Ruth Padilla DeBorst
Thanks to the Costa Rica-based Center for Interdisciplinary Theological Education (CETI), a student named Rodolfo looked behind an imposing wall and discovered hundreds of scared and violent young people in need of hope. Meanwhile, another student, Lilibeth, connected for the first time a love for journalism with a sense of mission. Ruth Padilla DeBorst, OMSC resident senior mission scholar for spring 2015, explores the model of theological-missiological formation that opened Rodolfo’s eyes and propelled Lilibeth into a recognized career of investigative journalism. She outlines the birth, growth, and impact of CETI from its modest beginnings with a handful of members of the Latin American Theological Fellowship connected to the Kairos Foundation in Argentina. CETI then grew through the formation of over a thousand leaders in El Salvador to its current reach into Eastern Europe and beyond under the auspices of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT).
Ruth Padilla DeBorst has been involved in leadership development and theological education for integral mission in her native Latin America for many years. She serves on the board of the Latin American Theological Fellowship and on the networking team of the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation. She and her husband, James, serve in the Center for Interdisciplinary Theological Education, in Costa Rica. They live in Costa Rica, as members of the Casa Adobe community and missionaries with Christian Reformed World Missions. Ruth also has been associated with the Comunidad Internacional de Estudiantes Evangélicos (IFES) and World Vision International.
