CRHM Worker Translates Bible Study

Oct. 30, 2009 — Viviana Cornejo, ministry developer for Hispanic ministry for Christian Reformed Home Missions, recently translated into Spanish a Coffee Break Bible study for Latino woman attending a weekly program connected to Crosswinds CRC in North Holland, MI.

"The desire of Hispanic churches of having Reformed material for small groups is deep. Constantly we keep receiving requests and we don’t have much to offer," says Cornejo, adding that much of the small group material is only in English.

"In our eagerness to serve the church, we decided to do our translations, and we’re starting now with the Discover Your Bible series. The first one was ‘The Fruit of the Spirit,’ and [it was] posted on the Hispanic webpage in PDF format for them to download. The responses were wonderful and encouraged us to keep doing this.”

This latest project sprang from the request of two women who were starting a Coffee Break Bible study for Crosswinds. Although only a portion of the members are Hispanic, the women wanted to include them in the Coffee Break.

Unable to pay to have the work done, they asked CRHM if it could help in translating materials for Latino women in their church.

"We wanted to finds ways of creating unity within our diversity," says Shirley Vanden Berge, a member of Crosswinds. "We find these materials translated by Viviana to be priceless.”

About 15 women in total have attended the Coffee Break sessions since they began meeting about a month ago. Vanden Berge and her other coordinator, Nance Gezon, say they were pleased that Home Mission allowed Cornejo to take on the project.

"We are so grateful for the support and services that are provided for us by our denomination and for what (it has done) for the sake of the Gospel," says Vanden Berge.

Cornejo says she worked as quickly as she could to make sure the material was translated in time for the fall session of the Coffee Break Bible study.

"We feel happy to provide resources that they need," said Cornejo. "This is happening with churches and other agencies as well… Definitively the need is there. We are grateful that Home Missions is allowing our Hispanic/Latino ministry to serve in this way."

After informing members of her Bible study class that one of their members delivered a healthy baby the night before, Rachel Ortega, the leader of the Coffee Break program for the Latino women, began to lead the other women through the fourth lesson, titled "A Woman and Her Money."  The program is held on Tuesday mornings.

But before formally starting that morning’s lesson, Ortega asked for prayer requests. Once those requests were received, they prayed, and then they began. "We want to talk about a woman and her priorities," Ortega told the others. “We want to talk about the best way to spend our money.”

The lesson started with a reading from Ecclesiastes 5:10 that speaks of the ultimate emptiness and meaninglessness of putting too much value on income and money.

On this morning, Ortega's was one of two groups of women meeting in the office complex near the school where their Home Missions-supported church meets on Sunday. One group was studying the material, published by the CRC’s Faith Alive Christian Resources, in English, while Ortega’s was moving through it in Spanish.

Before the class at the office complex in Holland, Mich., Ortega said the translation of the material was very helpful. “It makes things much easier. We were afraid that the translation wouldn’t be ready in time for us to study this fall.”

Emelia Rodriguez, one of the women in the class, said she appreciated the translation because it helped her understand the Bible better. "I go back home and write what I learned in my Bible."

—Chris Meehan, CRC Communications