Covenant News

Education-Mission Highlight CIPE Conference

LAKE ARROWHEAD, CA (June 5, 2000) - Education and mission were highlighted as more than 100 people recently gathered for the Confraternidad de Iglesias del Pacto Evangelico (CIPE) triennial meeting at Alpine Conference Center.

Core materials for university level theological education and Sunday School materials for Christian education were presented to Hispanic churches from the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Spain. The Pacific Southwest Conference hosted the event and member churches organized the agenda.

On the mission front, CIPE commissioned Janeth Manzo as a missionary doctor to Equatorial Guinea, the lone Spanish-speaking nation on the continent of Africa. Manzo, an obstetrician and gynecologist working in Quito, Ecuador, will focus on evangelism and preventative medicine for at least two years as part of a cooperative mission effort between the Buenas Noticias of Spain, the Evangelical Covenant Church's Department of World Mission, and CIPE member churches.

"CIPE is moving forward, meeting its goals for shared resources," said David Mark, Covenant regional coordinator in Latin America along with wife, Wendy. "This was an important event. The organization has been growing in its ability to share projects. The dream is being fulfilled through these projects and sending missionaries makes this even more exciting," he continued.

"And it (the CIPE meeting) shows that the Latin America churches are taking responsibility for shared resources for common needs and intentional participation in the mission of God around the world," Mark said. "We, the mission in the United States, now can accompany our sister churches and partner them as they move forward with power around the world. That's the exciting part, to me."

Mark presented 10 of the 14 curriculum courses for seminary training in Latin America, a project he initiated in 1997, aided by a variety of American and Latin American authors. "It represents a core curriculum that provides resources for all our different schools," said Mark.

Margie Swenson, a Covenant missionary in Ecuador who will serve as a professor at Covenant Bible College's new Ecuador campus this fall, presented a Christian Education curriculum that covers Sunday school and education materials for children in grades one through twelve. A series of writer workshops helped produce Sunday school material for use in CIPE member churches.

Other topics included Christian education, youth ministries, theological education and women's ministries. The CIPE event had representation from the ECC, the Norwegian Covenant mission and the Swedish Covenant mission.

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