Experience

When we talk about learning from experience, we do not simply mean that we give experiences to our students. In and of itself an experience is just…well…an experience, nothing more. We see experience – whether in ministry, in community, in prayer, in work, or in any other way – as a starting place for learning. It is not enough to say that you learn to pray by praying. It is when you ponder the value of prayer, explore the principles of prayer, receive teaching on prayer, observe others in prayer, participate with others in prayer, engage personally in prayer, experience the results of prayer and ponder again the impact of prayer that you can truly say you have learned to pray.

This assumes that learning is more important than teaching. Traditional education often provides teaching on a topic with the assumption that you will some day have the chance to apply it in some sort of experience. We believe that the best learning occurs when the teaching given is built around the opportunity for experience. We believe that you will learn best about community by providing teaching on community that is built around an opportunity to experience community. We believe that you will learn best about ministry by taking what you are learning into ministry and then bringing what you experience back to the classroom. We believe that you will learn the most about other cultures by providing a framework to understand other cultures while you are totally immersed in another culture. Not only do you learn from the experience, but even more, you learn how to turn any experience into an opportunity to learn–you learn to learn from experience and become a committed lifelong learner.

“Thanks for helping take such good care of our daughter. She is VERY happy and challenged. You guys are doing a great job!” – Parent of BCOM student