Kathryn Schifferdecker, a professor at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., teaches at the Mekane Yesus Seminary in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Gospels. Without any one of the four distinct stories about Jesus, you don’t have the panoramic view.”
Hope springs eternal
For Martinson, the best outcome of international teaching exchanges is “a new spirit of hopefulness and imagination in terms of forms of ministry.”
Stepping outside the U.S. to participate in churches that are growing, not shrinking, “generates a more hopeful excitement about the possibilities of faith here,” he added. Schifferdecker agreed: “Prayer matters [in Ethiopia]. Faith matters here in a way that impacts people’s daily lives. In Amharic (the Ethiopian language) the common response to the question, ‘How are you?’ is not just ‘I’m fine,’ but ‘All is well, thanks be to God.’ ” Robin Mattison of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia is impressed with the way her colleagues and students at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong put mission first as they prepare leaders. “Almost all of the 99 Lutheran congregations in Hong Kong meet in apartment buildings or the assembly rooms of Lutheran schools. They have no buildings but a huge commitment to education,” she said. “In contrast, we ELCA Lutherans are overcommitted to buildings and undercommitted to Christian education.”
Teaching across languages
Mattison calls her course on biblical hermeneutics (bet- ter known as interpretation) “the hardest course I teach anywhere.” Mattison adapted her teaching techniques to explain structuralism, redaction criticism, feminism and other methods of approaching biblical texts to students from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos who think and work in a variety of first languages. “I refer to handouts by their specific title instead of referring generally to ‘handouts.’ And when anyone says, ‘Professor, this teaching is in conflict with my culture’s traditional understanding,’ we stop and discuss it as a group, thinking together of new ways to grasp what we are encountering,” she said.
Approaching a biblical text as a folk story can reveal the hero-supporter-opponent relationships among the characters. Mattison asked students to look for this struc- ture in stories from their culture and language. “The very thing I was teaching has informed me about a better way to teach,” she said, “because I discovered an animated video of a story called The Nine-Colored Deer
that I plan to use in my ‘Introduction to New Testament’ course.”
The video parallels the Gospel of Matthew’s story of the ungrateful servant who continues to abuse others after being forgiven by the master. “This parable can be hard for people to understand,” she said, “but after you see the Chinese version, it’s perfectly clear.” This semester, the Hong Kong seminary has asked her to lead the “Sex and Scripture” class she teaches regularly in Philadelphia. “Since I’ve been here I’ve had constant conversations about this issue, and everyone is very excited,” she said.
Logistical challenges All agree that the ELCA Global Sabbatical Awards pro- gram is enriching, challenging and transforming. So why has it only drawn six participants in five academic years? One stumbling block is the calendar. “Often our global companions are on a short time line,” said Tammy Jack- son, ELCA director for international leadership develop- ment. “They may ask for a pastoral care professor for the coming semester or academic year, while at our end people are planning two years in advance.” Lack of awareness of the program is a second obstacle. Had she known about it, Mattison said, “I would have done this much earlier.” For the two-career family, a short-term relocation can
be tough. That Doug Steinke was on leave from call made it slightly easier for the Schifferdecker-Steinke family to arrange a year in Ethiopia, but the financial commitment has been significant. Between ELCA Global Mission and Luther Seminary, some travel and all housing costs have been covered. Airline tickets and tuition for their three children are the couple’s expense. Still, Schifferdecker said, it’s well worth the effort. “It’s a rare opportunity to spend a year in another culture and experience the blessings of the global church.” Mattison added, “And to experience the blessing of being swept away by grace.”
More about the program
The ELCA Global Sabbatical Awards program is open to ELCA seminary faculty and administrators. Types of assignments include teaching in international semi- nary classrooms, specialized assistance and training of pastors. Also, theological scholars who belong to com- panion Lutheran institutions and churches can apply for ELCA International Global Sabbatical Assistance for Visiting International Scholars. For details, contact Tammy Jackson at
tammy.jackson@elca.org.
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