09/18/2012 -  (Tues)

LISTEN TO JIM HEILIGMAN
Pastor, First Baptist Church Castroville

Pastor Jim Heiligman was born in San Antonio but raised in Charlotte, Texas. He attended Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor’s of science degree in 2001. The Lord called him into the ministry during his college years, and he began serving as a youth minister at a couple of churches for the next eight years. He began pastoring at First Baptist Church of Castroville in August 2008, while working toward his master of divinity degree at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary. He earned his master’s degree in 2009. In 2011, he married his beautiful wife, Courtney. He enjoys cooking, traveling, scuba diving, hunting, fishing, playing the guitar, reading, watching sports

News for immediately release     March 22, 2012

By Craig Bird                                                                                                                             BUA Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Debbie Ferrier, immediate past chair of the Baptist General Convention ofTexasexecutive committee and a long-time trustee ofBaptistUniversityof theAmericas, has been named Director of Development and Campaign Initiatives at theSan Antonioschool.

“This is an extreme case of someone being deeply in love with her job before she even started,” BUA President Rene Maciel said.  “For a long time Debbie has been passionate about the vision that is BUA and worked tirelessly as our friend and trustee.  Now she will help us be even more focused on being what God has called us to be—Texas Baptists’ stack pole in training cross-cultural Christian leaders to share the Gospel with a cross -Texas and world.”

Ferrier, who was elected second vice president of the BGCT in 2002-2003, also has served on the governing boards of Texas Baptist Laity Institute, Texas Baptist Committed and BGCT committee of nominations as well as in numerous leadership roles with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (both nationally and in Texas) and Union Baptist Association in Houston.

Her ministries atTallowoodBaptistChurchinHoustonincluded being director for Woman’s Mission Union, Girls In Action and women’s ministries and serving on the pastor search committee.  While living inSan Antonioshe was missions pastor atTrinityBaptistChurch.

“This job is just what God has been preparing me for,” Ferrier said.  “Billy Graham wrote, ‘God has given each one of us a little chunk of eternity, these golden moments of opportunity are doled out to us for our benefit and for God’s glory.’  It will be an honor to serve with such dedicated men as Rene Maciel, Javier Elizondo and Teo Cisneros, I look forward to investing in the future of BUA and building a legacy of education for her students.”
Baptized at age 7 at Southland Baptist Church in Houston, Ferrier attended the University of Houston and San Antonio College.

She and her late husband, Ron, have one daughter, Catherine.

For additional information please contact:

Craig Bird  ll  Special Assistant to the President for University Relations
8019 S. Pan Am Expressway ll  San Antonio, Texas 78224
Office  210.924.4338 ext. 348   ll  Cell 210.452-2473  ll craig.bird@bua.edu

News for immediately Release

April 12, 2012     

BUA professor asking if massive rock formations

near possible Sodom were world’s first calendar

By Craig Bird

BUA Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Thousands of years before the Aztecs created their calendar that famously ends in 2012, and ten centuries before England’s Stonehenge was built, people in the southern Jordan River Valley founded a major city, began organizing massive rocks into circles and building hundreds of funeral -related structures known as dolmens.

 Some believe Tall el-Hammam, the remains of that fortified city that was destroyed circa the 16th century BC, to be the site of biblical Sodom.

 David Maltsberger of Baptist University of the Américas and a group of fellow scientists question if those unknown builders also created the world’s first calendar and wonder what the stone structures had to do with Cannanite religion.

 If finding answers involves hours drinking tea with Bedouin sheikhs, repeatedly climbing up and down 1,500 foot slopes below sea level, and applying space age technology to unlock the secrets of the skies Abraham pondered when he counted the stars and dreamed of his descendants, then that’s what he’ll do. And exactly what he has been doing since 2006.

 So far the team has surveyed more than 400 dolmens. These usually consist of several large stone slabs set edgewise in the earth to support a flat stone roof that was covered by a mound of earth (which in most cases has weathered away) and accompanied by large standing stones called menhirs.  The team also has scrutinized numerous large circles of mega-stones measuring 18X12 meters/ 60X35 feet scattered throughout the area.

 When analysis showed the menhirs all apparently oriented toward the North Star, Maltsberger speculated if the obvious geographical directional markers “are also directional markers for the soul?” and focused his study on the celestial orientation of the dolmens.

 He also began to reflect on why all the known megalithic (built with huge stones) structures related to calendars are in Europe, yet were built centuries later than and thousands of miles from where megalithic construction began—the Middle East. 

 A related question was how the monuments and related burial practices were part of Canaanite religion. “Is this ancestor worship, something cultic related to certain family or clan?” he asked.

 This question put him at work in the field of archaeoastronomy, the study of what role ancient civilizations assigned celestial phenomena to their cultures. Origins of calendar are not well known, he said, “but are believed to be related to astronomy and solar observation, to solstices, equinoxes. Somehow—and that is what we are trying to determine–the solar observation is attached to the lunar calendar.”

