Acts: A Missiological Study
This course examines the beginnings of the early church and the birth of the Christian missionary movement as recorded in the book of Acts. Emphasis is placed upon the implications of the book of Acts for missions strategy in today's world. Particular attention is given to the place of signs and wonders and strategic spiritual warfare in the growth of the church worldwide.
Biblical Theology of Missions
This course examines the topic of missions from Genesis to Revelation. Students will learn to look at the Bible with "missionary eyes" and see that the theme of the compassionate God in search for lost men and women–the Great Commission–is central to the whole message of the Bible. Since the local church thrives when it is obedient to this missionary theme, students will also learn how to integrate the Great Commission into the everyday life of the church.
Building Christian Communities
This course will introduce students to a range of models of Christian community from the Early Church , Monasticism, the Anabaptists, Moravians, and contemporary Christian communities such as Catholic covenant communities, L'Arche, Sojourners, house churches, and Base Ecclesial Communities. It will provide perspectives for evaluation and determining general applicability and will identify ways in which Christian communities are developed and maintained.
Cross-Cultural Evangelism and Church Planting
This course focuses on how to make disciples and plant churches as missionaries ministering in various multi-cultural and cross-cultural situations: urban, rural, and tribal. Students will learn principles and strategies for successful evangelism and church planting efforts in different religious (Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, animist) and ideological (secular, communist) contexts. is given for students to develop their own approach to doing theology in an Asian culture or among a particular Asian people group of their interest.
Leadership in Missions
This course seeks to prepare missions students to meet the contemporary challenges that they will face in their ministries in the 21st century. Among the topics covered in the course are: the biblical basis of leadership in missions; mission's leadership in the local church and in mission organizations; developing mission vision, selecting and caring for missionaries; strategic planning; and how to develop cross-cultural missionaries and emerging leaders for multi-cultural and cross-cultural ministry contexts.
Major World Religions
This course focuses on Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam and how these major religions have impacted the world today. Their interaction with local folk religious beliefs will also be examined. The course will help students appropriately respond to the challenges that these major world religions pose to Christian ministry in the Asian context.
Ministry to the Urban Poor
This course focuses on an interdisciplinary study and reflection on the accelerated expansion of urban centers and the issues, opportunities, and challenges for Christian ministry in such contexts. The course attempts to enable students to develop compassion and concern towards the poor and the needy. This course will develop community analysis skills through on-site research, observation and interviews in urban poor communities.
Missionary Life and Spirituality
This course seeks to provide a holistic approach to spiritual growth for missionaries, with the perspective that spiritual wholeness is interrelated with emotional wholeness and cross-culture adaptability. It will introduce some key issues pertaining to missionary life such as: culture shock and culture stress; support system to self-reliance; separation and bonding; adjustment to different living standards; language and culture learning; interpersonal and team relationships; singleness, marriage and family life; and ethics. The course will also provide an opportunity for students to reflect upon their own spiritual health and to be mentored spiritually in their preparation for missionary life.
Intercultural and Urban Studies Integration Seminar
This course is for M.A. in Intercultural and Urban Studies students who opt for Plan B (non-thesis). It aims to acquaint students with cutting-edge missiological issues to enable them to review and finalize their philosophy and methodology of missions. It serves as preparation for comprehensive examinations for the M.A. in Intercultural and Urban Studies. This course should be taken in the last semester of study.
Intercultural and Urban Studies Internship
This internship consists of two distinct phases. The Classroom Preparation Phase will be taken during the second semester of the first year of studies. This classroom work will consist of comprehensive lectures on Islam and Buddhism as well as practical preparation or help for the interns concerning such issues as financial and prayer support raising, team building, etc. The Fieldwork Phase will give the interns the opportunity to participate in a front-line two to four week in-country or out-of-country ministry trip among either Muslims or Buddhists. This ministry trip will be arranged by the missions faculty of Asian Theological Seminary and it will take place during the summer break following their first year of studies. The primary purpose of this internship is to give significant ministry exposure to mission students towards the mid-point of their program of study. During this internship, students will test some of the missiological theories they have learned in the classroom as well as help them to apply more practically and integrate their coursework during their second year. NOTE: This internship is required of all M.A. and M.Div. Intercultural and Urban Studies students, regardless of whether or not they have had previous missionary field experiences.
National Character: Culture and Personality
This course provides a framework for Christian workers to understand how their own cultural background impacts their personalities, shapes their styles of interactions with other people, and determines how they handle interpersonal conflicts. The course will also provide opportunity for students to assess their personality, with an analysis based upon the Bible, in order to enhance their intercultural skills as well as their emotional and social wholeness.
Theory and Practice of Urban Ministry
This course examines some of the challenges facing urban churches today: ethnic and religious pluralism; urban poverty and class differences; crime and environmental concerns; spirituality and justice; and incarnational and holistic ministry. The course pays particular attention to the plight of the urban poor, but at the same time recognizes that the solution to poverty and injustice lies in the comprehensive outreach to every sector of the urban society. Moreover, the church's increasing mandate to reach out to diverse ethnic and religious groups in the city will be addressed. Students will observe and examine various theories and practices of urban ministry in the Metro Manila setting.
World Missions
This is a multi-faceted course focusing on the biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic dimensions of the task of world mission. Particular focus is placed on "unreached peoples": God's concern for them; who they are; how to locate and identify them; and how to reach them. Opportunity is given for each student to research and develop a strategy for reaching an unreached people group of the student's interest.
