{"id":19827,"date":"2014-04-11T11:01:40","date_gmt":"2014-04-11T15:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=19827"},"modified":"2014-04-28T09:47:05","modified_gmt":"2014-04-28T13:47:05","slug":"seminary-study-a-tremendous-privilege-for-grad-now-working-in-missions-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/seminary-study-a-tremendous-privilege-for-grad-now-working-in-missions-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Seminary study \u201ca tremendous privilege\u201d for grad now working in missions in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Greek conjugations, stone cathedrals, and stories from catacombs may not seem relevant to the Mennonite churches in East Africa, which use an assortment of indigenous African languages and meet in structures built of corrugated tin. Still, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/seminary\/\">Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS)<\/a> graduate <b>Aram DiGennaro<\/b>, <b>MDiv \u201905<\/b>, gives testimony to the relevance of advanced theological training within today\u2019s simple-church movements in developing nations.<\/p>\n<p>Although most of DiGennaro\u2019s classmates were preparing to pastor established North American Mennonite churches, DiGennaro sensed that he was preparing for something different.<\/p>\n<p>And he was right. Today DiGennaro is directing the work of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emm.org\/\">Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM)<\/a> in East Africa. He designs and implements EMM\u2019s projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and South Africa, and his team hopes to stretch into Somaliland in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>DiGennaro\u2019s work in seminary focused on Western church history,and\u00a0 his familiarity with past faith movements helps him analyze the societal factors and belief patterns he encounters in African missiology today:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I look at a church\u2019s trajectory, I instinctively look through the lens of hundreds of years of history. By understanding the past, I can help create the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Class assignments he completed eight years ago continue to speak into DiGennaro\u2019s perspective on current issues in Africa. One paper he researched and wrote for his \u201cTheology of Economics\u201d class continues to be particularly helpful, as he interacts daily with Africa\u2019s grinding poverty and broken social structures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn accurate appraisal of the economic reality in Africa \u2013 neither submitting to poverty nor idolizing wealth \u2013 is one of the most powerful assets a leader in this context can hold,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n<p>He says it was \u201ca tremendous privilege\u201d to set apart three years for study at EMS. The atmosphere at the seminary \u2013 with a firm belief in the movement of God\u2019s Spirit, and a nuanced understanding of God\u2019s will for the world \u2013 generated life in a deep and rich way.\u00a0 His time at seminary was a time of reflection, looking toward action, which now grounds his life of missional engagement.<\/p>\n<p>Although DiGennaro initially wondered if advanced theological education was a good investment for someone headed into cross-cultural missions, he frequently experiences convergence moments between the two. \u201cMy layered understanding of the Gospel changes everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Courtesy of Eastern Mennonite Missions<\/em><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Greek conjugations, stone cathedrals, and stories from catacombs may not seem relevant to the Mennonite churches in East Africa, which use an assortment of indigenous African languages and meet in <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/seminary-study-a-tremendous-privilege-for-grad-now-working-in-missions-in-africa\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Seminary study \u201ca tremendous privilege\u201d for grad now working in missions in Africa<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":19830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,265],"tags":[10428,6833],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-19827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-seminary","tag-aram-digennaro","tag-eastern-mennonite-missions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - 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