 Which begs the question: Are some of the structures surrounding Tall Hammam the oldest evidence of a system for recording the passage of time in the Middle East—and possibly the world?

 “The Early Bronze Age, 3200-2200 BC, was a period of large-scale urban expansion.  At the same time and locations, the construction of dolmans and other megalithic structures blossomed,” pointed out Maltsberger, Associate Professor for Biblical Studies and Archaeology at BUA. “We also know from inscriptions that Israel was using a lunar calendar by 10^th Century B.C. but no one has found physical evidence of how they devised this calendar. Our evidence from Tall el-Hammam dates around 3,000-2,000 B.C. and may give us insight into how the calendar began.”

 This past January, Maltsberger again joined the excavation staff at Tall el-Hammam as part of an archeological team seeking answers. The project, begun in 2004 and headed by Steven Collins, Dean of the College of Archaeology & Biblical History at Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, N.M., is a partnership with the Department of Antiquities of the government of Jordan.

 ”Dr. Maltsberger is a meticulous scholar who understands the delicacies of archaeology and culture were we work in Jordan,” Collins commented. “Between us we hold some differing perspectives about the Bible, but that helps keep us on our toes when it comes to theorizing about archaeology and the biblical text. I really enjoy working with David. He has a great sense of humor, and we’ve had a lot of fun together over the years.”

 “I really enjoy Jordan,” said Maltsberger, who spent large portions of 1984-89 working in Israel at biblical Timnah (Judges 14) and Beth-shan (where Saul’s body was hung). “The Jordanian government is extremely helpful and the people are fantastic.”

 Tall el Hammam is a Bedouin area which means an ever-shifting population of migrant herdsmen.

 “When we arrived this year, a Bedouin camp was set up right in the middle of where we wanted to work so we spent lots of time in the chief’s tent drinking tea and getting to know one another,” Maltsberger explained.

 “He could have kept us away from the entire area, but with typical Bedouin hospitality, once we knew each other, he helped us look for likely sites to survey.  He even found one dolmen right beside the women’s tent and went with us while we took our readings—we never would have been allowed close to the tent without his permission.  And that wouldn’t have happened if we had not spent time getting to know him first.”

 This past season, thanks in part to the Bedouin sheikh, the team identified more unexcavated dolmens. “Some theorize that the body was placed on top of the dolmen until the flesh was eaten away, then one or several bones were removed and placed inside  along with ceramic bowls and bottles, he noted. “The dolman entrance was closed off. But years later descendants would come back, dig it out, do it all over again and put the old objects back inside and put in new items.”

 Back on campus in San Antonio, Maltsberger is sifting the data. “This entails careful survey of all the measurements as well as recreating the sky in ancient periods to see where the North Star and major constellations would have been positioned in relation to Tall el Hammam and Mt. Nebo,” he said.

 In order to correlate the locations of the dolmens to stars and constellations, Maltsberger has to know where the heavenly bodies were at the time of construction, not where they are today. 

 To that end, he is consulting with a research astrophysicist and using software from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A collaborator at the University of Colorado-Denver who is skilled at building 3D models of the sky using the Geographical Information System also is assisting.

While the science of archaeoastronomy will be the long-term beneficiary of Maltsberger’s work, the immediate beneficiaries are his students at BUA.

 “The more David stays involved with archeology, the better he is at connecting with students, making the lectures come alive when he teaches Old Testament and New Testament classes,” explained Marconi Monteiro, academic dean at BUA.  

 “All believers have a relationship to the Bible and as we read we imagine the setting and details. But actually we have no idea about real conditions and situations. His work allows him to present information in a way that makes students feel they are eye witnesses.”

 Jeremy Carlton, about to graduate from the Wake Forest (N.C.) School of Divinity with an MDiv, studied under Maltsberger 2005-2007 and is, “immensely indebted to his wisdom and insight. I would not be where I am today if it were not for professors like him. . . I currently am enrolled in a Near Eastern Archaeology class that addresses many points he covered extensively in class at during my time at BUA.”

 Lori Ximenez, a 2010 graduate who works for USAA in San Antonio concurs. “I had the opportunity to travel with him to Turkey and Greece for my last theology course. His knowledge really allowed me to see what he had been teaching us. When you’re tired and want to quit, he pushes you to keep on growing. He can tell you anything and everything about a subject, but he doesn’t. He lets you learn and make your own decisions about it then discusses it with you.”

 Maltsberger hopes to return to Tall el Hammam next year to continue to unravel the mysteries.

 For more information about Maltsberger’s classes, the Biblical and Theological Studies program at Baptist University of the Américas or other academic offerings, call 210-924-4338 or go to www.bua.edu.

 For more information about the Tall el Hammam dig go to http://tallelhammam.com/.

