Searching for Peace Across Cultures
With a volcano smoking in the distance, Professor Derek Suderman spent fall reading week teaching a class of 40 participants at SEMILLA, the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary based in Guatemala City. His course, “Searching for Shalom Through the Old Testament,” brought participants together from across Central America for a week of biblical study.
Derek noted that students in his class included people from Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, El Salvador, and Honduras. At least three Anabaptist denominations were represented, including the leaders of four national churches. The class also included representatives from three distinct Indigenous communities in Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala. Five participants were K’ekchi Mennonites, an Indigenous church that forms the largest Anabaptist denomination in Guatemala, with more than 20,000 members and growing.
“Students were eager to talk about the biblical topics we were discussing and how this speaks to issues encountered on the ground in their settings,” said Derek, who specializes in Old Testament at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. “I consistently find it refreshing to interact with folks from Latin America. They tend to be very connected with and dedicated to their communities, so they come to biblical study with the full expectation that they will emerge with a positive message that speaks into their context. And it consistently does – in large part because of this confidence and their earnest, contextual search for a blessing.”
SEMILLA provides biblical and theological education for adult students throughout Central America and the Caribbean. Owned by 10 Latin American Mennonite/Anabaptist church conferences, the seminary trains church leaders, many of whom are already involved in ministry and have had little formal theological education.
“Many students commented that they were used to talking about peace in the New Testament but exploring how this is reflected in the Old Testament was quite new for them,” explained Derek. “In particular, they were intrigued by how more unfamiliar material in the Old Testament provides crucial precedents and background for familiar topics or passages in the New Testament.” Participants were eager to apply what they learned to their work in ministry and peacebuilding in their own communities. SEMILLA’s distance education model combines online learning and local intensive courses, including week-long courses that bring students together for in-person study before they return to their ministry settings.
This course grows out of a three-way collaboration in which SEMILLA and Mennonite Church Canada have an ongoing covenant agreement of support and cooperation, while Grebel and Mennonite Church Canada have a separate multi-year agreement that releases some of Derek’s time to dedicate to international teaching. Previously sent by MC Canada to Thailand, Derek is particularly excited to be involved in SEMILLA since he is able to teach directly in Spanish without the need for translation.
The opportunity to learn alongside students from Latin America by hearing their questions and witnessing how they connect biblical study with their own contexts and communities energizes Derek. “I am inspired by the ongoing work of SEMILLA and hope to continue to be involved for years to come,” he said.
