US universities partner with Eurasia Region

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Busingen, Switzerland

The Eurasia Region recently benefited from an influx of young mission volunteers through partnerships with several U.S. Nazarene undergraduate and graduate educational institutions.

MidAmerica Nazarene University and Trevecca Nazarene University are establishing mission and study partnerships with the Eurasia Region in order to expand international learning and service opportunities for their students.

Nazarene Theological Seminary has sent students from its 365M program on one-year mission assignments throughout the Eurasia Region, as well as other regions, allowing them to experience international mission experiences while earning a diploma in cross-cultural ministry.

“Exchange programs are nothing new,” said Gustavo Crocker, Eurasia Region director. “Commitment to higher education and commitment to global mission have been part of the DNA of the denomination from the very beginning. The two have been complimentary, always building on one another.”

The region, which spans across 14 time zones with ministries in more than 40 countries, is always in need of people to come and serve. These study programs combine theory with practice — an attractive feature to universities and their students. It also allows for cross-cultural exchange as, in the case of the MNU Europe program, the classes are open to students from across Europe, and in the Trevecca program, classes mix students from both the U.S. and the Central Europe Field.

“We had four different language groups present,” said Teanna Sunberg, a Hungarian missionary who travelled with the Trevecca group. “We were able to bridge the cultural and the language barriers.”

The region hopes that through these cross-cultural experiences, many students will recognize a call to missions that they may have otherwise never sensed or considered, but Crocker also hopes the experience will have an effect on students not called to the mission field. 

“As the students return to their native countries, may they become the link for their generation to keep their peers engaged in missions,” he said.
--Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region

Related stories: Trevecca students 'Submerged,' 'Immersed' in missions
                      New academic program begins at former EuNC campus

 

< back to Eurasia

next article >