 Founded in 1947 as the Mexican Baptist Bible Institute, Baptist University of the Américas is the oldest historic Hispanic institution of higher education in the United States.

 The school achieved accredited, university status in 2003 when it was certified to grant bachelor’s degrees by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and earned national accreditation from the Association of Biblical Higher Education. Initially, it offered just a Bachelor of Biblical and Theological Studies and an Associate of Arts in Cross-Cultural Studies.

 In 2007 it added programs for BA’s in Spanish and Business Leadership. Next fall it will launch a BA in Music. Current enrollment is 262—the ninth record enrollment in the past 10 semesters.

 One of nine universities affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the student body is a highly diverse religious and ethnic mix. Typically 20-25 foreign countries are represented. Over the past five years, one-third of the BA graduates have pursued graduate study.  Seven of the nine full-time teaching faculty have doctorates.

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BUA’s Latina Leadership Institute

adds North Carolina extension

By Maegan Gatlin

BUA Communications

SAN ANTONIO, TX – The Latina Leadership Institute (LLI) in San Antonio has gone coastal. The program’s first geographic expansion took place in June in Sophia, North Carolina.

“This is first time we have offered training outside Texas so we are really excited,” LLI Director Nora Lozano said. “The program has been growing steadily at Baptist University of the Américas and it is a challenge and a blessing to partner with North Carolina Latinas.”

LLI is a certificate-granting institute dedicated to the “discovery, development, nurturance and empowerment of women leaders from a Latina perspective to be transformational agents in the church and community.”

The concept is one of a kind so putting on a conference halfway across the country was not an easy task; it required much support in every area. That is exactly what God provided for Verónica Martínez-Gallegos when she dreamed of bringing the LLI program to North Carolina.

“I was amazed by the empowerment I received through the lives of the many Godly women there. Each session was a divine appointment between me and God,” expressed Martínez-Gallegos about her Latina Leadership experience at BUA.  “I wanted that for North Carolina too.”

Martínez-Gallegos, a BUA aluma who returned to North Carolina after graduating with a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies and a certificate in Latina Leadership Studies, met with Ruby Fulbright, then Executive Director of the Women’s Missionary Union of North Carolina, who was very interested in helping make the dream of a NC–LLI program a reality.

“Veronica worked in our office for a couple of years,” said Fulbright. “I know Veronica’s heart for missions and for Latinas.  As she began to share with me her involvement in the institute at BUA, I could just see the ‘light’ in her eyes.  We met several times and I had telephone conferences with several in San Antonio – especially Dr. Lozano.  And, I prayed and prayed.  It just seemed so right – both the program and the timing.  So I said, ‘Let’s do it.’” expressed Fulbright.

This is the first of a four-year partnership with LLI to lead towards a certificate in Latina Leadership. Typical of the anonymous evaluations provided by the initial North Carolina participants was the Latina leader who artriculated, “LLI-NC helped me see the ability that is within me and discover my talents and spiritual gifts and to understand that I have much fruit to bear for God’s Kingdom. Thank you for having the vision and for making this happen.”

Logistics and funding support of the NC-LLI program is a combination of funding from NC WMU, Global Women, LLI and First Baptist Church of Greenville, South Carolina.

Directors Lozano, Associate Professor of Biblical/Theological Studies, and Patty Villarreal, Adjunct Lecturer of Social Work, at BUA began planning and nurturing the idea of a place where Latina women can grow into strong spiritual leaders in the community in the spring of 2005. In the winter of 2007 the first LLI conference took place at Camp Buckner in Burnet, Texas.

“The training is a five-day intensive course. The women are divided according to number of years with the program and each lecturer brings a fresh topic per session dealing with issues facing Latina women in the church, in society and in culture. The sessions are taught from a biblical perspective, aimed at teaching Latina women how to flourish in their not-so-sensitive-to-women-in-leadership environment,” Lozano explained.

“This program is unique in the sense that it provides a biblical, cultural and gender sensitive training. There is a need for the Hispanic population here in the U.S. and in Latin America. As the institute keeps growing, we hope and dream to provide training in different areas of the Spanish speaking world.” said Lozano.

The Latina Leadership Institute advisory board includes:  Teresa Martínez, Dr. Belinda Reyes, Alicia Zorzoli, Zoricelis Davila, Rebecca Klein, Raquel Contreras and Nora Silva.

In addition to BUA and Buckner Children & Family Services, the Institute receives significant support from, the Texas WMU Mary Hill Davis Missions Offering, Global Women, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-Texas, Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio, Mountain Brook Baptist Church in Birmingham Ala., and private donors.

If you would like more information about or to become a supporter of the North Carolina or Texas LLI programs, please contact Dr. Nora Lozano at nora.lozano@bua.edu or visit www.bua.edu/latina-leadership-institute/.

