance on how to give charitable donations. Those with the platinum seal receive twice as many views, and receive 11% more donations than the Bronze, Silver, and non-seal holders combined.
All major US-based donor-advised funds use Guidestar, as well as millions of visitors to donation platforms like AmazonSmile, Facebook, JustGive, and many more.
We strive continually to achieve our mission the best way possible, and to be transparent about our work and results. We hope this will benefit TIBI. We welcome any questions you might have.
To see our full profile on TIBI (statistics, metrics, results), go to this link Texas International Bible Institute
AETH Certifies TIBI’s Bachelor’s Degree!
In August, after a process lasting almost two years, TIBI received word from the Asociación para Estudios Teológicos Hispanos (Association of Hispanic Theological Studies) that they have officially certified our Bachelors Degree, the Licenciatura en el Ministerio y Estudios Bíblicos (Bachelor of Ministry and Biblical Studies).
This certification is extended in collaboration with the Association of Theological Schools, the main accrediting agency of seminaries in the US.
This is a valuable external endorsement of our program which will allow our graduates to apply for graduate studies at any seminary in the US. We also expect this to result in an increased enrollment, as more people will find out about TIBI. We are grateful to God for this blessing!
WELCOME THE THIRD COHORT OF THE MTP
In August 17, 2020, IBIT assisted in welcoming the third cohort of the Master of Practical Theology program. This program, which consists of 12 courses and 36 credit hours in total, is offered by the RIB – Red de Institutos Biblicos (Biblical Institutes Network), composed of several brotherhood schools. The goal is to continue preparing more men and women for effective service in the local churches.
There are 15 new students with the goal of finishing their studies in August 2023. There are already 39 participants in the Master’s courses in total. If you want to know a little more about them, click here.
TIBI celebrates its 15th graduation!
On July 25, 2020, TIBI celebrated its 15th graduation. For the first time, the service was not held in any church building, but rather totally on Zoom, due to the pandemic. We had 17 sites of graduates and participants connected in one Zoom classroom, and streamed the ceremony live to our YouTube channel (see recording below). More than 800 people have viewed it since.
Click here to see the video of the graduation (in Spanish).
Pablo Hernandez, from Mexico, received our Christian Worker Certificate after taking the 16 courses of that program. Another 10 students received the Bachelor of Biblical Studies degree, with its 40 courses. Here are the graduates and the countries where they live and work.
Argentina:
Corina Elena Diaz Sanabria
México:
Francisco Javier Patlán Camacho
Nicaragua:
Cristhian Fernando Ilovares Maradiaga
Perú:
Yasnuary Marley Albarran Montilva
Venezuela:
Eli Josué Almao Alvarez
Manuel Alejandro Garcia Gutierrez
Lourdes F. Gonzalez G.
Cruz del Valle Gutierrez de García
José Rafael Medina Cumare
Alfonso Junior Tarazona Ballesteros
We are proud of these graduates and their wonderful achievements in TIBI and their churches. We pray for them in their ministries and communities.