From its inception, RBS has been involved in offering theological training abroad. A brief history of the seminary’s international ministry is offered below.

The Marrow Program (2002–2015)

RBS’s current Marrow program began as a certificate program in Latin America.

Santiago, Dominican Republic

In the early 2000s, Oskar Arocha asked Jeff Smith to organize and offer a modular theological training program in the Dominican Republic (DR). Arocha served as a pastor of la Iglesia Bautista de la Gracia (IBG) in Santiago, DR. Jeff Smith served as a pastor of Covenant Reformed Baptist Church (CRBC) in Easley, South Carolina. Bob Gonzales had just moved to Easley to serve alongside Smith and to organize Covenant Baptist Ministerial Academy (CBMA) to provide mentorship and training to some young men in Easley.

Smith and Gonzales put together a 24-credit certificate program, which consisted of 12 two-credit courses. They planned to offer four two-credit modular courses per year (one per quarter) over a three year period. Smith and Gonzales named it “the Marrow of Theology Program” based on William Ames’s compendium of theology. The curriculum included the following:

Unit 1: The Word of God (Bob Gonzales)
Unit 2: Exegesis & Exposition (Francisco Orozco)
Unit 3: God & Decree (Jeff Smith)
Unit 4: Man & Sin (Bob Gonzales)
Unit 5: Christ & Covenants (Greg Nichols)
Unit 6: Salvation I (Jeff Smith)
Unit 7: Salvation II (Jeff Smith)
Unit 8: Salvation III (Jeff Smith)
Unit 9: The Church (Greg Nichols)
Unit 10: Pastoral Office & Work (Oscar Arocha)
Unit 11: Ethics (Rich Barcellos)
Unit 12: Last Things (Sam Waldron)

The first class was taught in 2002. The modules averaged between 30 and 40 students. The average cost of each module was between $1,500 and $2,000. CRBC of Easley appealed to sister churches in the USA to help support the work. Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) of Sacramento, California, was one of the main supporters.

In May of 2005, CBMA merged with the Reformed Baptist School of Theology (RBST) in Grand Rapids, and together they founded Reformed Baptist Seminary (RBS). This transpired as Smith and Gonzales were overseeing the Marrow in the DR. Accordingly, the Marrow program that CBMA was directing was subsumed under the direction of RBS.

Because of some delays, the 12-module program was not completed until early 2007. A total of 23 students successfully completed the program and graduate with a Certificate of Theological studies (C.T.S.). This included Pastor Arocha’s two sons, Luis and Oskar Jr., as well as a young man named Juan Jose Perez. These three men together with Pastor Arocha would take what they had learned from the Marrow program, and they would teach it to others.

Bogotá, Colombia

Pastor Guillermo Gómez of Colombia attended Greg Nichols’ Doctrine of the Church module in the DR, which was one of the final modules we offered. Gomez served as a pastor of La Iglesia Cristiana Gracia Soberana (ICGS) in Bogotá. He was so impressed that he formally requested that RBS offer the entire Marrow program in Bogotá. Sam Waldron agreed to lecture on Reformed Baptist distinctions at a conference in Bogota and to ascertain whether there was adequate interest and a good host church. Missionary Stan Line assisted Sam with translation. The conference went well, and Sam’s report was positive. In November 2006, Bob Gonzales drafted a letter to the pastors in Colombia, proposing that RBS commence in the spring of 2007 and complete the program in spring of 2010.

Because of the greater amount of students (40+) and the smaller hosting church, ICSG had to rent a retreat facility with conference room and dormitories. This made these modules more expensive than those in the DR at an average of $2,800 per module. RBS agreed to raise $2,000 per module and asked the men in Colombia to raise and cover the remaining $800 per module. Many of the same teachers who taught Marrow courses in the DR were utilized in Colombia. The curriculum remained basically the same. RBS completed the Marrow in Bogotá in the fall of 2010. Providentially, 23 students (as was the case in the DR) successfully completed all the requirements of the Marrow and graduated with a Certificate of Theological Studies.

Pastor Gómez had requested to meet with Dr Gonzales during time he would be in Bogota for the graduation to discuss the possibility of offering the Marrow program for a second round. Oscar Arocha and Pastor Lou Sloger (who offered to help fund future modules) joined the discussion. Dr Gonzales suggested that they use more Spanish-speaking teachers including Arocha’s two sons and Pastor Juan Jose Perez. Pastor Gómez agreed.

Dr Gonzales reported to the RBS overseers, which by this time consisted of the elderships of Grace Immanuel Reformed Baptist Church (GIRBC) of Grand Rapids, Michigan, IBC of Sacramento, California, and Grace Baptist Church of Taylors (GBC), South Carolina. RBS overseers agreed to offer a second round of the Marrow, but they did not believe RBS should raise the funds directly. Instead, Pastor Robert Briggs suggested that IBC would assume the responsibility for opening an account and raising the funds for this second endeavor.