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Dallas mission team builds

Prayer area for BUA community

 By Maegan Gatlin

BUA Communications

SAN ANTONIO, TX – Royal Lane Baptist Church traveled to the BUA campus July 16-21 to build a Prayer Garden across the street from the University’s Piper Village student housing.

The team of 37 arrived in San Antonio Monday, July 16 and immediately got started working in the scorching Texas heat preparing an open air sanctuary for BUA students and passers-by alike.

Linda Cross, Assistant Director for University Relations, is a recent transplant from Dallas to BUA, and a member of RLBC.  The connection naturally spurred a thought for RLBC leaders to see what partnership opportunities might be available.

Joey Belgard, Project Coordinator, visited the future site of the prayer garden back in March and “I began to envision the possibilities,” he said. “Conversations with Linda and other BUA staff guided the vision.”

Funding for the project was a gift from God, team members said. RLBC’s annual rummage sale that funds the summer mission trip raised $11,400 that included $3,200 for the prayer garden – way over the initial guesstimate of $500. But in order to incorporate everything dreamed about in the planning stages, even more was needed.

Acme Brick responded to a Craig’s List request for materials and donated eight palettes (roughly 2,500 bricks) and a local cement recycler provided 16 yards of stone. These gifts stretched the budget tremendously. RLBC brought some painted bricks with them from prayer walks they have built at their church, “so RLBC could physically be a permanent part” of the 55-foot pathway.

“My team included myself and 5 other missioners. Two young men constructed a pair of benches each morning for five days and did other heavy labor in the afternoon – like digging post holes and toting the 10’ 4”x4”s used to erect the shades. The other members of the team covered the site in landscape cloth, marked the pattern for the bricks, laid out the bricks, selected and planted native plants, spread mulch, watered the plants and whatever else needed doing,” said Belgard.

The rest of the 37-person team split into four other mini-teams and worked at the San Antonio Food Bank warehousing donations and preparing meals; sorted clothes and served meals to the homeless at Christian Assistance Ministry; conducted a Vacation Bible School at Rosemont Apartments; and painted and did repairs at Alpha Home, a ministry for women dealing with substance abuse.

The opening and dedication of the prayer garden was Saturday, July 21. The RLBC team and BUA students, faculty and staff joined voices singing to God in dedication of the prayer garden.

“The prayer garden is for the entire community not just BUA,” BUA president Rene Maciel said. “Come visit the prayer garden anytime and enjoy the serene beauty of God’s creation.”

For more information about Royal Lane Baptist Church visit www.royallane.org and for more information about BUA visit www.bua.edu.

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SAN ANTONIO–Baptist University of the Américas has been formally recognized as a national leader in preparing Hispanic students for vocational ministry. Diverse: Issues in Higher Education reported in its July issue that BUA, despite an enrollment of just 261, ranked second nationally among all accredited universities for Hispanic ministry graduates at the bachelor’s level for the 2010-11 academic year. But combining the two previous years shows BUA the leader by a significant margin.

“This is a very much a good news/troubling news situation,” BUA President René Maciel said. “Obviously we celebrate the hard data that shows we are being faithful to the specific call God has given BUA.

“But compare the numbers to the need!  In two years we graduated almost 10 percent of ALL Hispanics BA students to be ministers. The Top 100 schools combined in two years graduated only 429—and that includes Protestant, Catholic and Jewish universities—in a country with more than 50 million Hispanics. I am haunted by the words in Hebrews warning us not to ‘ignore so great a salvation.’”

The magazine has ranked the Top 100 for minority students in other academic disciplines for years, but debuted the “religious and ministerial studies and theology” category this year. The report is based on research of Victor Borden at Indiana University Bloomington, using U.S. Department of Education data. (Read Diverse here: http://mydigimag.rrd.com/publication/?i=118569).

Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas topped the 2010-11 rankings granting 22 theology degrees while BUA had 18.

On its website, the magazine included 2009-10 figures that showed BUA ranked first for Hispanic theology graduates with 21. Combining the past two years, BUA (40) and Southwestern Assemblies of God (29) placed one-two.

The other Texas Baptist universities in the list were Dallas Baptist University, tied for 11^th (18) and Howard Payne University in Brownwood, tied for 20^th (4). (The complete reports can be found at http://diverseeducation.com/top100/)

Though it is not reflected in the theology graduate totals, BUA’s other bachelor programs in Spanish, Business Leadership and Music require 30 hours/10 courses of Bible classes.

Rolando Rodriguez, a BUA alumnus and director of Hispanic Ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, noted, “The need to prepare men and women who have been called to ministry increasingly grows greater,” he said. “In the midst of the great need Baptist University of the Américas has taken that challenge very personally. We celebrate this great achievement with BUA. It’s not just a University, it is OUR University. Felicidades”

Gus Reyes, who heads up the BGCT’s Hispanic Education Initiative, affirmed BUA’s focus on developing leaders who will shape growing Hispanic congregations in Texas and beyond.

