Spring 2016 LASP Newsletter

INTEGRATING FAITH, SERVICE, SCHOLARSHIP

LASP NEWS LASP’s mission is to cultivate a Christ-centered community of critical thinking learner-scholars from multiple disciplines, that seeks to expand global awareness and integrate Kingdom values via experiential learning in the Latin American context, challenging students to respectfully engage our host cultures and strive for academic excellence.

A Biannual Newsletter

Spring 2016

A Miracle of Sharing

Current

Former LASP staff member, Trevor Poag, shares a little bit from his research efforts on students’ transformational experiences in studying abroad with LASP.

Perspectives

Alumni Updates

A few updates from our current semester

Read about what LASP alumni are doing, where they are in the world, and what they are passionate about.

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Looking Back

A Miracle of Sharing

by Trevor Poag, LASP Assistant Director 2002-2013 I recently completed research on how studying abroad with LASP has changed students' perceptions of their faith. My analysis of data from 430 anonymous participants revealed something I did not expect to find—a miracle! I am pleased to share this summary of how LASP students described the impact of studying abroad on their faith, the way that such faith development informed their actions in the world, and the miracle that drove this transformation.

In 89% of responses, LASP students indicated that studying abroad influenced a change in their religious faith. Students described the essence of this change as a shift from religion centered on “us,” to faith grounded in a framework that considers “all of us” (transcending ethnocentrism). Students further described this change as one that directed their attention to the relationship between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. They spoke of a stronger desire to live the faith of Jesus as a reflection of their faith in Jesus.

Trevor and Laura Barnard-Poag with their son, Emerson.

Both Trevor and Laura worked on staff with LASP for many years before moving back to New York in 2013 to raise their family.

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Looking Back Regarding actions that emerged from students’ changes in perceptions of their religious faith, LASP students described their attempts to embody the most challenging tenets of the Kingdom of God. They spoke of their participation in churches that stand in solidarity with the marginalized. They shared about their vocational choices to work with immigrant communities in the United States. They detailed their efforts to confront and transform injustices in the global economy. These accounts of LASP students’ efforts to “live Jesus” foregrounded the complexity, beauty, and difficulty of embracing a Kingdom-centered life.

I asked LASP students to identify the study abroad components that most influenced their changes in religious faith and action. Students related many features of their LASP experience to these changes—class presentations, assigned readings, study trips, and process group discussions. In describing how these components informed a change in their faith, however, students identified their relationships with Latin Americans as the connective tissue among the other program components. Time and again, students described how their relationships with the host community breathed life and relevance into an otherwise sterile engagement of academic material.

Now, the miracle. As I step back and carefully digest the findings of this study, I am reminded of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. In this story, a Trevor, with son Emerson, who is now 4 years old young boy’s decision to offer his meager lunch informed Jesus’ feeding of thousands of hungry followers. As with the boy in the feeding of the 5,000, the sharing actions of LASP’s Latin American hosts have catalyzed the spiritual development of thousands of U.S. and Canadian students. This is the overarching finding of my research: LASP students are the recipient-participants in a miracle of sharing that was driven by the generosity and grace of LASP’s host communities.

There are numerous implications of this core finding. In the case of study abroad, do we recognize host communities for their essential role in such programming and seek to reciprocate their contributions to the learning of U.S. and Canadian students? Do we design study abroad programs to facilitate relationships between students and their hosts? In the case of our spirituality, do our relationships serve as connective tissue among the components of the Kingdom of God, bringing life and relevance to its proposals? Do our actions reflect the miracle of sharing and catalyze the holistic development of others? The LASP community has much to process and much for which to be grateful as this miracle of sharing unfolds...

You can read detailed results of this study in the current issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad (frontiersjournal.org).

Apply for the Latin American Studies Program Our Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 applications are now open at... bestsemester.com/apply!

"Do you know a student who would be a good match for our program? Are they interested in learning about Latin America from diverse perspectives? Are they ready to practice intentional critical thinking, engage in multiple intense immersion experiences, and diligently practice their Spanish language skills?

Encourage them to apply today! It’s not too late!

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Current Perspectives

Students have been treated with such great love by their host families.

Limon trip: We enjoyed a fun weekend exploring issues of race and discrimination in the province of Limon. We also visited the KĂŠkoLdi indigenous reserve and the beach at Cahuita National Park.

Student-led Praise and Worship at the LASP office

How many different volcanoes can you visit in one semester!? PURA VIDA! P. 3

Current Perspectives Rodderick’s organic farm is an example of a personal response to injustices

Music in class and in concert at the National Theater

With the campus ministry, CEM at the UCR!

Adventure on the water: the beach and the lake.

In our two-week Nicaragua Study Trip, students engaged in a number of challenging realities in Managua, including the dump/poverty in the Oriental Market, as well as the context of a rural community-immersion experience. Students were greatly impacted when we faced the questions of WHY such inequality exists in this region and how can we appropriately combat it. One of our Key speakers from Managua was Ana Margarita Vigil, president of the Movimiento Renovador Sandinista party in Nicaragua. Another key experience in Managua was our meeting with the organization Inhijambia, which works with child drug addicts in the market. Students grew close to their host families in a short amount of time and we began to miss them as soon as we started our journey back to San Jose.

