Welcome to the blog for the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (APTS) Travel Seminar: Short and Long-term Missions in Latin America. We have a group of six APTS students and one professor in Latin America for the next two weeks (January 7-21, 2012). Below is some information about the class. Each day a student in the class will be writing an entry for the blog and posting it here, so stay tuned daily for some fresh content and a different perspective each day. Thank you for reading and following our journey!
The course description is:
Visiting Guatemala and Chiapas and Yucatan, Mexico, this class explores different approaches to short-term and long-term mission work. The trip includes meetings with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-workers and with faith-based NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) to learn about their work. The group also visits with missionaries from other Christian denominations to explore differences in missiological philosophies and approaches. The trip includes conversations with students and faculty members of Presbyterian seminaries in Chiapas and Yucatan, and with personnel from a Catholic social service/social justice organization doing service-learning projects. Opportunities to explore Mayan ruins and sites of ecological interest are provided.
Our learning objectives for the class are:
By the end of this course, students will:
• Have understood the historical significance of colonization and the role of the church and what impact these forces still have on missions in Latin America today
• Have broadened their awareness of issues, such as immigration, relating to mission in Latin America and been exposed to a variety of models and methods for short and long-term missions
• Be able to critically analyze different models and methods of missions based upon principles of sustainable development and missiology
• Learn to bring into the critical learning process their own faith based questions, religious experiences, and fundamental convictions to missiology.
• Have developed a skill set to explain and articulate different aspects of mission to congregations
• Begin to understand what it takes to plan and implement a sustainable and responsible missions program in the context of a local congregation or ecclesial body
We arrived safely yesterday. Despite an early morning departure from Austin, student’s sprits were high. Our plane got in about 12:45 in the afternoon. After getting our rental van we headed up to San Lucas where we are staying. There is a family that runs a Missions House to provide lodging for short-term missionaries which is where we are staying. The facility is beautiful and very comfortable. You can see photos and learn more about it here: http://juliojodi.org/lamision/
After getting unloaded and settled in, we headed out to the grocery store to purchase food for breakfasts while we are here in Guatemala. We will be cooking our own breakfast together as a class each day. The grocery store was a fun experience for the class. Most of our students have never been to Latin America, or spent very limited time here, mostly in tourist destinations. So to immerse ourselves in the local culture was a treat.
After grocery shopping we loaded into the van and headed into Antigua for dinner. We met up with two missionaries from the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program that is run by the Presbyterian Church PC(USA). One of them is an APTS student who is taking a year off to serve as missionary. They joined us for a delightful dinner at La Pena del Sol Latino where we had delicious food and were serenaded by live music. http://lapenaantigua.com/
After dinner and our long day of travel, we headed back to our lodging and everyone was ready to sleep.
Sunday looks to be a very exciting day with worship services planned in both a Protestant and Catholic church and a lecture from Habitat for Humanity about their work here in Guatemala. Stay tuned for more blog updates and please pray for us on our journey.
Prayer requests:
Prayers of thanksgiving for arriving safely and having a GREAT first day
Prayers of thanksgiving for arriving safely and having a GREAT first day
Prayers of thanksgiving for meeting up with the great missionaries last night
Prayers that our student’s minds and hearts will be open to where God is leading us on this trip
Prayers for the health and safety of our group
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