Customized curriculum for special students
The seminary family has been pleased to host students from sister seminaries and satellite training programs over recent years. Whether enrolled on-campus during the school year or during Summer Quarter, the goal of these students is the same: to prepare themselves to carry out a gospel ministry — here in the US or around the world.
Joining us during the 2008-09 school year from Asia Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong, a pastoral training program sponsored by the Board for World Missions, was Au Po Man. Po Man, or Angus as he introduces himself to English speaking friends, came to America with his wife, Ceci, to take classes at our seminary. But what classes would Angus take? An even more important question was why Angus should take any classes at our seminary at all. How could we justify the expense, not to mention the distress Angus and Ceci would experience with a year of study in a foreign tongue in a distant land? Through the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI), Angus received a custom tailored individualized study program that would better equip him to study the New Testament in the original Greek and to observe evangelism programs as our congregations carried them out in the North American context. Above all, this special program gave Angus and Ceci the opportunity to associate closely with WELS pastors, members, and professors who all impressed on and modeled for Angus a profound appreciation for the unconditional gospel and confessional Christianity.
Another one of our “non-traditional” students is Luis Acosta. Luis, his wife Carolina, and their two children came to America from Venezuela. Their first home was Miami, Florida, where they came under the spiritual care of Divine Savior Lutheran Church and Pastor Carl Leyrer. The Acosta family’s experience with the gospel led Luis to study to become a WELS pastor. Luis began his training through the PSI’s Spanish language program, Cristo Palabra de Vida. Later Luis decided that he wanted to receive the traditional pastoral training at our seminary. Luis desired training through our traditional program so that he could partner with Anglo pastors and Anglo congregations in outreach to Latinos. Again, there were important questions to ask. What support would Luis need in order to step into the residential program at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary? How could we make sure that WLS could take advantage of all of the possible benefits of having Luis enrolled in our traditional program?
One of the key roles that the PSI executive committee plays on our campus is to wrestle with questions like these. Every non-traditional student brings a unique set of circumstances and opportunities that must be addressed in order that he might best accomplish his dream of becoming a pastor. The PSI, in collaboration with its satellite directors and a variety of North American pastors, overseas missionaries, and foreign seminaries established through our worldwide gospel outreach, carefully consider each student’s circumstances to create an appropriate program of study for unique and special students.
It has been a tremendous blessing to have students like Luis on our campus. Luis also expresses gratitude for his place in our seminary family.
We live in a world that is, just as Jesus foretold, growing cold and godless. The temptation is to think as the prophet Elijah did — to think that we are the only one left that follows and loves the Lord and his Word. I am glad that it is not so! Being on campus has allowed me to develop a true brotherly friendship with other students and professors who share the same grace I have. This reminds me that God is always in control!
Another benefit for me is that my cultural sensitivities and abilities have been enhanced by studying on campus. The seminary is home to people from many different parts of the USA and around the world. The cultural diversity on campus is growing and this is great training for the new type of congregations we may serve as pastors in the future. The campus family is beginning to reflect the increasing diversity of our country.
Embracing new places and cultures can sometimes be difficult — language differences, cultural issues, and even strange foods may be very challenging. But we know (our entire family) that God brought us here with a purpose, and it is a beautiful one. There is no better place in the earth right know where we would like to be.
Other students in our Asian and Spanish language programs also come to our campus to complete courses in their own satellite programs during the Summer Quarter. This allows the students in these programs to enjoy intensive study opportunities together. Their time on our campus also allows them to rub shoulders with our traditional Summer Quarter population — experienced pastors, teachers, and staff ministers from around the world. One of the chief blessings of this time together is that constituents from both the traditional and non-traditional programs come to appreciate their fellowship in Jesus and their common commitments to the gospel of Jesus. This summer 115 students enrolled in our traditional Summer Quarter classes. This number includes 28 men taking the online course on Christian leadership. There are also 28 students and five professors on campus from Cristo Palabra de Vida. There are also seven students and two professors from the Asian Ministerial Training Program with us — three of those men came all the way from Thailand to attend!
Generous special gifts have offset program costs. In order for our traditional and non-traditional programs to meet over Summer Quarter, additional and continued support is needed. These programs are growing. More importantly, these programs are being blessed. People are coming to WLS from all over the world to learn how to share their faith and to teach their faith in their own communities. The result, with God’s blessing and the students’ faithful effort, will be that the wonderful message about Jesus, the only power of salvation, the only truth that sets men free, will ring out in every language to all peoples.