Help our students develop flourishing relationships

Your gifts help provide immersion experiences which strengthen Central students' relationships with one another, as well as create opportunities to form relationships with colleagues of another culture

Help our students develop flourishing relationships image

$29,560

raised towards $10,000 goal

6

Supporters

Share:

Your gifts help provide immersion experiences which strengthen Central students' relationships with one another, as well as create opportunities to form relationships with colleagues of another culture

Students Make Friends and Gain Insights

During the month of June students from Central’s Women’s Leadership Initiative and Doctor of Ministry program traveled to Cuba for immersion experiences. A goal for both groups was to make connections with ministry colleagues there and for each to learn from the other’s experiences.

“’Pastor! Pastor!’ was a common thing to hear as our cohort walked down the street with our host Pastor Joey, “ said Christy Ridings, DMin student. “He regularly reminded us that he was not the pastor of a church…he was the pastor of a community. His ministry was embedded within the lives of those around him. I was reminded that this level of incarnational ministry requires three things: a deep and abiding love of people, the discerning of their ongoing needs, and a willingness to implicate myself in the process of pastoring them.“

DMin student Jay Thornton learned from Pastor Jesús the need to practice intentional listening, the need for a sharp delineation between religion and Christ’s mission, and the need to rediscover and maintain a sense of urgency.

President Marshall, who traveled with the WLI students, said, “We returned with new insights, frustrations over political enmity between our nations, and a profound respect for our pastoral sisters who daily kindle hope in their respective flocks. We know first-hand ‘how good and pleasant it is when sisters dwell together in unity.’”

To read more of the Cuban pilgrims' reflections, click here.