by Sindia Foster, Mozambique
19 April 2005
How do you help to rebuild a nation ravaged by decades of war? How about this: teach, mentor and disciple local pastors. Second, translate the Word of God into the heart language of people who have never heard it. As vital as rebuilding Angola's physical infrastructure is, rebuilding hearts and minds in ways that prevent against more violence will ensure healing and lasting peace. This principle is a guiding belief of leaders at ISTEL, a remarkable seminary which has survived for 24 years in a context of nearly continuous war!

The vision of ISTEL is to see godly men and women developed to lead the next generation of Angolans. Standing for Instituto Superior de Teologia Evangelica no Lubango, ISTEL offers courses that equip pastors with Bible training and mentors them in ministry skills. Its 58 students rally from 18 different denominations across Angola. Today, new growth continues! In partnership with the United Bible Societies (UBS), the seminary will launch a training program for Bible translators in Portuguese.

ISTEL's director, Jose Bernardo Luacute, says, "Our dream is to see a translation course at ISTEL which enables each language group to have the Bible in their own mother tongue."

SIM Angola missionary Sheila Foster Fabiano teaches at ISTEL and SIM Mozambique missionary Stuart Foster (her brother) is currently a visiting professor. Stuart and his wife, Sindia, are translating the Bible into the Lomwe language of Mozambique, also in partnership with the UBS.

The new program will give translators two intensive 6-week courses a year. UBS will provide teachers for the linguistics and Bible translation courses. Launched May 7, 2005, the program's introductory seminar will be taught by the Angolan Bible Society secretary-general Bernarda Manuel, Dr. Gosnell Yorke and Dr. Eduard Nsiko Kitoko of the UBS. The first 6-week seminar will be held September to October 2005.

For Angola, Mozambique, and other Portuguese-language countries in Africa, ISTEL is a distinctive resource for theological training, and now for training in Bible translation as well. This university-level seminary is under the Angolan Evangelical Alliance (AEA) and partners with SIM, other missions, and 11 member denominations. It is an institution that joins the best minds to create a better future for Angola. According to Luacute, ISTEL's goal is to "train capable leaders for the church and also for Christian organizations."

Luacute hopes that ISTEL will eventually offer master's degrees as part of an evangelical university which the AEA would like to found in Lubango. "We have great challenges ahead of us and we need more resources to meet these challenges, including more professors," says Luacute. "Each student at ISTEL costs USD $340 per month.