Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s curriculum includes a required intercultural learning trip to help students see their own ministry with new eyes by stepping outside their context. These trips are part of the “Intercultural/Experiential Learning” course (MI310) offered by the Seminary every January Term, organized by the World Mission Initiative. The course provides pre- and post-experience orientation…
Mission Trips Require Focus and Flexibility
If I was to name the two most important things to remember for a mission trip, it would be focus and flexibility. What I have learned over my many trips is that logistics matter. It matters that you plan and then make contingency plans (yes, multiple!) for all the things that might go wrong, because…
A “Hot and Cold” Call to Ministry
Second year M.Div. student Stephanie Backus wants people to know that God will never leave nor forsake us, even if we leave or forsake God. She knows this from experience. Her call to ministry has sometimes felt like playing the children’s game of “hot or cold” and searching in the dark for the unknown thing…