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The MATUL degree program is embedded within a broader movement to link a new generation of Christian internationalists from the global North with those from the global South in vocations dedicated to advancing God's shalom within urban poor communities. Program graduates, as servants among the poor, will utilize their understanding and skills within the fields of international relations, community development and planning, environmental policy, church leadership, non-profit management, global health, or public diplomacy, just to name a few. It is here where their extraordinary grasp of the urban poor condition can guide policy formulation and project development, both in their homelands and internationally.
This is a different brand of international studies program. Movement leadership is more than organizational, business, or church leadership; it’s the release of entrepreneurial dynamics in multiple dimensions. Urban educational processes include:
Action: Learn skills that range from communicating the gospel and small group formation to the complexities of community and international development. For example, one internship extends a theology of justice to actively stand with people in their struggle for land rights. Another moves from the analysis of poverty’s causes to the creation of vocational schools or preschools among the poor—one of the best ways to escape poverty.
Theological Reflection and Social Analysis: Movement leadership involves vision, which requires an engagement with global literature; an understanding of urban realities and theology; and an exploration of discourse on multiplying church movements.
Spiritual and Character Formation: Students learn from leadership teams as they do from church alongside the poor, and community leaders supervise character-building fieldwork. The first course of the program delves into Urban Spirituality, examining the vivacious spirituality of the broken and the quiet, reflective spirituality that sustains workers over lengths of time in extreme conditions.
The MATUL degree program is embedded within a broader movement to link a new generation of Christian internationalists from the global North with those from the global South in vocations dedicated to advancing God’s shalom within urban poor communities. Program graduates, as “servants among the poor,” will utilize their understanding and skills within the fields of international relations, community development and planning, environmental policy, church leadership, non-profit management, global health, or public diplomacy, just to name a few. It is here where their extraordinary grasp of the urban poor condition can guide policy formulation and project development, both in their homelands and internationally.
Overseas-based
Following an initial orientation and training period in central Los Angeles, students relocate to program sites, find housing with local families of urban poor churches in or adjacent to slum communities, and begin intensive language learning for six to eight months.
Action-Reflection Learning
Residence with the urban poor enables students to combine living, action, and formal learning (study, research, writing, and active problem solving) in an integrated approach to leadership development. Following language study, students begin internships in areas of community transformation through local community organizations.
Blended Delivery
Courses combine compassionate action, social analysis, character development, and theological reflection. Online theoretical resources and discussions are complemented by culture-specific resources and intensive, face-to-face interaction with national instructors and field mentors.
Field Support
The challenge of living and learning in distressed environments is balanced with a high level of practical support. Students live with supportive families from local faith communities, master the language, relate regularly to other students, and receive expert guidance from field mentors and academic directors of partnering organizations.