Hot Water & Bible Training
The goal of the Portuguese Bible Institute is to train students to accurately and adequately handle the Word of God – yet aging infrastructure is hindering this goal. ECM missionary Alex Kowalenko explains.
Imagine waking up on a cold morning, and going to wash/shave or have a hot shower, and there is only cold water. Imagine doing the dishes in cold water. Or catering for 80 people, and having only cold water to clean with.
We have become so used to hot water, that we take it for granted, but when the tap runs cold, then we become aware of how useful it is to daily life.
You may say that hot water is not really useful to teaching and training the next generation of leaders in Portugal. It really is not central. Our main thrust is equipping people with God’s word to serve the kingdom of God, whether in Portugal, or in the Portuguese speaking nations outside Europe. We train using the Bible, since it is effective in producing maturity in God’s people, and we also model in our own lives godly character to the next generation of leaders of the church.
In the formal context of the college, it becomes increasingly so as more people are trained and more things are needed: a classroom in which to teach, a place in which to gather, resources and books to read; technology such as computers, and somewhere for students to live . . . all these require infrastructure.
The Portuguese Bible Institute (PBI) was set up 43 years ago, and has good facilities which help our goal of preparing leaders. We also make these facilities available to the wider evangelical community so that can run camps, and conferences. This is also an important source of income for us.
But our infrastructure is becoming old and especially the hot water system needs to be replaced. I am looking to raise €10,000 (approx. $15,000 AUD). It is a large sum, but we are investing in a more efficient means of heating water for a large facility. It also means that with the funds we have, we can directly invest into paying our Portuguese lecturers and staff, and promoting the Portuguese in ministry.
Can you help? Please fill out the response form on the back-page of ECM News, designating your gift for the “PBI Project”.
Archive
October 2026
- 28 - October - 2026 - The One He Came to Find
- 21 - October - 2026 - Who Is Coming Through the Door?
- 14 - October - 2026 - 4 in 1,000
- 07 - October - 2026 - Fruit in Its Time
September
- 30 - September - 2026 - “Honey, We Brought the Kids on Vacation!”
- 23 - September - 2026 - Strength in Our Weakness
- 16 - September - 2026 - Unshakable
- 09 - September - 2026 - “You Are”: An Unexpected Call
- 02 - September - 2026 - Focus on the Baltics
A forgotten sweatshirt. A screenshot saved two years earlier. A young woman’s prayers. What looked like a tiny coincidence became a beautiful reminder that our Heavenly Father sees, hears and never forgets. 
Please come in. The door is open. There’s coffee on the table, people are arriving, and there are conversations happening about Jesus. Every Saturday, Lemuel and Rachel open their home to their church family — and to people who are still searching. Come and meet some of them. 
Behind Croatia’s deeply historical Christian culture is one of the smaller evangelical populations in Europe. Only 4 in every 1,000 people (0.4%) identify as evangelical followers of Jesus.