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We often say that the world is getting smaller. At Eden it really is. Between travel abroad in the Cultural Immersion Program and the International Student Program, Eden students have an opportunity to learn about the global community from a variety of perspectives.
“I think it opens the eyes of seminary students to the way others think, to what the world is really like,” says Betty Jane Bailey, who along with her husband, J. Martin “Mart” Bailey, have been strong supporters of the program. “I think these kinds of experiences are very important for people who will be pastors in order to help their future congregations understand their responsibility, as Christians, to others throughout the world.”
From Eden to the World…the cultural immersion program
Each year, students take part in a carefully designed and structured encounter with faithful people in other parts of the world. The time is not spent simply sightseeing; it is instead the experience and appreciation of cultural “otherness” that becomes a part of the educational process.
They live and worship in churches around the world, experiencing the depth and beauty of human experience and cultural diversity. That experience and appreciation of culture powerfully informs the study of theology and the understanding of church in a global context.
Students regularly travel to:
- • Ghana
• India
• Central America
• Israel
Master of Divinity graduate Kelly Volk traveled to Central America: “We spent the week in Guatemala learning about their history and culture and meeting people who have created communities of survival and success. I experienced God and Church in a way that is not possible in the United States. My experience in Central America has changed the kind of person I am and the kind of pastor I will be. There are no words strong enough to convey my gratitude for this life-changing experience.”
Linda Gastreich, a 2001 graduate of Eden, participated in the first Cultural Immersion travel/study seminar to Central America in January 2001. The experience had a significant impact on her life. “I don’t believe that it is possible to go through an experience such as this and return home completely unaffected,” said Gastreich. “The people we met along the way gave us new images of the church and the people of God. Those images continue to sparkle and blaze within us.”