Students Gain New Worldview in Chiapas
A Western Theological Seminary (WTS) intercultural immersion trip to Chiapas, Mexico, prompted a student who participated to write that she had experienced "the overwhelming presence and power of God to transform the people of a culture, and it also transformed me."
Thirteen WTS students took the January 2007 10-day trip, which was led by WTS missiology professors Vern and Carla Sterk.
The group spent six days in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, which is where the Sterks lived for several decades when they served as missionaries to the indigenous peoples of Chiapas. The Sterks also took the students to visit indigenous villages and a shrine related to the animistic religion of the area. "A majority of people in the indigenous areas still practice their Mayan religion," says Vern.
"Students were amazed to see that thousands of Christians have come out of this background [of blood sacrifices] after hearing about Christ's once-for-all sacrifice and his power to transform their lives," he says.
"Students also were amazed to see the joy and experience the hospitality of people who live in very different economic conditions [from our own], often of extreme poverty.
"Students learned that God's work is really dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit," says Vern.
A student wrote, "We come from a country where we feel self-sufficient and have the power to do things technologically and scientifically." She adds that now she realizes "we really depend on God, not our ability to control things."
"Students also learned the importance of relationships in Chiapas," says Carla. "Here [in the United States and Canada] we often rely on a quote from a book or a method we learn to evangelize. When the students stayed overnight in homes and visited churches, they saw how important friendships and relationships are as the way the gospel is shared and then as crucial to the growth of the whole church."
One student noted, "As we sat and laughed, talked, cried, played, and prayed with people I realized how important it will be for me in my ministry to form relationships. Living out the gospel is just as important as having the knowledge of the gospel."
Students were also surprised by the complexity social justice issues in Chiapas. "One student who had seen the Zapatistas as freedom fighters, fighters for justice and the rights for indigenous people, found that his perception had to be reevaluated," says Vern. "He was able to meet with a Zapatista leader and was disheartened to learn that a liberation movement itself can often oppress people. The liberation they fought for isn't true liberation, that can only be found in Christ."
Dr. Todd Billings, a WTS professor of systematic theology, joined students for the trip. Vern credits him with making this year's trip to Chiapas "one of our better trips in terms of the quality of the reflections.
"He kept us thinking theologically and made sure we wrote our theological reflections in our journals each evening."
Posted 04/03/07
|