HISPANIC MINISTRIES

ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Education Agency) – The Hispanic Ministries seminary program of
the Mennonite Education Agency (MEA) was recently awarded a $9,000 grant from The
Schowalter Foundation.
This grant will enable the Seminario Bíblico Anabautista Hispano (SeBAH) to offer an online
continuing education course this September entitled, “The Journey of the Bible in the Spanish
Language.” The course is designed for Spanish-speaking Anabaptist Mennonites.
Marco Güete, director of MEA’s Hispanic Ministries programs, is thrilled with this award. “It is a
privilege to bring this course to Spanish speakers in the Anabaptist Mennonite Church,” he said.
“The course will offer a historical resource of great value that will enrich the students’ knowledge
of the scriptures. This project would not have been possible without the support of The Schowalter
Foundation.”
Arlan R. Yoder, president of The Schowalter Foundation, echoed Güete’s remarks. “The Schowalter
Foundation Board was pleased to support this project that will provide important and relevant
biblical teaching resources for the benefit of many people within the Hispanic Mennonite
churches,” he said.
Carlos Martínez García will be the instructor and wrote the textbook for the course. He credits
Casiodoro de Reina and Cipriano de Valera, Protestant reformers who played important roles in
the translation of the Bible into Spanish in the 16th century. A member of the Mennonite Church of
Mexico, Martínez García is a founding member and researcher at the Centro de Estudios del
Protestantismo Mexicano (the Center for the Study of Mexican Protestantism) and is a lecturer and
author. He prefers to be known simply as “a reader who writes.”

The course will include six weeks of interactive, online instruction via video conferencing with
written resource material, videos, and graphics. The Schowalter grant endowed the production of
Martínez García’s textbook, “Brevísma Historia del Extenso Viaje de la Biblia Hacia el Idioma
Español,” (Brief History of the Bible’s Extensive Journey in the Spanish Language), and a series of 24
videos.
Mennonite Education Agency is headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, and is the education agency of
Mennonite Church USA, the largest Mennonite denomination in the United States. By partnering
with schools and educational programs and helping them flourish, MEA works to strengthen
Mennonite Church USA through education. To learn more about MEA’s mission and work, visit
www.MennoniteEducation.org.
The Schowalter Foundation was established in 1954 from the estate of Jacob A. Schowalter, a
Mennonite from Newton, Kansas. The Foundation supports initiatives that follow the Mennonite
convictions of service and missions, peacemaking and social concerns, and other programs and
projects carried out by Mennonite Church USA and the Church of God in Christ, Mennonite, as
well as Mennonite higher education institutions. To learn more about the life and legacy of Jacob
A. Schowalter and The Schowalter Foundation’s mission and grants, visit
www.schowalterfoundation.org/.