“The metrics reported point to the opportunity to increase the number of trained Hispanic leaders,” he said. “Recent demographics of the Hispanic population point to the need for a tsunami of theological and religious bachelor degrees. Praise God for BUA, the Hispanic Baptist Convention, and Texas Baptists as they work together to call out the ‘called’ and provide adequate education for spiritual transformation.”

BUA, founded in 1947 as the Texas Mexican Baptist Bible Institute and accredited to offer bachelor’s degrees in 2003, has grown steadily the past decade, from 50 students to the 261 last spring. Plans are underway for a new campus and a fourth BA program, in music, will debut this fall.

In addition to the BA program,  the university’s  Baptist Bible Institute, a diploma-level program, has more than 500 students in ministry training, primarily in Texas and Northern Mexico but also in India, South Africa and across Latin America.

“We have the faith, the dream, the call, the faculty and the land to significantly increase the numbers of students preparing to share the Gospel,” Maciel said. “We just need to build more classrooms and fill them with the men and women God is calling.”

Joe Brake, BUA Board of Trustees chairman, also welcomed the news, adding  that “the ranking does not speak to the quality of the education offered at the various institutions, but if it did, BUA would still be at the very top. We have doctoral level faculty and are expanding our physical facilities to provide an excellent environment in which to facilitate that excellent education.  The changing demographics of our state and yes, our country, demand that we continue to train increasing numbers of cross-cultural Hispanic leaders to serve in our churches and communities.”

By Maegan Gatlin

BUA Communications

Monterrey, Mexico can be a frightening place to live. The smell of violence and the stench of death, sadly, are common. Motorists entering the city drive past mountainsides painted with massive “Z’s,” a territorial claim by the infamous drug cartel Zetas.

Francisco and Nancy Kuk, however, voluntarily are investing their lives there.

The Kuks, 2008 graduates from Baptist University of the Américas, moved from San Antonio to Monterrey last May as pioneering “missionaries” in a BUA program to partner Texas Baptist churches with the San Antonio school’s graduates.

The month before they arrived, headlines described how, over two consecutive days, 30 people had died in shootouts in the city. A Reuters news story informed the world that, “In just four years, Monterrey, a manufacturing city of 4 million people 140 miles (230 km) from the Texan border, has gone from being a model for developing economies to a symbol of Mexico’s drug war chaos, sucked down into a dark spiral of gangland killings, violent crime and growing lawlessness.”

Even though Monterrey is Nancy’s hometown, their “career choice” was puzzling, especially because they were new parents.

“Many of our friends and relatives were very concerned, but we dare to believe that wherever we go, God will be right by our side” said Nancy.  “Making the decision was difficult, but the fact that I had my family there gave us some comfort. If we had to start from zero in a place that we no longer knew it would have been harder. The burden seemed much easier to bear with the help and support of our family.”

The young couple “talked about the possibility of coming back to Mexico for over a year, and we weighed all the pros and cons,” Nancy added. “We took into consideration what we would be giving up–not for us but for our son. However, we also looked at what we would be gaining and realized, since Marcos would still be a baby,  it was not going to affect him as much as it would if we waited for him to be older,” Nancy added.

After more than a decade out of Mexico, trying to get settled in was more difficult than they expected. “Nancy’s dad let us stay in his house for six months, but we had to buy all our furniture and didn’t even have a fan to help us with the intensely hot weather,” Francisco explained. “It has been a challenge financially.”

In July, two months after the move, Francisco finally found work as a teacher at a very well-known school in Monterrey, Colegio Bilingue Madison, where he teaches Civics and Ethics, and Spanish to middle school students. In August, Nancy was hired as a 5^th grade English teacher at Colegio Bilingue Contry. “Thanks to our degrees from BUA and our English fluency we were able to find work,” Nancy said.

“It has been almost a year since we came back to Mexico and every day we get more settled in, every day we fight a new battle, every day we look back and every day we thank God because not only are we doing okay, but God has also given us jobs, placed caring people in our path and everyday He is teaching us to fall back in love with our country,” Nancy pointed out.  “Who knows? Maybe Mexico is yet another stepping stone for something even greater God has in store for us.”

The young couple doesn’t ignore the fact that the violence increases day by day. “We are cautious not to be out past a certain hour, but the drug cartels are now beginning to come out and commit their atrocities in broad daylight,” Francisco said. “Nancy’s brother, sister and father have been mugged and her brother robbed twice–once at knife point and once at gun point. We have had a few close encounters too, but God is our protector. We ask all our brothers in Christ to keep us in your prayers for our safety, and the safety of the church here. There is much to be done and very few people doing it.”

