3rd Annual ICAT Leadership Conference

This past weekend, I (David) was able to attend the 3rd annual Leadership Conference that was hosted by the Temuco Bible Institute (which is called Instituto de Capacitación Theológica - ICAT).

This conference is one of the biggest calendar events of the year for the Bible Institute. Much planning goes into the conference (registration, speaker, food, folders, etc.) but Daryl Thompson (above) and his staff did a great job of putting the conference together.

This year's topic for the conference was "Ecumenicalism and the Church". A much needed topic due to the growing popularity of post-modern "tolerance-to-all" thinking. The workshops explained the definitions, the history of, and the influence of ecumenicalism within and without evangelicalism. Here in Chile, a strong Catholic country, one finds some form of ecumenicalism practically everywhere. The goal of the conference was to train pastors and lay leaders to identify ecumenicalism and work through situations of ecumenicalism in a Biblical way.

The speaker for the conference was Pastor Miguel Mondaca (a national pastor from Santiago). He did an excellent job of drawing the listeners into the complicated maze of ecumenical confusion by reminding all of the clear Biblical teaching and insightful historical examples. His knowledge, coupled with humor and solid Biblical doctrine proved to be such a blessing to all who were in attendance.

Speaking of attendance, praise the Lord, there were over 100 at the conference.


Each attendee was provided with a full set of notes that can be filed away for future reference. Also, at the end of the conference, each person was given a certificate of completion in this "course". While the certificate and conference does not count towards any Bible Institute diploma program, it is just a small way to encourage the pastors and lay leaders alike to continue to study and attend future conferences like these.

Please pray for the ministry of the Bible Institute here in Temuco as they strive to train the next generation of national pastors and lay leaders. The needs are great, but the potential is encouraging.