Texas International Bible Institute

The purpose of the Texas International Bible Institute is to train Spanish-speaking people to plant churches that are biblical, relevant, nurturing and evangelistic. Since 2006, TIBI has been part of more than 370 baptisms and six church plants.

UCC became a part of this outreach when Steve Austin returned to Abilene after several years work in Houston with the Impact Church of Christ. Through partial provision for personnel and equipment for a video conferencing classroom, UCC played a major role in launching TIBI’s international full-time program.

TIBI’s home base is Houston, but cutting-edge technology allows classes to be offered using live, interactive video conferencing from UCC and other locations. The TIBI network of more than 65 sites includes 22 professors offering more than 70 courses per year to full or part-time students in 17 countries.

TIBI also offers 11 recorded video courses online (www.sunsetonline.org/es) to more than 300 students in 27 countries.

TIBI provides several full-time scholarships to students so they can train in place in their own countries and churches. This is economical and efficient since the students do not have to move or learn a new language and culture before they begin to train. They use what they learn immediately and their congregations benefit from their knowledge. They are supervised in their practical work by a mentor with more than 25 years successful experience in church planting and development.

The Lord has blessed us this unique ministry and opened many intriguing ministry opportunities. TIBI and UCC are exploring how our congregation and other churches and brotherhood groups can use this technology to teach, encourage, counsel, inspire and mentor Christians in a variety of settings and places.

If you’d like to learn more, please call Steve Austin (director) at (281) 787-3721, write him at slaustin@cebridge.net, or go online to our bilingual website at www.texasbible.org.