Students bring to seminary a wealth of experiences, and serving in global mission has played no small role for current M.Div interns Josh Kestner and Ally Streed. Kestner spent a year in Palestine with the ELCA\u2019s Young Adults in Global Mission (YAGM), while Streed spent three years in Japan through the ELCA global mission program J-3.<\/p>\n
What draws a person to global mission? Why leave everyone and everything familiar to live in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people?<\/p>\n
For Streed, her experience started with a childhood dream to live in Japan. When she heard a speaker at her college discuss J-3, it sparked her interest. \u201cI was most drawn to the relational aspects with students and teachers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunity to work closely with others was significant for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon arriving in Japan, Streed first spent six months in language classes in Tokyo before moving to the city of Kumamoto to teach English conversation at a Lutheran school for junior- and senior-high students. Although it was a Lutheran school, the student population reflected that of greater Japan\u2014less than one percent of Japan is Christian. In light of this, one memory in particular stands out to her: \u201cI had a student who wanted to learn more conversational English, so we met twice a week for lunch. I prayed before meals. She wasn\u2019t Christian, but she started praying at one of our lunches each week, and she began attending our Lutheran English service at church. By the end of our two years together, she articulated a very beautiful and profound prayer for not having been a Christian.\u201d Here, Streed saw God manifest in a relationship, which is where she experienced God the most in Japan. \u201cRespect and care for others is ingrained in their culture,\u201d she says, \u201cunlike the U.S. where suspicion is the norm. Whatever their religion, they are very open and caring for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kestner also experienced God most in relationships with others, particularly their hospitality. While living in Beit Sehour, near Bethlehem, Kestner worked at a Lutheran school assisting with English and other classes, as well as participating in the life of the community and a local church. \u201cI became a part of the community so quickly,\u201d he says. \u201cI was so worried about trying to learn a language and be a part of the culture, and they made it really easy for me. I was surprised by and thankful for their hospitality; right away people invited me for coffee, dinner and into their homes.\u201d He saw God in people when they cared for others. Since they live in an occupied territory, they have to have each other\u2019s backs and hold each other up. He says, \u201cIt was amazing to meet the people living there and to see what God is doing in a place that seems so broken but has so much love and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Streed and Kestner spoke of the model of accompaniment in mission that the ELCA fosters. Kestner was nervous at first about considering YAGM, because he had often heard that mission meant conversion and that didn\u2019t resonate with him. But he was soon drawn to mission being about accompaniment, about walking alongside people, being vulnerable with them and building relationships. \u201cMission is all about helping the other and reaching out to the other, making contact, making families out of strangers,\u201d he says. \u201cThough it\u2019s not always about helping someone but about making that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Likewise, Streed grew up learning the history of the crusades and harming indigenous peoples, but she says the accompaniment model \u201ctakes away the \u2018us vs. them\u2019 dichotomy\u2014 we are all together accompanying one another in mutual learning and growing. Mission is showing the love of Christ, showing grace, being a witness to these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serving in global mission has shaped their time in seminary and current ministry as well. Streed found a passion for international mission and mission with diverse populations, influencing the courses she takes and where she feels called to ministry. Kestner brings his experiences of having to navigate a new setting and experiencing God in Palestine to ministry, keeping in mind what different contexts need and how he can participate in what God is already doing in a place.<\/p>\n
Showing God\u2019s love in mission matters deeply to both Streed and Kestner. Kestner says, \u201cI experience God\u2019s love for and through other people, and I hope others can feel God\u2019s love through me, too. This is what I strive for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Streed says, \u201cThere\u2019s a difference between being a good person and living in response to the love of Christ. Having the faith convictions I have and feeling the call to share the love and grace Christ has shown me with others means it\u2019s no longer just me caring but Christ profoundly caring through me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Students discover a new definition of ministry through international mission experiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"issue-fall-2015","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n