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Current Perspectives

It has been a semester full of color, interesting creatures, and beautiful personalities! “Sloths, monkeys, iguanas, oh my!” When it comes to exotic and beautiful encounters, the tropics never disappoint. If only a photo could capture the love that we have received from our Latin American hosts in the classroom as well as in the homestay... Find more photos on our Facebook page!

Alumni Relations Daniel Sluis, SP ’15 accepted a position at a church in Fayetteville, GA starting in May and is getting married in August! He says hopefully there will be no news of a baby for “sevvvvveral more years.”

Amanda Cummings, FA ’13 is completing her first year in Madrid, Spain and just renewed her contract to teach English for a second year. She says she loves her coteachers and students as well as Madrid.

It's a city full of life and rich in culture.

Rachel Tsen, SP ‘13 For the last year and a few months has been working at NAMI DuPage, an affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness as Youth Program Director. She oversees mental health awareness programs, targeted at teens and youth educators that seek to end stigma on mental health conditions and empower students to reach out for support.

gram Director and is looking forward to opening their doors in 2018! To learn more about Expect Hope, visit the website: www.expecthope.org and you can contact Emily at emilyprins@expecthope.org

Angie (Settle) Logsdon, SP ’07 and husband, Trent, just got back from two years abroad teaching at an international school in Qingdao, China. She says that China was very different from Latin America, but they still enjoyed their opportunities to travel throughout much of Southeast Asia. Now they are back in the Emily (Cusimano) Prins, FA ‘07 lives in States (in Texas) and just started a whole New York City with her husband, Ryan, new adventure... parenthood! They weland two year old son, Nathan. Her second comed their first baby, Jedidiah James, in son is due to arrive in May! She recently November. founded Expect Hope, a residency proPhoto to the right gram for unsupported, expectant women in the Bronx, NY. She serves as the Pro-

Alyson Huneycutt, SP ‘06 is a psychologist specializing in family therapy and working at a non-profit agency serving at risk children and youth in Santa Barbara.

Joshua and Tiffany (Hillman) Sheats, FA ‘05 continue living in West Palm Beach with their two children, Sterling and Alyssa, and their two dogs, Ruffles and Remington. In addition to his primary business, Radical Personal Finance, Joshua recently started a new weekly podcast with his 73-year-old father called Encouraging Christian Fathers. You can download the podcast for free from the app store.

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Alumni Relations Angeline (Overturf) Thomas, FA ‘05 had a baby! Xavier Elijah was born April 2, 2015.

Angeline is still living in Seattle and recently took a new job as the Interim Assistant Director of Admission at Seattle University School of Law.

guage experiences from Costa Rica but She says her LASP semester experience knows that the LASP program has impact- still informs her faith and choices for voed how she works with people and how cation, politics, and volunteer work. she makes career choices.

Mike Takalo, FA ‘96 is still teaching in Naomi (Lambertson) Pusch, FA ’96 marBloomington, Minnesota. He and his wife ried in 2010 to Michael Andreas Pusch. have two kids and he has taken his stuAngela (Tapper) Hochstetter, SP ’05 now They have a daughter who is now 4.5, dents to Costa Rica, Spain, and Argentina. works for MN Department of Education in Klara and were living in Portland, OR for 7 Marcia Brown-Medina, FA ’93 is exthe Assessment Division. She is still living years but are now back on the East Coast, pecting baby #4 in May 2016. She says she in Minneapolis with her two kids (3 and 2) living in Western MA. Naomi works as an is still in contact with her CR host family!! and her husband. She says that if you find Instructional Designer for The Center for Dawn and Scott (Herzog) Smithson, SP yourself in the tundra do not hesitate to Social Innovation, which does research, ‘93 Dawn is District Manager for Calreach out to her. advocacy and training for those working Water Service Co (4 yrs) and Scott is AP with vulnerable populations: the homeHochapper@gmail.com Bio & Environmental Science teacher for less, those in recovery, people with HIV/ The King's Academy in Sunnyvale (3 yrs).

Hannah (Funk) Fishburn, FA ’04 is now AIDS, and LGBT youth.

Children: Selva (10) is a lizard loving socworking at her Alma Mater, Greenville cer player and Evan (7) loves any vehicles College, as the Director of Instructional and aspires to be "a daddy and a doctor."

Technology and Online Learning. She, her Current mailing address: Scott & Dawn husband Jason and son Drian (5) welSmithson, 102 Reservoir Rd, Atherton, CA 94027 comed a baby girl, Teya Laelle, in December of 2014. (picture right) Melissa Zubal, FA’ 97 is now working in a memory care community, with people dealing with Dementia and Alzheimer’s as the program coordinator. She manages all programming to keep the residents engaged and active , as much as possible, regardless of their stage of illness. She says that she is in a middle class, English speaking area and misses using her lan-

stay connected.

LASP Staff Clif and Linda Holland — Interim Directors Javier Arguedas — Program Coordinator Jessica Sanchez — Administrative Coordinator

Learn how others are integrating faith, knowledge, experience, and action, and share your own stories as well.

Britney Villhauer— Program Assistant

www.bestsemester.com/

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