Intercultural Learning Trips

“The only people who see the whole picture are those who step outside the frame.” - Indo-British novelist Salman Rushdie

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s World Mission Initiative organizes intercultural trips to help participants see their own ministry with new eyes by stepping outside their context. These trips are part of a required Intercultural/Experiential Learning course (MI 310) that is offered by the Seminary every January Term. This course will provide pre- and post-experience orientation and reflection in cultural proficiency and anti-racism, intercultural communication, a theology of short-term mission engagement, area studies for the specific context to be studied, and spiritual practices for mission. 

Since 2001, WMI has sent 987 individuals to 61 countries.

Read reflections from previous student participants.

January 2025 Trips

New York City: Exegeting the Urban City

Travel Dates: Jan. 10-19, 2025

Co-Leaders: Dr. Wanda Lundy, New York Theological Seminary, and TBD

Participants will discover that geographical and social contexts powerfully shape congregational identity and understandings. Urban spaces have a profound social and cultural connection to racial identity. We will learn from culturally competent mission leaders who understand that while the gospel is a timeless truth, it enters ever-changing and diverse human contexts. The trip is being organized with New York Theological Seminary which has pioneered theological education for incarcerated population.

India: Christian Witness in Context

Travel Dates: Jan. 9-21, 2025

Co-Leaders: The Rev. Bala Khyllep, World Mission, and the Rev. Brenda Henry, Pittsburgh Lutheran United Ministries

The country of India has many cultures, languages, religions, traditions, and ethnic backgrounds. We often see India through the lens of mainstream media, but there is so much more. Students on this trip will be invited to see India through the unique lenses of Indian Christians, a religious minority. Learn from Christians who come from a variety of cultural, ethnic, and linguistic minorities. Participants will experience the witness of churches contextualizing their belief in Jesus Christ in a time of deep division. While struggling with a colonial past, faithful Christians seek to share the gospel as a religious minority in a time of growing religious nationalism.

Israel/Palestine: Mission in Context

Travel Dates: Jan. 10-21, 2025

Co-Leaders: The Rev. Dr. Hunter Farrell, World Mission Initiative, and TBD

How do Palestinian Christians understand their context of conflict and violence and their consequent engagement in God’s mission? What does faithful witness look like in a context of exclusion and control? In the Middle East and in Pittsburgh, is it possible to engage in God’s mission without attending to God’s justice?

Cost

Please refer to the application form for the cost of each trip.

Important Dates 

• Trip Application Period

The trip application will be open from Aug. 23 to Oct. 4, 2024. Please stay tuned. 

• Class Registration

J-Term class registration opens Oct. 21, 2024.

• Other Dates 

Save the dates for Sat., Oct. 26 and Sat., Nov. 16, 2024, for the trip orientations in the fall. More important dates and events will be posted here later. 

Trip With Credit

Any PTS student planning to participate in an Intercultural Learning Trip for the first time is required to enroll in the Intercultural Experiential Learning (MI 310) course, which consists of 15 hours of pre-trip orientation (plus preparatory readings) and 15 hours of post-trip reflection and integration. Students will receive three credits or can audit the course.

Trip Without Credit

Students who have traveled before and completed the course are required to attend pre-trip orientation and post-trip classes.

Non-PTS students are required to register/audit for the course. The three credits are transferable to the Graduate Certificate in Missional Leadership. Non-registered applicants are required to complete five hours pre- and post-trip classroom time.