Southwestern team brings biblical counseling to churches in Peru

Biblical counseling faculty and alumni from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary recently teamed with International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries to bring hope to hurting people a world away.

Faculty members Jonathan Okinaga, assistant professor, and Cheryl Bell, adjunct professor, were joined by Southwestern alumni Jenifer Castleberry Wakefield (’17, ’22) and Gady Youmans (’20, ’22) for Aconsejando Con Gracia, a biblical counseling and equipping conference held May 31-June 7 in Lima, Peru. The team went at the invitation of current Southwestern students and IMB missionaries Jim and Mandy Wells. Jim is working toward his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) with an emphasis on church planting, while Mandy, who holds a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC) from the seminary, will start the Doctor of Educational Ministry (DEdMin) program in the fall with a focus on biblically counseling Hispanic women who have suffered from sexual abuse.

Mandy, a former student of Okinaga’s, said many churches in Peru don’t understand that biblical counseling is intensive discipleship.

“It’s walking with people through the suffering of life and pointing them to Jesus so that they can come to realize that Jesus brings salvation for eternity, but He also brings salvation and restoration in the here and now,” she said. As she began to explain that to the local people and churches, she realized they had a desire to learn more and asked Okinaga to bring a team to train the churches in Lima.

“I have a huge heart and passion to serve and equip those who can’t necessarily afford seminary,” Okinaga said. He also has done biblical counseling training in Japan, where “I saw the thirst of the lay leaders and the pastors for theological education. I saw that same thirst in Peru.”

Bell agreed, saying, “They don’t have resources in Spanish. You know, we’re rich with resources. They’re hungry for them.” Though the seminary team’s materials had been translated into Spanish, the attendees “took notes constantly for 30 hours of instruction, nonstop, and came back … every evening, usually from 5:30 to 10,” she added.

The response to the conference was overwhelming. Okinaga noted it sold out more than a month in advance and required organizers to find a larger building.

“They added more people, and they said they could’ve had double what we had,” he said. “We had 120. They said we just ran out of space.” Plans are to return next year and hold the event in a larger facility and to include a conference for women only.

The training was based on Association of Certified Biblical Counselors standards, and participants were eligible for ACBC certification. Okinaga noted that Southwestern Seminary is an ACBC training center through the Walsh Counseling Center on campus. He said they added some topics based on what Jim and Mandy said was needed.

Bell said they discussed difficult subjects such as child sexual abuse and abortion, “things that they really wrestle with and don’t talk about in their churches—and they were hungry for that.” She explained that desire is due to the churches “dealing with people with real-life issues that they don’t have answers for, and to know that God and His Word are sufficient for what they’re facing gave them incredible hope.”

Okinaga said he challenged the men in his sessions to be godly. Having heard about sexual abuse and husbands—even some in church leadership—having extramarital affairs, he said, “I probably annoyed some of them, because every time I spoke, I challenged them, [saying], ‘Your job is to be a man who honors God in everything you do.’ And I hope that when the women saw the men being called up, that they have some hope that maybe it can turn around here in South America, where, ‘We’re not going to be marginalized and abused anymore by men in leadership.’”

Mandy said the conference had a positive effect on those who attended, with many looking forward to future training that will be provided through monthly meetings as a follow-up to the event.

“These meetings will push those that attend to be accountable to be sharing the Gospel with the lost and disciple those that are in their churches and growing in faith as they address the ‘excluded middle issues’ that are so often overlooked as people come to faith,” Mandy said.

The goal, she added, is to form a network of people who are seeking to biblically counsel and disciple those in their churches as they themselves grow in their own faith and relationship to Christ.

“I also believe, based on the feedback that I got, that there were several people who came to understand that the Scriptures are sufficient to address all areas of life,” Mandy said. “I think that the workshop, especially with follow-up, can deeply impact the way that churches handle heart problems and suffering within the local church. I believe it helps people understand that the Scriptures address eternal salvation from sin and redemption for every area of our life in the here and now.”