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What is EBTC
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The Eleuthera Bible Training Center has two large dorms: Mens and Womens, with bathrooms; a large commons area; kitchen; library; office and 2 staff rooms; along with a volleyball court and the basketball court you see pictured here. |
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Emily and I mixing mortar with one of the various short-term mission teams from the US. |
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Graduation Day for the first class of students from EBTC. The parking lot was packed to the max, along with the commons area - we even had a crowd standing on the porch, because there were not enough seats! |
The purpose of the Eleuthera Bible Training Center (EBTC) is to equip and train the island’s pastors, deacons, elders, and church leaders through a 10 course bible curriculum. Eleuthera has no shortage of churches, but the leaders of those churches have little to choose from when it comes to furthering education.
If a Bahamian Pastor wanted to receive an degree in Theology they would need to travel to the US and study in a culture that was not their own, away from their ministry, away from their family, and at great expense for tuition, housing, and transportation. EBTC has focused its aim on bringing solid Biblical education to these pastors, so they can study in their own context, with immediate access to their ministry and family, and at a fraction of the cost.
A degree takes 2 years of study, where students will touch on every book in the Bible and will receive instruction from a variety of qualified pastors/teachers. Upon graduation each student receives a set of ten reference volumes for their further training and study. “Graduates testify that the training offered by the Eleuthera Bible Training Center is unequalled anywhere on Eleuthera.”
But what started as a vision to see national pastors and church leaders appropriately training in handling the scriptures had exploded into so much more.
Countless short-term mission teams from the US regularly minister on the island through construction work, Vacation Bible Schools, school assemblies, and many other creative events. The impact upon the surrounding settlements has been huge, and we are often asked when passing though neighboring settlements when another team from the “ Training Center” is coming.
The campus of EBTC has been the site of graduations, basketball clinics, discipleship ministries, VBS,  reunions, and even a refugee center when the need happens to arise. Truly what began as a Bible School has become so much more, and the Lord continues to bless the work at EBTC by rising up missionaries and supporters. |
