Perspectives of Bob Sabean (one of the founders of CCI Latin America) & Robert Bruneau (Executive Director of CCI/LA)

Bob Sabean: 
Fellow missionary with Latin America Mission and co-Senior Professor on the team
(missionary in Costa Rica for 48 years)
"As I sit here and look at our team of professors, I realize that I dreamt of having this caliber of leaders back in 1992 after our first Institute for Forming Instructors. How naïve was I back then to think we’d get quality like this after just one training event! But, the vision was right on, my timing was not! Ha, ha, ha. God knew the proper time of germination and maturation."

Our multiculturalism is God's gift to the team and to those we will serve

Bob explains to the team a bit of American history

Robert Bruneau:

Fellow missionary with Latin America Mission and executive director of CCI/LA: When Lisa presented the plan for the Leadership Summit in 2010, I asked: Why Pittsburgh? Now I see two things. First: We needed to leave our countries to see Latin America, our home, as a whole, as a mission field.





Second: I realized after spending an afternoon at the Heinz Museum that Pittsburgh is a city of innovation and is multicultural! That’s exactly the spirit we want to foster amongst our team of professors: innovation and appreciation for the richness of our multiculturalism.

Lisa explaining the unique aspects of Pittsburgh.

Robert Bruneau:

We gathered around our guest teacher, Jim Plueddemann, to lay hands on him, pray, thank him for his dedication to us this week, and Robert said:

Of all the thousands of students Jim has had, God sent one in particular to Latin America to work for CCI/LA. Twenty years later, fifteen students return to the USA to continue to learn and now will return to Latin America to continue the pilgrim journey, this silent revolution in Christian Education, inviting others to join them to seek God’s glory in all they do.

Amen Robert, so be it, amen and amen.

Lisa Anderson-Umaña earned her MA in education at Wheaton College with Dr Jim Plueddemann. His Christian philosophy of education undergirds all our texts in CCI Latin America. It was a privilege to have Dr. Plueddemann (now with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where Lisa is presently a doctoral candidate) teach us for an entire week. 

What are we going to do when you die?

Victor Hugo Martinez, former Chairman of CCI/LA's International Board of Directors

Testimony from Victor Hugo Martinez, Monterrey, Mexico:

“I looked around the room as our team of professors assembled and a memory came to mind: It was Fall of 2008 and we were in CCI/LA’s International Board of Directors meeting. Lisa had just given us her annual report as director of leadership development and in private I asked her: What are we going to do when you die? Somewhat surprised by my question, I challenged her to build up a second string for when she and Bob Sabean were no longer around. In Feb. of 2009 she invited my wife, Gloria, and a number of other key CCI/LA leaders to serve on the fledging team of professors-to-be for an Institute for Forming Instructors. I never imagined, four years later, I would be invited to form part of that team of professors as well.”

Bob Sabean, missionary with Christian Camping International for the last 48 years!

We are on the right track! Strategic initiative of CCI/LA –Formation of a multicultural team of professors

Until now, the two professors responsible for teaching these Institutes for Forming Instructors have been two missionaries, two North Americans. The task at hand is to broaden this team of professors in a number of ways. How the top tier of our Leadership development pyramid is being broadened (see arrow):

• Instead of just one small team, we are creating two teams, one for the region of South America and one for Mexico/Central America.
• Instead of just two members, each team will have approx. 6 members, making for a pool of 12 professors to draw from.
• Instead of just one culture being represented, ten will be represented, from North to South: USA, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

We have started this process and feel God’s confirmation that we are on the right track! A flame burns in the heart of a number of very proficient instructors with a yearning to become part of this multicultural team of professors and they are counting the cost to belong to it. With the exception of three of us, all the rest are volunteers. God did a mighty work just to get these professors to Mexico and He used many supporters from around the Globe who prayed and gave generously so we could begin the process of preparing them to be professors of the IFI.

Here are the professors-in-training:

Gloria Garcia (Monterrey, Mexico)

Evelyn Umana (San Salvador, El Salvador, she's the one standing up)

Rixy Leiva (San Salvador, El Salvador)

We all aspire to be like Bob Sabean, who at his 74 years of age, continues to serve faithfully, impacting our lives with his wisdom, Biblical insights and historical perspectives.

Someone has to lead the games!? That would be me! I love to play, to teach others how to play, and to teach others how to lead games!

What do you love to do?

Tell us about it by clicking on "observations" below and sharing!