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. 

How do you know if an IFI has been successful?

One day, during a meal we shared together, my boss Robert Bruneau was asked: How do you know if an IFI has been successful?

I was close by so I took notes.

• Success is measured by the depth of the lived community we experience. God Himself blesses us with His presence as we begin to intentionally walk together and share life.

• Success is visible through the discoveries we listen to and see people make: Ah! Now I understand! I just realized… I never knew…Wow, this is new to me.

• Success is apparent by the progression we observe of the guided-supervised practices. After watching you teach several times, we get a handle on how well you are grasping the concepts and able to teach them to others.
• But we recognize, that we can only see the outward signs, God knows what's going on in the hearts of us all and He defines success by His means and standards!