They work with Pastor Jesús Mario González at Iglesia Bautista Betábara. “Pastor Mario suggested we take things slowly and let the church get to know and trust us,” Francisco explained. “We have to learn how this church does ministry, and then we can begin to put our dreams and training into action—witnessing, teaching and discipling believers and, hopefully, eventually starting a Baptist Bible Institute through BUA.”

The Kuks both received their BA’s in Biblical and Theological Studies from BUA in 2008—and married the same day.

Typical of BUA students, as undergraduates both were heavily involved in off-campus ministries. Their first ministry positions were with other BUA alumni or students. Francisco worked with Pastor Victor Perez at a church in Castroville, Texas and also worked with Jeronimo De la Cruz at Iglesia Bautista El Perdon in Elmendorf, Texas as a worship leader and also a Sunday school teacher. Nancy worked with Pastor Jaime Masso as a Sunday school teacher for pre-K children and adults. She also gave several bible studies at Victoria in Cristo in San Antonio until January of 2008.

In 2008 the couple began a three year internship at Northeast Baptist Church in San Antonio as youth and language ministers. “Because of them, our congregation now has a greater openness to the Hispanic language and culture, and now a direct connection to God’s work in Mexico. We continue to stay in contact with them. We watch and pray with eagerness as we wait to see what God will do through them in Monterrey,” said Pastor Chad Chaddick.

During their internship they decided to pursue second degrees in new programs BUA was offering. In May 2010, Francisco graduated with a BA in Spanish and Nancy with a BA in Business Leadership.

But even with the double degree no ministry opportunities opened up and the Kuk’s had a decision to make – return to their homeland, or continue to struggle in the U.S.

The Kuks decision to return to Mexico made them the initial answer to BUA’s dream to match BUA graduates with Baptist churches and mission agencies in the United States, equipping them to return to their home countries and strengthen the church there. Northeast Baptist and Woodland Baptist in San Antonio were the first congregations to partner with BUA in its mission program.

(BUA has partnerships in place to receive BUA students in Guatemala and Colombia as soon as God leads graduates in those directions.)

“It has been a slow beginning and at times we have come very close to losing our patience,” Francisco admitted.  “But we are learning to wait on God.”

They testify to that every time they write a letter to their friends and supporters in the U.S.  The closing words are always: “We are because He is.”

If you are interested in helping the Kuks or the BUA missions program, you can donate online at www.bua.edu.

For additional information please contact:

Maegan Gatlin  ll  Office of University Relations
8019 S. Pan Am Expressway ll  San Antonio, Texas 78224
Office  210.924.4338 ext. 312  ll maegan.gatlin@bua.edu

April 12, 2012     

BUA professor asking if massive rock formations near possible Sodom were world’s first calendar

By Craig Bird

BUA Communications

 BUA’s David Maltsberger is exploring if Tall el Hamman in the southern Jordan River valley is the site of the world’s first calendar.

(Photo courtesy of Daniel Galassini)

SAN ANTONIO–Thousands of years before the Aztecs created their calendar that famously ends in 2012, and ten centuries before England’s Stonehenge was built, people in the southern Jordan River Valley founded a major city, began organizing massive rocks into circles and building hundreds of funeral -related structures known as dolmens.

Some believe Tall el-Hammam, the remains of that fortified city that was destroyed circa the 16th century BC, to be the site of biblical Sodom.

David Maltsberger of Baptist University of the Américas and a group of fellow scientists question if those unknown builders also created the world’s first calendar and wonder what the stone structures had to do with Cannanite religion.

If finding answers involves hours drinking tea with Bedouin sheikhs, repeatedly climbing up and down 1,500 foot slopes below sea level, and applying space age technology to unlock the secrets of the skies Abraham pondered when he counted the stars and dreamed of his descendants, then that’s what he’ll do. And exactly what he has been doing since 2006.

So far the team has surveyed more than 400 dolmens. These usually consist of several large stone slabs set edgewise in the earth to support a flat stone roof that was covered by a mound of earth (which in most cases has weathered away) and accompanied by large standing stones called menhirs.  The team also has scrutinized numerous large circles of mega-stones measuring 18X12 meters/ 60X35 feet scattered throughout the area.

When analysis showed the menhirs all apparently oriented toward the North Star, Maltsberger speculated if the obvious geographical directional markers “are also directional markers for the soul?” and focused his study on the celestial orientation of the dolmens.

He also began to reflect on why all the known megalithic (built with huge stones) structures related to calendars are in Europe, yet were built centuries later than and thousands of miles from where megalithic construction began—the Middle East.

A related question was how the monuments and related burial practices were part of Canaanite religion. “Is this ancestor worship, something cultic related to certain family or clan?” he asked.

This question put him at work in the field of archaeoastronomy, the study of what role ancient civilizations assigned celestial phenomena to their cultures. Origins of calendar are not well known, he said, “but are believed to be related to astronomy and solar observation, to solstices, equinoxes. Somehow—and that is what we are trying to determine–the solar observation is attached to the lunar calendar.”

