Higher education
Students at Concordia
College, Moorhead, Minn., visit farmers in Nicaragua as part of a new partnership between the school and Lutheran World Relief.
Gaining a global worldview
Concordia College partners with LWR W
By Adam J. Copeland
hen I think about the partnership between Con- cordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and Lutheran World Relief, my mind floods with images. I see
students eating bananas standing by Maria’s organic coffee farm high on a mountain in Nicaragua. I see an old board attached to a rusty cable spanning a river that was the only access to Ruben’s lush, shaded farmstead. I see students laughing, radical hospitality, awestruck faces and hands shaking in gratitude. Ultimately I see a campus community embracing a global
leader in sustainable development. In some ways, this is a natural partnership since Concor-
dia and LWR share much in common. Concordia, a liberal arts college of the ELCA, is committed to global education. LWR, an ELCA partner, is a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty, injustice and human suffering around the world. Even so, the match took work. LWR is based in Baltimore,
hundreds of miles from Moorhead. While both institutions emphasize work beyond their borders, Concordia tends to run its own programs abroad or partner with other educa-
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www.thelutheran.org
tional institutions. LWR, for its part, tends to engage U.S. Lutherans through congregations rather than colleges. I joined the religion faculty in 2012 to lead a new “concen-
tration in faith and leadership” that students majoring in reli- gion can add to their studies. The program appeals particu- larly to those interested in faith-motivated service. As I began looking for partners interested in supporting work toward integrative learning and practical theology, it didn’t take long for LWR to surface. LWR had been considering ways to engage young leaders and instill in them the importance of sustainable development and a global worldview. Together we planned a slate of partnership activities. In May 2014, 10 Concordia students traveled to Nicaragua
to learn about LWR work there. Far from a typical mission trip, the 15-day journey was spent learning from LWR’s prac- tices and partners, and from the people of Nicaragua. The students embraced the task with open minds and hearts. We visited farms and met with cooperatives that, with
LWR’s help, have better quality and higher yield crops. Farm- ers also have greater access to markets. We learned about a
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