The second round of the Marrow in Colombia was much like the first except that it offered two additional courses, making it a 28-credit program. These included Church History (Guillermo Gomez) and Expository Preaching (Paco Orozco [Francisco’s brother]). (I should note that we also offered additional courses in the DR after completing the 24-credit program there in 2007.) Additionally, the second round of the Marrow saw an increase in enrollment with 62 students enrolling. We offered the first module in the spring of 2011. We initially projected a completion date of August 2014. Once again, some delays slowed us down, and we did not complete the program till the summer of 2015. This time, 22 students graduated with the C.T.S.

International Collaboration

During 2016 and 2017, RBS did not directly provide training international. However, RBS continued to be involved in a more indirect way. In particular, RBS provided guidance, feedback, and an endorsement for three foreign endeavors.

La Academia Ministerial de la Gracia

As noted above, RBS completed the first offering of the Marrow of Theology certificate program in the DR in 2007. Shortly after, the elders of IBG decided to start their own training academy. They took what they had learned from us and offered classes in Spanish to men and women in Latin America, using and adapting the lecture materials we had provided to them. They named their school La Academia Ministerial de la Gracia (AMG) and asked RBS to provide them with guidance, to review their materials and curriculum, and to offer our endorsement.

RBS agreed, and AMG began its program in 2008. Since then, Pastor Juan Jose Perez, the dean of AMG and an RBS graduate (M.T.S.; M.Div.) has endeavored to maintain academic standards agreeable to RBS. In turn, RBS has endeavored to send a representative to participate in AMG’s yearly graduations. From 2008 through 2019, AMG has enrolled and graduated over 200 students from the DR and other parts of Latin America.

Copperbelt Ministerial College/Lusaka Ministerial College

In the spring of 2010, James Williamson, a missionary in Zambia, wrote to RBS and requested that we offer a certificate program in Zambia, much like the one we offered in the Dominican Republic. In this case, though, James, an RBS graduate (M.Div.), would work with national pastors, Conrad Mbewe and Kabwe Kabwe, to oversee the program. Some RBS professors would be used in addition to other Reformed Baptist pastors from the US and from Africa. The courses offered would serve two institutions in Zambia: Copperbelt Ministerial College (CMC), which began in 2007, and Lusaka Ministerial College (LMC), which was newly starting.

RBS agreed, and we sent them the basic expectations we would have in order for us to endorse their program. Since that time, both CMC and LMC have expanded their curriculum to offer 60-credit and 80-credit programs. RBS has periodically reviewed and approved their academic catalogs, course offerings, and faculty list.

The Marrow Program (2018-present)

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In the spring of 2016, Jamey Tucker with HeartCry Missionary Society made contact with RBS to discuss the possibility of a joint venture in which RBS would offer the Marrow of Theology certificate program to pastors and church planters in Nepal. The board decided to send Kyle Davis, the dean’s assistant, to make an exploratory visit to Nepal and meet with Jamey Tucker and the leaders in Nepal. Kyle scheduled a trip in July 2016 to meet with Jamey Tucker of HeartCry as well as Sarvajit. Kyle also met with the leadership of Nepal Gospel Centre in Kathmandu to discuss the possibility of including NGC leaders who are actively involved in training pastors all over Nepal.

After consulting the Nepalese pastors, Kyle and Jamey recommended that we modify the offerings in the Marrow program to include more exegetical/expositional studies. Theological topics could still be addressed in these studies. But showing the national pastors how to exegete books in order to develop sound doctrine could help them develop the skills that would make them less reliant on simply repeating or regurgitating systematic theology they hear or read from others. After protracted discussion and receiving feedback from some teachers, RBS decided on the following 24-credit curriculum:

Unit 1: Doctrine of the Word (Nick Alford/Doug Van Dorn)
Unit 2: Bible Interpretation (John Reuther)
Unit 3: Salvation Applied (Jim Domm/John Price)
Unit 4: Doctrine of the Church (George McDearmon)
Unit 5: Missions and Church-Planting (Chris S.)
Unit 6: The Gospel of John (John Reuther)
Unit 7: The Pastoral Epistles (Curt Arend)
Unit 8: Doctrine of God (Jamie Howell/Nick Alford)
Unit 9: OT Bible Survey (TBD)
Unit 10: NT Bible Survey (Michael Emadi)
Unit 11: The Epistle of Romans (Rob Ventura/Jim Domm)
Unit 12: Pastoral Counseling (TBD)

It was also decided that HeartCry would handle logistics once the teacher arrived, providing him with food and lodging. Moreover, RBS would ask each teacher to request that his local church cover the teacher’s travel costs and take up the ministry matter as part of the church’s missions outreach.

Kyle Davis created a webpage with information about Nepal, the purpose of the mission, instructions for planning travel, guidelines for preparing lectures, and so on. Robert Briggs, Nick Alford, and Bob Gonzales contacted various RB pastors to find and schedule teachers for the program. This took some time. Finally, a list of teachers and a schedule was agreed upon, and RBS offered its first module in the spring of 2018. After feedback from Sarvajit, we decided to slow the pace and aim for three module per year rather than four. We aim to complete the 24-credit program in the first half of 2022.

FUTURE MINISTRY?

There has been some discussion of working with HeartCry to provide training in Cambodia. There has also been some informal discussion of offering training in India. But RBS does not presently have any definitive plans beyond the Nepal ministry.