Our Core Values
Written by: Matt Browning
The Center for Student Action at APU takes seriously the challenge to motivate and activate every student to be a part of an international or intercultural experience before they graduate. The people, programs, policies, and services within the Center have a clear purpose: To help students understand and ACT on the claims of Christ that we believe we can change the world. The guiding principles that drive the Center serve to ensure that the mission, vision, and purpose of the Center continue to be lofty, responsible, challenging, and God-honoring. The following is a list of 12 Core Values that we hold as a branch of the university, and as Christ followers. May these help you to understand us as we embrace the people of God both locally and globally.
We are educators. We have a responsibility to educate students. We do this generally outside the classroom, but nevertheless, we see ourselves as helping students ask good questions and find the truth about God and His world. This is our responsibility as people of the Cross.
We know that nobody wins until we all win. The core of the Center for Student Action is that we are stronger together than separate. Our programs vary some but our mission to challenge students to responsible action is the same. We will do what it takes to make every person and part of the Center better together.
We adopt a with not for mission mentality. We do not enter other cultures as North Americans that have answers that can “fix” situations. We are learners first and seek to enter new opportunities as learners, as servants, and as partners.
We will be relentless in challenging students to be a part of the programs in the Center. We will always work to get as many undergraduate students as possible to have an intercultural experience before they graduate.
We believe in creating responsible disequilabration. We will challenge students to think new and differently about themselves, God, culture, and the world, but we will always point them back to the truth of Scripture.
We value the seed as much as the bouquet. We value thoughtful, ongoing reflection as much as we do measurable “outcomes” as part of the experiences we challenge our students with. We will not know, this side of eternity, what the experiences we offer students will do and we are comfortable not knowing.
We believe that Everyone Matters. Our world would be a better place if we really believed everyone matters and acted on that belief. We commit to practicing the Royal Law of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” (James 2:8) and will seek to never commit the sin of partiality. We acknowledge that everyone is our neighbor.
We believe that creating a “Responsible Revolution” is one of our ultimate dreams within the Center. We desire to create such a sense of faith in action that, as a community, we will “revolt” against what the world says is success and replace those ideas with thoughts more aligned with Christ.
We believe that People of the Cross must have an active faith. We will constantly look for ways to challenge our students to not just hear the Word but act on what the Word says (James 1:22).
We hold the value that everyone has something to contribute to God’s work around the corner and around the world. We will take responsible chances on anyone that shows a desire to take the challenge to serve. No one is too messed up to serve.
We value cultural competence. We will look for ways to help students understand the hallmarks of a culturally competent person and put those values into practice daily.We are an office and a team of people that will, within reason, always look for ways to make a good idea or program happen. We want to empower students and staff to dream out loud and do our best to make those dreams come true. We will do our best to say “how can we make this work” rather than “this will never work”.