I N T E G R A T I N G F A I T H , S E R V I C E , S C H O L A R S H I P

LASP NEWS LASP’s mission is to cultivate a Christ-centered community of critical thinking learner-scholars from multiple disciplines, that

seeks to expand global awareness and integrate Kingdom values via experiential learning in the Latin American context, challeng-

ing students to respectfully engage our host cultures and strive for academic excellence.

A Biannual Newsletter Spring 2016

A Miracle of Sharing

Former LASP staff member,

Trevor Poag, shares a little

bit from his research efforts

on students’ transformation-

al experiences in studying

abroad with LASP.

P. 1-2

Alumni Updates

Read about what LASP

alumni are doing,

where they are in the

world, and what they

are passionate about.

P. 5-6

Stay up to date and

connected with

LASP by “liking” our

page on Facebook.

Search “LASP”

A Miracle of Sharing

P. 1

Current

Perspectives

A few updates from

our current semes-

ter

p. 3-4

Looking Back

by Trevor Poag, LASP Assistant Director 2002-2013

I recently completed research on how studying abroad with LASP has

changed students' perceptions of their faith. My analysis of data from

430 anonymous participants revealed something I did not expect to

find—a miracle! I am pleased to share this summary of how LASP stu-

dents described the impact of studying abroad on their faith, the way

that such faith development informed their actions in the world, and

the miracle that drove this transformation.

In 89% of responses, LASP students indicated that studying abroad in-

fluenced a change in their religious faith. Students described the es-

sence of this change as a shift from religion centered on “us,” to faith

grounded in a framework that considers “all of us” (transcending eth-

nocentrism). Students further described this change as one that di-

rected their attention to the relationship between orthodoxy and or-

thopraxy. They spoke of a stronger desire to live the faith of Jesus as a

reflection of their faith in Jesus.

Trevor and Laura Barnard-Poag with their son, Emerson.

Both Trevor and Laura worked on staff with LASP for many

years before moving back to New York in 2013 to raise their

family.

P. 2

Looking Back

Regarding actions that emerged from students’ changes in perceptions of

their religious faith, LASP students described their attempts to embody the

most challenging tenets of the Kingdom of God. They spoke of their partici-

pation in churches that stand in solidarity with the marginalized. They

shared about their vocational choices to work with immigrant communities

in the United States. They detailed their efforts to confront and transform

injustices in the global economy. These accounts of LASP students’ efforts

to “live Jesus” foregrounded the complexity, beauty, and difficulty of em-

bracing a Kingdom-centered life.

I asked LASP students to identify the study abroad components that most

influenced their changes in religious faith and action. Students related

many features of their LASP experience to these changes—class presenta-

tions, assigned readings, study trips, and process group discussions. In de-

scribing how these components informed a change in their faith, however,

students identified their relationships with Latin Americans as the connec-

tive tissue among the other program components. Time and again, stu-

dents described how their relationships with the host community breathed

life and relevance into an otherwise sterile engagement of academic mate-

rial.

Now, the miracle. As I step back and carefully digest the findings of

this study, I am reminded of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000. In this story, a

young boy’s decision to offer his meager lunch informed Jesus’ feeding

of thousands of hungry followers. As with the boy in the feeding of the 5,000, the sharing actions of LASP’s Latin American hosts

have catalyzed the spiritual development of thousands of U.S. and Canadian students. This is the overarching finding of my re-

search: LASP students are the recipient-participants in a miracle of sharing that was driven by the generosity and grace of LASP’s

host communities.

There are numerous implications of this core finding. In the case of study abroad, do we recognize host communities for their

essential role in such programming and seek to reciprocate their contributions to the learning of U.S. and Canadian students? Do

we design study abroad programs to facilitate relationships between students and their hosts? In the case of our spirituality, do

our relationships serve as connective tissue among the components of the Kingdom of God, bringing life and relevance to its pro-

posals? Do our actions reflect the miracle of sharing and catalyze the holistic development of others? The LASP community has

much to process and much for which to be grateful as this miracle of sharing unfolds...

You can read detailed results of this study in the current issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad

(frontiersjournal.org).

Our Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 applications are now open at...

bestsemester.com/apply!

"Do you know a student who would be a good match for our program? Are they interested in learning

about Latin America from diverse perspectives? Are they ready to practice intentional critical thinking,

engage in multiple intense immersion experiences, and diligently practice their Spanish language skills?

Encourage them to apply today! It’s not too late!

Apply for the Latin American Studies Program

Trevor, with son Emerson, who is now 4 years old

P. 3

Current Perspectives

Student-led Praise and Worship at the LASP office

Limon trip: We enjoyed a fun week-

end exploring issues of race and

discrimination in the province of

Limon. We also visited the KékoLdi

indigenous reserve and the beach at

Cahuita National Park.

How many different volcanoes can you visit

in one semester!? PURA VIDA!

Students have been treated

with such great love by their

host families.

Current Perspectives

P. 4

In our two-week Nicaragua Study Trip, students engaged in a number of challenging realities in Managua, including the dump/poverty

in the Oriental Market, as well as the context of a rural community-immersion experience. Students were greatly impacted when we

faced the questions of WHY such inequality exists in this region and how can we appropriately combat it. One of our Key speakers from

Managua was Ana Margarita Vigil, president of the Movimiento Renovador Sandinista party in Nicaragua. Another key experience in

Managua was our meeting with the organization Inhijambia, which works with child drug addicts in the market. Students grew close to

their host families in a short amount of time and we began to miss them as soon as we started our journey back to San Jose.

Adventure on

the water: the

beach and the

lake. With the campus ministry, CEM at the UCR!

