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Mission as education
On a typical North American campus, what happened at Lithuania Christian College might barely get noticed. But when a disgruntled student posted an e-mail on the college web site that criticized the administration, what happened next was nothing short of a revelation for LCC freshman Evgeny Mangushev. Instead of being punished, the disgruntled student was invited to a forum involving students, faculty and administrators. “They listened,” marveled Mangushev, who grew up in Vladivostok, Russia. “In our culture, we have been discouraged from talking about our feelings. I appreciated these discussions. They show that there are solutions for problems and concerns.” Mangushev’s experience highlights one way education can serve as mission. Mennonite Mission Network has a long history of involvement in this type of ministry. The goal of education as mission is to transform all who go through the process, so that the leavening of Christian values and fruits of the Spirit can shape individuals and, ultimately, transform the society in which they live. At LCC, in a part of the world that is rebuilding itself after decades of Soviet occupation, many of the students are encountering Christian principles for the first time in their lives. “Humanistic education did not exist in the former Soviet Union,” said Robin Gingerich, who for the past seven years has directed the English Language Institute at LCC through Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Central Committee. “Education was very didactic and demeaning.” The goal in education, she said, quoting well-known Christian educator and author Parker Palmer, is creating a space where obedience to the truth can be practiced. “We bring together adults who have had negative experiences in the classroom and offer them a sense of being valued, respected and loved,” Gingerich said. Some mission-worker educators see their task as preparing Christians with a clear vocational call to serve the Lord in ministry. For Dennis Byler, a longtime worker with Mission Network in Spain and a professor at Seminario Evangélico Unido de Teología, an ecumenical seminary near Madrid, it’s important to give his students the skills they need to carry out their calling effectively. “Our people are very motivated; most are already serving in ministry,” he said. “They may have decided that they need more training in the Bible, theology and pastoral counseling and in trying to apply what they’ve learned in their lives and the lives of their congregations.” The seminary offers an accredited program of coursework through correspondence because the evangelical church in Spain is small and scattered, and students are spread over a wide area. Pastors can remain in their jobs while they complete their seminary training, and they can apply what they learn immediately. According to the seminary’s web site, there are currently 120 students from 24 different denominations, of which 20 percent are from outside Spain. “We are shaping a significant portion of the leadership of Protestant evangelicalism for the next generation,” Byler said. “It’s exciting to be found worthy of that, not only for the denomination but across borders.” But if education provides a powerful tool for shaping individuals and societies, it is still up to each mission worker to use that tool effectively, according to LCC’s Robin Gingerich. That means going beyond knowing the subject extremely well and getting to know each student as an individual. “Doing a good job of whatever you’re doing is mission work,” she said. Workers serving as educators in Europe through Mennonite Mission Network include:
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