Former Bluffton residents Jerry and Leonor Kennell, now North American ambassadors to SEMILLA, the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary, will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, June 15 at First Mennonite Church, 101 S. Jackson St.

All are welcome to visit with the Kennells and learn more about SEMILLA, including information about their unique joint programming relationship with Bluffton University, as well as an upcoming Guatemala learning tour.

SEMILLA, which means seed in Spanish, is the common name for the Latin American Anabaptist Seminary and is taken from two of Jesus' parables. In Luke 8:11 Jesus talks about the seed as "the Word of God" and in Matthew 13:38 Jesus refers to the children of God as "the good seed."

The Latin American Anabaptist Seminary in Guatemala provides Biblical and theological education for ten Anabaptist/Mennonite conferences in Central America and Mexico. It was initiated by Central Americans in the early 1980’s at a time when they were discovering their Anabaptist roots. The seminary draws inspiration from the experience of the early Anabaptists who also attempted to develop church communities and live their faith in a context of social and economic injustice.