Music in class and in concert

at the National Theater

Rodderick’s organic farm is an example of a personal response to injustices

P. 6

Daniel Sluis, SP ’15 accepted a position at

a church in Fayetteville, GA starting in

May and is getting married in August! He

says hopefully there will be no news of a

baby for “sevvvvveral more years.”

Amanda Cummings, FA ’13 is completing

her first year in Madrid, Spain and just

renewed her contract to teach English for

a second year. She says she loves her co-

teachers and students as well as Madrid.

It's a city full of life and rich in culture.

Rachel Tsen, SP ‘13 For the last year and

a few months has been working at NAMI

DuPage, an affiliate of the National Alli-

ance on Mental Illness as Youth Program

Director. She oversees mental health

awareness programs, targeted at teens

and youth educators that seek to end

stigma on mental health conditions and

empower students to reach out for sup-

port.

Emily (Cusimano) Prins, FA ‘07 lives in

New York City with her husband, Ryan,

and two year old son, Nathan. Her second

son is due to arrive in May! She recently

founded Expect Hope, a residency pro-

gram for unsupported, expectant women

in the Bronx, NY. She serves as the Pro-

gram Director and is looking forward to

opening their doors in 2018! To learn

more about Expect Hope, visit the web-

site: www.expecthope.org and you can

contact Emily at emi-

lyprins@expecthope.org

Angie (Settle) Logsdon, SP ’07 and hus-

band, Trent, just got back from two years

abroad teaching at an international

school in Qingdao, China. She says that

China was very different from Latin Amer-

ica, but they still enjoyed their opportuni-

ties to travel throughout much of South-

east Asia. Now they are back in the

States (in Texas) and just started a whole

new adventure... parenthood! They wel-

comed their first baby, Jedidiah James, in

November.

Photo to the right

Alyson Huneycutt, SP ‘06 is a psychologist

specializing in family therapy and working

at a non-profit agency serving at risk chil-

dren and youth in Santa Barbara.

Joshua and Tiffany (Hillman) Sheats, FA

‘05 continue living in West Palm Beach

with their two children, Sterling and Alys-

sa, and their two dogs, Ruffles and Re-

mington. In addition to his primary busi-

ness, Radical Personal Finance, Joshua

recently started a new weekly podcast

with his 73-year-old father called Encour-

aging Christian Fathers. You can down-

load the podcast for free from the app

store.

Alumni Relations

Current Perspectives

It has been a semester full of color, interesting creatures, and beautiful personalities! “Sloths, monkeys, iguanas, oh my!” When it

comes to exotic and beautiful encounters, the tropics never disappoint. If only a photo could capture the love that we have re-

ceived from our Latin American hosts in the classroom as well as in the homestay... Find more photos on our Facebook page!

Alumni Relations

LASP Staff

Clif and Linda Holland — Interim Directors

Javier Arguedas — Program Coordinator

Jessica Sanchez — Administrative Coordinator

Britney Villhauer— Program Assistant

stay connected. Learn how others are integrating faith,

knowledge, experience, and action, and share

your own stories as well.

P. 7

Angeline (Overturf) Thomas, FA ‘05 had a

baby! Xavier Elijah was born April 2, 2015.

Angeline is still living in Seattle and re-

cently took a new job as the Interim Assis-

tant Director of Admission at Seattle Uni-

versity School of Law.

Angela (Tapper) Hochstetter, SP ’05 now

works for MN Department of Education in

the Assessment Division. She is still living

in Minneapolis with her two kids (3 and 2)

and her husband. She says that if you find

yourself in the tundra do not hesitate to

reach out to her.

Hochapper@gmail.com

Hannah (Funk) Fishburn, FA ’04 is now

working at her Alma Mater, Greenville

College, as the Director of Instructional

Technology and Online Learning. She, her

husband Jason and son Drian (5) wel-

comed a baby girl, Teya Laelle, in Decem-

ber of 2014.

(picture right)

Melissa Zubal, FA’ 97 is now working in a

memory care community, with people

dealing with Dementia and Alzheimer’s as

the program coordinator. She manages all

programming to keep the residents en-

gaged and active , as much as possible,

regardless of their stage of illness. She

says that she is in a middle class, English

speaking area and misses using her lan-

guage experiences from Costa Rica but

knows that the LASP program has impact-

ed how she works with people and how

she makes career choices.

Naomi (Lambertson) Pusch, FA ’96 mar-

ried in 2010 to Michael Andreas Pusch.

They have a daughter who is now 4.5,

Klara and were living in Portland, OR for 7

years but are now back on the East Coast,

living in Western MA. Naomi works as an

Instructional Designer for The Center for

Social Innovation, which does research,

advocacy and training for those working

with vulnerable populations: the home-

less, those in recovery, people with HIV/

AIDS, and LGBT youth.

She says her LASP semester experience

still informs her faith and choices for vo-

cation, politics, and volunteer work.

Mike Takalo, FA ‘96 is still teaching in

Bloomington, Minnesota. He and his wife

have two kids and he has taken his stu-

dents to Costa Rica, Spain, and Argentina.

Marcia Brown-Medina, FA ’93 is ex-

pecting baby #4 in May 2016. She says she

is still in contact with her CR host family!!

Dawn and Scott (Herzog) Smithson, SP

‘93 Dawn is District Manager for Cal-

Water Service Co (4 yrs) and Scott is AP

Bio & Environmental Science teacher for

The King's Academy in Sunnyvale (3 yrs).

Children: Selva (10) is a lizard loving soc-

cer player and Evan (7) loves any vehicles

and aspires to be "a daddy and a doctor."

Current mailing address: Scott & Dawn

Smithson, 102 Reservoir Rd, Atherton, CA

94027

www.bestsemester.com/ @LASP_Tweets laspcostarica.blogspot.com