Which begs the question: Are some of the structures surrounding Tall el-Hammam the oldest evidence of a system for recording the passage of time in the Middle East—and possibly the world?

“The Early Bronze Age, 3200-2200 BC, was a period of large-scale urban expansion.  At the same time and locations, the construction of dolmans and other megalithic structures blossomed,” pointed out Maltsberger, Associate Professor for Biblical Studies and Archaeology at BUA. “We also know from inscriptions that Israel was using a lunar calendar by 10^th Century B.C. but no one has found physical evidence of how they devised this calendar. Our evidence from Tall el-Hammam dates around 3,000-2,000 B.C. and may give us insight into how the calendar began.”

This past January, Maltsberger again joined the excavation staff at Tall el-Hammam as part of an archeological team seeking answers. The project, begun in 2004 and headed by Steven Collins, Dean of the College of Archaeology & Biblical History at Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, N.M., is a partnership with the Department of Antiquities of the government of Jordan.

“Dr. Maltsberger is a meticulous scholar who understands the delicacies of archaeology and culture were we work in Jordan,” Collins commented. “Between us we hold some differing perspectives about the Bible, but that helps keep us on our toes when it comes to theorizing about archaeology and the biblical text. I really enjoy working with David. He has a great sense of humor, and we’ve had a lot of fun together over the years.”

“I really enjoy Jordan,” said Maltsberger, who spent large portions of 1984-89 working in Israel at biblical Timnah (Judges 14) and Beth-shan (where Saul’s body was hung). “The Jordanian government is extremely helpful and the people are fantastic.”

Tall el Hammam is a Bedouin area which means an ever-shifting population of migrant herdsmen.

“When we arrived this year, a Bedouin camp was set up right in the middle of where we wanted to work so we spent lots of time in the chief’s tent drinking tea and getting to know one another,” Maltsberger explained.

“He could have kept us away from the entire area, but with typical Bedouin hospitality, once we knew each other, he helped us look for likely sites to survey.  He even found one dolmen right beside the women’s tent and went with us while we took our readings—we never would have been allowed close to the tent without his permission.  And that wouldn’t have happened if we had not spent time getting to know him first.”

This past season, thanks in part to the Bedouin sheikh, the team identified more unexcavated dolmens. “Some theorize that the body was placed on top of the dolmen until the flesh was eaten away, then one or several bones were removed and placed inside  along with ceramic bowls and bottles, he noted. “The dolman entrance was closed off. But years later descendants would come back, dig it out, do it all over again and put the old objects back inside and put in new items.”

Back on campus in San Antonio, Maltsberger is sifting the data. “This entails careful survey of all the measurements as well as recreating the sky in ancient periods to see where the North Star and major constellations would have been positioned in relation to Tall el Hammam and Mt. Nebo,” he said.

In order to correlate the locations of the dolmens to stars and constellations, Maltsberger has to know where the heavenly bodies were at the time of construction, not where they are today.

To that end, he is consulting with a research astrophysicist and using software from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. A collaborator at the University of Colorado-Denver who is skilled at building 3D models of the sky using the Geographical Information System also is assisting.

While the science of archaeoastronomy will be the long-term beneficiary of Maltsberger’s work, the immediate beneficiaries are his students at BUA.

“The more David stays involved with archeology, the better he is at connecting with students, making the lectures come alive when he teaches Old Testament and New Testament classes,” explained Marconi Monteiro, academic dean at BUA.

“All believers have a relationship to the Bible and as we read we imagine the setting and details. But actually we have no idea about real conditions and situations. His work allows him to present information in a way that makes students feel they are eye witnesses.”

Jeremy Carlton, about to graduate from the Wake Forest (N.C.) School of Divinity with an MDiv, studied under Maltsberger 2005-2007 and is, “immensely indebted to his wisdom and insight. I would not be where I am today if it were not for professors like him. . . I currently am enrolled in a Near Eastern Archaeology class that addresses many points he covered extensively in class at during my time at BUA.”

Lori Ximenez, a 2010 graduate who works for USAA in San Antonio concurs. “I had the opportunity to travel with him to Turkey and Greece for my last theology course. His knowledge really allowed me to see what he had been teaching us. When you’re tired and want to quit, he pushes you to keep on growing. He can tell you anything and everything about a subject, but he doesn’t. He lets you learn and make your own decisions about it then discusses it with you.”

Maltsberger hopes to return to Tall el Hammam next year to continue to unravel the mysteries.

For more information about Maltsberger’s classes, the Biblical and Theological Studies program at Baptist University of the Américas or other academic offerings, call 210-924-4338 or go to www.bua.edu.

For more information about the Tall el Hammam dig go to http://tallelhammam.com/.

