Posted May 29, 2014 by
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Grad School Post 2
As a Christian leader in Rwanda, I am often called to offer my opinions and views on important issues within my community. In order to best serve my community, I must be equipped to articulate and apply my theological knowledge to different areas and topics. The M.A. in Systematic Theology program and the liberal arts education at Wheaton College have taught me how to engage my theology in relationship with many other disciplines. I've had the privilege of listening to guest lecturers from different academic fields throughout my theology courses, and I learned a great deal on how theology interacts with the liberal arts.
I recently took a course about theology and the environment which was taught by Associate Professor of Theology Dr. Jeffery Barbeau. This course focused on a biblical and theological understanding of creation and it taught me how to teach others about God’s creation. This course also integrated theology with the arts and the natural and human sciences. Dr. L. Kristen Page, Professor of Biology, was a guest lecturer and spoke about the Christian responsibility of caring for the world, including people and the environment. Since I was a theologian and farming pastor from Rwanda, where 80% of the total country population lives on subsistence agriculture, this topic was especially interesting to me.
This summer, I will be working on an independent research study on “Stewardship in environment use: Farming God’s way in Rwanda towards an environment care theology.” In this study, I intend to develop a curriculum for a course on theology and soil care in Rwanda’s farming. This curriculum will be practically designed to equip Christian leaders in Rwanda with Biblical-based knowledge to improve environment care as they farm on a daily basis. Once equipped, the Christian workers will be encouraged to put these Biblical principles into practice and teach other church members and communities how to improve farming methods.
The liberal arts aspect of my masters in theology course has taught me how to integrate my work as a pastor and farmer with my Christian faith.