Spanish Bible Training Resources Through La Palabra de Cristo
Jon and Kathy Underwood launched La Palabra de Cristo to translate and publish strong Bible training resources in Spanish. The ministry began after Colombian Christian Mission requested more challenging materials for leadership training and has continued with books by Jack Cottrell and Johnny Pressley.
- La Palabra de Cristo began after a 2005 visit to Colombian Christian Mission.
- The ministry’s first project was a Spanish translation of Jack Cottrell’s Being Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough.
- The Underwoods hope to continue developing Spanish-language resources for Bible training and leadership development.
By Jennifer Taylor
Good Books
When Jon and Kathy Underwood visited Colombian Christian Mission in 2005, missionary Dale Meade asked the couple to outline a course of study for general and graduate-level Bible training. Jon created a sequence including Bible surveys, history, and theology—and received another request from Dale.
“The team really wanted more challenging materials and asked us to consider translating and publishing books into Spanish,” Kathy says. “We were concerned about a conflict of interest, since Jon works at Standard Publishing. But we explained the project and received their blessing to move forward.”
In 2006 the Underwoods created La Palabra de Cristo (The Word of Christ) and chose Being Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough by Jack Cottrell as their first project.
“This is a wonderful study of grace and a foundational resource,” Kathy says. “We had it professionally translated, then distributed copies to missionaries and native speakers for review before publishing.”
La Palabra followed this book with another by Cottrell, Faith’s Fundamentals, which examines seven essential truths of Christian belief. A Spanish-speaking student of Cottrell’s helped the Underwoods review the translation.
The ministry plans to release Jesus Is—Ten Lessons on the Person and Work of Christ by Johnny Pressley later this year. The book is based on a series of lectures by Pressley and will include both the English and Spanish versions.
Although the Underwoods lead La Palabra in their “spare time,” they plan to continue developing translations covering the entire scope of Jon’s 2005 course plan and possibly original works by Spanish-speaking authors, as well. Colombian Christian Mission uses hundreds of copies for leader training each year, and the Underwoods welcome partnership with other missionaries and churches.
For more information about purchasing books or supporting the ministry, contact pa**************@*ol.com.
Jennifer Taylor, one of CHRISTIAN STANDARD’s contributing editors, lives in Nashville, Tennessee. She also writes a blog at www.christianstandard.com.
