The Journal of the Baptist Peacemaker October-December 2016 - 19

sTorIes oF Peacemakers

Seminario Intercultural Mayense:
Hopes & Dreams in Chiapas
by Katie Cook

ast year, I traveled to San Cristóbal de las Casas in
Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico, with a group
of BPFNA folks. While there, I visited the headquarters of
the Seminario Intercultural Mayense (SIM) and visited with
general Coordinator Dalia Juárez Fernández and Project
Coordinator Eleazar Encino Pérez about the work of the
seminary and some of their hopes and dreams for its work.
Chuck and Ramona Shawver (Ramona is a former BPFNA
board member) hosted April Baker (also a former BPFNA
board member) and Deborah Lynn and myself, and also served
as interpreters for our conversation with Dalia and Eleazar.
The seminary is located seven blocks from the center of
the city, but it is quiet and lovely. It seems compact, but a good
deal of activity goes on in this space-including one meeting
in which the SIM hosted 70 youth.
Three people live there. Eleazar and Dalia are at the
headquarters the most. A number of other people work with
them in and out of the city of San Cristóbal.
SIM is committed to being culturally open. "We follow
the example of the Baptist seminary in Mexico City to be very
ecumenical, very intercultural, and you may not always find a
lot of Baptists around here," Dalia said.
Students come to the seminary for one-week intensive
classes. When we were there, Javier Ulloa (another former
BPFNA board member) was planning to come from the
seminary in Mexico City to teach an
intensive New Testament course. The class
is five hours a day for five days, and the
course includes homework. The students
also do more work after they go return to
their home towns.
Most of the classes are on the
Licenciatura (Bachelors) level in theology.
Some students reside at the seminary
during classes, but many stay with family
or friends in San Cristóbal.
Just before our trip to Chiapas, the
BPFNA had taken up an offering during
the Summer Conference (aka "Peace

Camp") for a roadworthy truck to go out to the communities
and into the mountains, where much of the SIM work happens.
As Dalia said,
We're not just involved in theological and biblical training, but
also in community development projects. That's where Eleazar
works and he'll use the vehicle to get out to those projects. We've
received a grant from an ecumenical group, mostly Catholic, in
Mexico City, for agricultural projects. He's working in two specific projects: one in the Tsotsil zone, and one in the Tseltal zone.
The Peace Camp offering, along with contributions from
Noank Baptist Church in Noank, CT, was about US$1,600-
enough to get the truck. "We're grateful to all of the brothers
and sisters who donated to the truck fund," Dalia said.
The SIM leaders dream of a time when they can be more
financially secure. All of the staff works without salary, so they
would like to free up resources so there can be at least some
stipends for the staff. One of their dreams is to find a modest
place to purchase instead of paying rent, and begin to invest
in it, little by little.
Another challenge is to find qualified professors. Eleazar and
Dalia only have Bachelors degrees, so they must bring in professors
from outside. They are beginning to work on Masters degrees, so
that they can begin to teach themselves. That takes resources.
Please see "Chiapas" on page 20.

Right: (left to right) Katie Cook, Deborah
Lynn, Dalia Juárez Fernández, April
Baker, Ramona Shawver and Eleazar
Encino Pérez in the SIM library.
Photo by Chuck Shawver.

Baptist Peacemaker

OCT-DEC 2016 19

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of the Baptist Peacemaker October-December 2016