Managing 4 kids, a ministry, a house, and a Master Degree
Seminario Bíblico William Carey’s classes have officially started for the semester! Masters and certificate students alike are studying hard to better take the gospel into their communities. One of those masters students is Sirley Carbonell.
Walk into Sirley’s house in the morning, and you will most likely see 4 kids buzzing around - three under 5 years old, and a second grader. Toys are strewn across the floor (among them, undoubtedly is a soccer ball, or something round enough to be used as one). Cups of milk and slices of toast are set out on the kitchen table for the children to have breakfast. The battle to get everyone to sit down and eat begins. Typical morning for a mom.
A few minutes later, the toys have been put away, the milk is finished, and the kids are entertained - soccer or squirt guns in the backyard for the older 2 boys, dolls and puzzles for the younger 2 girls. Sirley is sitting down with one of the ladies from church to begin a discipleship meeting. She and the woman - or sometimes, several women - discuss a Bible study
they are doing together, the Word of God open on the table in front of them. Or perhaps it’s someone who has come for counseling, and Sirley is talking through options and Biblical solutions for a difficult marriage or overwhelming addiction. Typical day for a pastor’s wife.
Around noon, the discipleship meeting is over, and after a quick lunch the kids are whisked off to school (mandatory elementary school in Argentina starts at 3 years old, and often takes place in the afternoon rather than the morning) While the kids are away, the kitchen table changes from a place for meals and crafts to a place for study. Sirley is studying in Seminario Bíblico William Carey’s program to earn her Master of Theological Studies. Studying online is a blessing, given her family and ministry responsibilities. Her courses give her the support and foundation needed for counseling. “I remember the essay I had to write for Old Testament 1. The things I learned as I compared Eden, the Promised Land, and the New Jerusalem, were just the things I needed to encourage the ladies I was discipling.”
On any given day, she only has 3 hours of quiet before the kids come home from school, so she gets to work on her next 30-page essay and her long list of books to read. Typical day for a master’s student.
She and her other master’s classmates all wear many hats throughout the day - parents, missionaries, employees, counselors, pastors, the list goes on. Stopping life to go study a master’s degree just isn’t an option for Sirley - or many others - which is why Seminario Carey launched its master's program with the goal of offering high-quality theological education with an accessible price and flexible schedule. The distance-learning option is opening doors for students who are unable to relocate to a campus setting, and scholarships are providing the possibility to study without the burden of thousands of dollars of debt (a Master of Theology costs $250 per class - over 10,000 Argentine pesos).
“Studying the Bible is not like studying any other book. It’s the Word of God, our light, our guide. When you study it, you are not losing time out of your day. It is what simplifies your day, because your thoughts and attitudes have aligned with His.” - Sirley Carbonell
“This is the only way I could study my Masters - when the kids are at school or asleep! I always dreamed of studying the Bible at university, but at that time there was no option to do so in Argentina. This program fulfills my dream to study theology and is the answer to my prayers.”
Five o’clock PM is pick up time at school, and on the way home, they stop to buy food for dinner. The neighbors are coming over, which will be a good opportunity for Sirley and her husband to get to know them better and continue inviting them to church. Personal relationships are key to sharing the gospel, both in the US and in Argentina. A few hours to work on homework with the kids, clean up the house, and then share a meal with guests. It’s the end to a typical day for Sirley. What’s more, it’s the end of a typical day for any of SBWC's Masters students. Despite coming from diverse backgrounds and locations, all have dedicated themselves to advanced theological training for the growth of their spiritual lives and ministries.