BGU News & Events
FRESH FROM BGU INDIA COURSE
Carol Quinlan served as BGU’s on-site staff coordinator for the latest international course. She shares the experience in the report below, along with photos and quotes from students and Educational Tour Participant.
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Mumbai - Walking from Hotel to Sisters of Charity Home | Seventeen of us have just returned from Overture II in Mumbai and Delhi. (Note: An Overture II is the second required course for Doctor of Ministry students.) It was an amazing course for many reasons, not the least of which included the contributions of the course coordinator Viju Abraham and the Professor of Record Dr. Tim Svoboda. India is so alive . . . so organic. Life is lived full out, right in front of you. Life, death, survival. What seems like total chaos to the outsider is order to them. We all learned about “flexibility” on this course. In India if you’re not flexible, you’ll have a very difficult time. On our very first morning we all walked from our hotel to the Mother Teresa Sisters of Charity Center where 300-400 homeless, disabled, and/or AIDS/HIV men, women and children are cared for and given hope. Another day we did a prayer walk through the red light district of Mumbai, and visited a home shelter for women who have been rescued from prostitution. We spent one afternoon walking through the Dharavi slum, one of the largest in the world, and saw signs of hope in preschool centers and churches.
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As someone auditing the class, I can’t imagine any other way to have seen India. It was wonderful! I always felt a part of the class. The students were all terrific people. My expectations were met in a huge way. (Educational Tour Participant)
Student Comments
- Awesome trip! Thanks for the experience and education of a lifetime!
- I am impressed with the networking capability of BGU on an international level. The course offered students the historical and current/future perspective of India with top leaders in their fields.
- This course was very transforming in many ways – spiritually, personally and professionally. |
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ACT Offices - Weekly gathering of HIV/AIDS infected men, women and children | Several successful Christian businessmen spoke to our class, including Anand Mahadevan, editor of Outlook Business Magazine. Mahadevan wrote an “opinion” column recently in his magazine on his conversion from Hinduism to becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. He is living out a theology of work and impacting culture in India through his position. Billy Graham has said that he thinks the next big movement of God is going to be by Christians in the workplace. This is what we heard in India – that India can be reached through marketplace ministries and through businessmen more than through the church. In Delhi we heard the message loud and clear that both China and India need the gospel quickly because they are moving toward dominance in the world economy and how they steward that economic power will have global implications. That reality has created a strong sense of urgency. The next 15-20 years are going to be crucial for the soul of India.
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Taj Mahal, Agra - Group photo | On our final day of class a worship team from Truth Seekers came to share with us. We worshipped with them as they led us in worship songs in Hindi, and we followed along with English translation. Then they served communion to us – coconut and coconut milk. It was an experience that we’ll all remember for a long time. We all came away from our time in India with the understanding that the church in India is alive and well, but spread so thin. It’s a very organic church with a constant need for pioneering. We were all impacted by the importance of prayer in this situation. |
EXPERIENCE EDUCATION - BGU STYLE . . . A VIDEO RETROSPECTIVE ON THE ORTHODOX TRAIL COURSE created by Dr. Randy White (Assoc. Director of BGU' s Doctor of Ministry Program)
You will experience some of the sights and sounds of the recently completed Orthodox Trail course.
Download the video
