Roadblocks & Perseverance
What constitutes a roadblock that is enough to make a seminary student pause or leave his studies? Perhaps an international pandemic? Or an ever-intensifying economic crisis under a totalitarian government?
Certainly, we could all agree that continuous electrical outages would be the ultimate barrier to a student's online studies. Yet none of those things have deterred Robinson, a second-year scholarship student of Seminario Carey studying online from Barcelona, Venezuela.
Robinson began studying in 2019, motivated by a strong desire to prepare himself for pastoral ministry, where he had already been serving since 2014. The crisis in Venezuela led many local Bible institutes to close their doors or lower the program's quality to make it cost-accessible. When Robinson heard about Seminario Carey through a friend, he found a place where he could get high-quality education online and dive deeper into theological and Biblical study.
Despite the situation in Venezuela, which includes regular power cuts and therefore, no access to his online classes, Robinson hasn't stopped studying. "Sometimes, I reach out to the tutors later to explain the situation and why I never finished the final exam. They are flexible and open the virtual platform for me to be able to finish. So far, I've never lost a course, though a few times I finished late due to the power cuts." These regular electrical outages also mean that church meetings, canceled since the quarantine began, can't be held over Zoom or Skype. At the moment, eight small groups are meeting in homes. Still, even this is complicated by the economic situation.
Robinson's church, Metropolitan Bible Church, sits at the conjunction of 4 cities, which hold about 1.5 million people. It is the only reformed church in the area. As the crisis has gotten worse, many members and even pastors have left the country; the congregation currently has about 300 members. Of the pastoral council, only two pastors remain; Robinson and one other. When asked about his future plans, Robinson's goal is "to stay in Venezuela so that we can keep serving in the church." He and his wife and two children pray that the Lord will help them outlast the crisis.
Robinson plans to graduate in the next two years, with or without a good wifi connection.