News Release

For additional information please contact:

Craig Bird  ll  Office of University Relations
8019 S. Pan Am Expressway ll  San Antonio, Texas 78224
(O)  210.924.4338 ext. 348   ll  (M) 210.452-2473  ll craig.bird@bua.edu

to benefit Jimenez Del la Cruz Missions Society (JDLC) NOW – Dec. 19, 2011!!

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Place orders by sending a Facebook message to BUA or email Jennifer or Maegan at Jennifer.moczygemba@bua.edu or Maegan.gatlin@bua.edu. Please tell how many bags of coffee you would like, the type and leave your contact information; name and phone etc. We will call for payment and shipping details.

The coffee is a medium-bodied, artisan blend of Latin American beans accented with vanilla, cinnamon and a hint of cocoa! Specially made for BUA!

Selection:
-Whole Bean Caffeinated
-Whole Bean Decaf
-Ground Caffeinated
-Ground Decaf

-We can accept credit cards over the phone
-Coffee is $20 an 8oz bag

Sale only lasts from now until Dec. 19th!
Hurry and order your BUA coffee as a stocking stuffer today!

Place orders by sending a Facebook message to BUA or email Jennifer or Maegan at Jennifer.moczygemba@bua.edu or maegan.gatlin@bua.edu. Please tell how many bags of coffee you would like, the type of coffee and leave your contact information; name, phone etc. We will call for payment and shipping detailsThe coffee is a medium-bodied, artisan blend of Latin American beans accented with vanilla, cinnamon and a hint of cocoa! Specially made for BUA!

SAN ANTONIO–Braving the sweltering 100 degree heat of a Texas summer and the dust of a historic drought, 56 men, women and children from Acton Baptist Church in Granbury, Tx came to the Baptist University of the Américas in San Antonio the last week of June to renovate a 50-year-old building and host a Vacation Bible School for neighborhood children.

“One of the greatest things we can do is to try to be like Jesus and try to help others,” explained Glenn Ward, pastor since 1974. “We’ve been doing this since 1979 and it’s always the highlight of the year. I love to give my talent and skills to contribute to ministry work. We know the University has to be a careful steward of its budget and this was one way we could help.”

The team repaired air conditioning units, moved walls, pulled out old plumbing fixtures, installed bathroom/plumbing fixtures in the chapel and painted, along with sponsoring a Vacation Bible School for children in the neighborhood as well as for the children of the students and staff.“Wherever there’s a need, we go,” according to Amy Briggs, the head of the VBS team:  “In recent years in Juarez, Mexico we built a school house, a clinic and a tortilla factory.   A few weeks ago we went to Joplin, Missouri to help clean up tornado wreckage. We always think we’re going to be a blessing wherever we go, but we always end up being more blessed—and that happened at BUA too.”

BUA President René Maciel begs to differ.

“Even though the Acton folks could, in many ways, see how they were blessing us—by the electrical wiring run and the walls moved in the construction project and by the ear-to-ear smiles and thoughtful questions of the children at the VBS, their gifts went far beyond that,” he said.

“They brought a spirit of encouragement, ears willing to hear the story of how this school is changing lives to change our world, heart eager to learn how to pray for us. They left with ‘good words’ to share with others about what God is doing here. We were the ones most blessed.”
Team members Bill Stone and James Mitchell agreed they could not have found a better way to spend a summer week.

“If I could do things over I would have started doing these missions trips 10 years earlier,” Stone said. “From the outside this may look like too much work, but from the inside the experience is very rewarding. You won’t know until you’ve done it.”

Added Mitchell, “There is real satisfaction in helping someone do something by providing free labor—and maybe seeing people give their lives to Christ as a result of what we are doing.”

“The spirit of the mission team was great – they worked hard and were a phenomenal example of what it means to be on mission for Christ,” said Michael McCarthy, the university’s chief financial officer. “They were an encouragement to our entire body of students and staff.”

The upstairs apartments in Building 8, which was built in the 1960s, “were in dire need of restoration as well as the student and fitness centers on the first floor,” said McCarthy. “We’re extremely grateful for the labor and materials that First Baptist Church Acton provided for BUA. We could not have attempted this project without their help.

“We are very excited for the new look that the students will see in the student center. It will be a place where they can relax, study or fellowship with other students.”

The VBS concluded with a well-attended family night on Thursday night with a great turnout.

Acton Baptist Church has a long-term interest in BUA, because they ordained David Maltsberger to the ministry long before he was Associate Professor for Biblical Studies and Archaeology at the university.

Then, in 2007, Ward and his wife attended a conference on The Persecuted Church at BUA and came away from their first extended contact with students and faculty deeply impressed. Additional interaction last September, when Ward spoke at a BUA chapel service, led him to suggest that the church’s annual construction/evangelism project target the university this summer. “I know what great things BUA does. A lot of people don’t know about it so I thought it would be nice to come here,” he said.