Our History

What is known today as Caribbean Ministries Association began in the late 1980’s as a series of short-term mission trips from Woodland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to the settlement of James Cistern in Eleuthera, Bahamas. After experiencing first hand some of the struggles of local believers, the church elders began to ask for additional help.
Over the course of the next decade, with the assistance of leaders in the local Brethren assemblies in Eleuthera and Nassau, the concept behind Eleuthera Bible Training Center (EBTC) took shape, culminating with a grand opening in the spring of 2002.
In 2004, EBTC graduated its first class of pastors: 10 bi-vocational men from the island, representing 7 different churches and 5 different denominations, who persevered through 500 hours of coursework in biblical studies. Each one testifies of how much better equipped he is to shepherd the people of God in Eleuthera.
In 2005, CMA added Nicaragua missionaries, Carl and Kathy Most who were involved in youth leader training in partnership with the Nehemiah Center in Managua. Since then, Carl and Kathy have seen this training expand and multiply to other parts of Nicaragua, including León and Esteli.
Today CMA has expanded to many islands and countries throughout the Caribbean and Central America including Freeport Grand Bahama in 2008, St. Maarten in 2009, Cuba in 2015 and Abaco Bahamas in 2016. CMA continues to look toward the future of providing accessible and affordable theological training.