The Intercultural Studies Program is designed to develop and instill in students the skills and knowledge necessary to minister and communicate the gospel in cultural settings different from their own. Students are taught to understand non-Western customs and cultures and other world and folk religions and to apply missiological, anthropological, and historical principles for evangelism and church growth both domestically and globally.
The program prepares students for ministry roles in intercultural settings as church planters, youth-ministry leaders, teachers of English as a foreign language, and social workers. When the students complete the Intercultural Studies program they will be equipped to find employment in the intercultural field or go to graduate school. They will have had both a solid theoretical foundation in missiology and a variety of practical experiences that have allowed students to test theory in real life. This preparation provides a solid foundation to successfully move to graduate study in missiology anywhere in the country or to apply to any mission agency.
Upon completion of the program students will be able to:
- Articulate a biblical worldview and a biblical theology of mission effectively
- Demonstrate a Christ-like character and view other cultures with interest, humility, and acceptance
- Analyze and develop Christian perspectives when confronted with cross-cultural issues to inform their praxis of ministry
- Understand their calling as Christians to further God’s kingdom and to follow God’s call in their lives through self-sacrifice, service, humility, love, and respect for others using the gifts that God has gifted them with, modeling their ministry and life after the servanthood of Christ.
- Demonstrate both the knowledge and skills in the areas of theology, anthropology, and cross-cultural communication so as to be able to effectively transmit the gospel across cultural and linguistic boundaries
- Engage in ministry and provide culturally sensitive leadership in diverse cultural settings with persons of other ethnic backgrounds or religious mindsets
Some key courses and opportunities:
- Student practitioners learn how to communicate across cultures in the course MI200 -- Ministering Interculturally, which emphasizes incarnational ministry and prepares students for living and ministering in cross-cultural situations through an immersion experience in Guatemala. Cross-cultural behavior, beliefs, and values, as well as the influence of history and politics on Guatemalan society and the church, will be discussed in the context of ministry.
- Students in the different disciplines of study at Kuyper College need to be equipped for holistic ministry, for word and deed ministry. MI311 – Global Ministry Development is one course that introduces students to this biblical concept and gives basic principles for ministering holistically in both urban and rural settings. The course deals with global issues confronting the church, such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic, human trafficking, and world poverty.
- The Intercultural Studies Program integrates theory with practice in a manner where students have the opportunity to apply learning through supervised field education and internship experiences. This takes place in domestic or foreign settings, with denominational agencies and parachurch organizations.
Professor Lisa Hoogeboom joined the faculty of Kuyper College in the fall of 2006 to teach introductory Greek as well as advanced Greek, which focuses on reading portions of the New Testament. Since then, Professor Hoogeboom has also taught various biblical studies classes. In 2010, she added the role of Program Director of the Intercultural Studies program to her role at Kuyper. With that change, she also began teaching classes in the area of Intercultural Studies. Previously, Professor Hoogeboom was a teaching assistant for the introductory Greek program at Calvin Theological Seminary. Lisa and her husband, Rev. Mike Hoogeboom, spent 6 years in the middle-east in cross-cultural missions to Muslims.
Professor Teresa Renkema teaches the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages certificate program as well as a variety of writing and Intercultural courses. She especially enjoys introducing students to an appreciation of language through classes in linguistics, grammar and methods of teaching English as a second language. Professor Renkema brings to the classroom more than 15 years of experience living and working in Argentina, Costa Rica, Honduras and Puerto Rico. As an ESL educator, she has worked in a variety of English language teaching settings, including private language school, middle school, high school and university. Currently she volunteers in her own church's ESL outreach program. She often consults with churches and agencies in the area of teaching English as a second language.