In a 1901 issue of the forerunner of Faith and Fellowship, the first reason given for the founding of our schools was this: "As Christ commanded the church to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers, so we are given the responsibility to pray for workers and to help train workers for the Lord's vineyard." If this vision was urgent then, how much more do we need equipping for mission in the Lord's vineyard today with the world now right on our doorsteps? Mission requires the crossing of borders, and so today's pastors and church workers need missionary training in order to lead their congregations into the mission field, including the mission field in their very own neighborhoods. As the president of a well-known seminary recently put it, "The way we trained missionaries 40 years ago is now how we must train every Christian leader." At Lutheran Brethren Seminary, we are committed to making that kind of training available not only in the classroom, but off-campus as well. As one LBS student reported after returning from a trip to China, "Simply visiting the Chinese people gave us a rather strong desire to share the gospel; it was overwhelming to imagine how Christ must desire to be with them, in their hearts. With this in mind, we looked more deeply into God's Word and tried to apply what we had just read...Cross-cultural studies is so enlightening and broadening for me."

While our entire curriculum has a view to God's mission, courses like World Religions and Cross-Cultural Communications require students to apply their learning in real-life border-crossing situations. Students make visits to mosques and synagogues or other places of worship and they conduct ethnographic interviews with people whose roots are in other cultures and faiths. While our students have traveled to Mexico, Africa and Asia with Hillcrest Lutheran Academy or with area churches, part of our curriculum requires students to take trips to the Red Lake Indian Reservation and to Minneapolis in order to experience ministry in cross-cultural settings right here in Minnesota. They do not come back unchanged. As one student who went to Red Lake put it, "This was an eye-opening trip. I had not been in this type of environment as a Christian."

The benefits of such experiences are not only for those going into vocational church ministry; one of our graduates went into restaurant management in southern California and within two weeks found himself in a serious kitchen staff dispute where he had to use a translator to communicate. In his e-mail to me he wrote, "I just want to thank you for what I got out of the class I took with you. It is serving me well here in this place. I am slower to judge this culture, and wanting more to learn it so that I can effectively witness to it." Every day was a cross-cultural experience for Tom in that setting.

Today's mission demands cross-cultural competency, even close to home.

Gaylan Mathiesen, Ph.D., is Professor of Mission and Evangelism of Lutheran Brethren Seminary in Fergus Falls, MN.