The ISA JournalISA Veritas: The Program and My Experience

I believe that everyone’s experience in ISA Veritas is unique depending on the term and location, but I wanted to share my personal story of what it has been for me this summer in Seville, Spain.

What is Veritas?

Veritas is a Christian study abroad program that exists within ISA. Within Veritas, you can travel to Costa Rica (San José), the Czech Republic (Prague), England (London), France (Paris), Italy (Rome), New Zealand (Dunedin), Peru (Cusco), South Africa (Cape Town), South Korea (Seoul), and Spain (Seville and Valencia). Students in each of these cities will be given a Veritas mentor who will connect them with a local church, plug them into a local ministry, and meet for Bible study, prayer, and community. Each city offers ministry opportunities unique to local needs and organizations.

Veritas also includes an academic component. The program is sponsored by California Baptist University, where students receive official college credit that may be transferred back to their home university for their online Veritas course. Students studying during the semester may choose between two three-credit courses: Comparative Religions (HUM 353), which discusses development and practices of major world religions, or the Global Ministry Practicum (HUM 490), which studies and reflects on missions in the context of living and studying internationally. Students studying during the summer will take a one-credit version of the Global Ministry Practicum.

Altogether, these three elements (Veritas mentor, local ministry service, and online Veritas class) are what set apart the program from the traditional ISA program. However, the program is still very integrated as a part of ISA. Students still live, attend classes, and take excursions with everyone in the ISA program in their host city.

My Veritas Experience

My own experience with Veritas has been absolutely incredible. It has given me the opportunity to be deeply connected with a local church and community of believers, even though I am so far away from my own back home.

On Sundays, I go to church with my mentor and her family at Iglesia Bautista Fe de Sevilla. The church has a thriving ministry to internationals, including a weekly Bible study and live English translation on Sunday mornings. Through the church, I have been able to meet students and families from Latvia, Ukraine, Turkey, and all over the USA and Spain. Attending a Spanish church is one of my favorite experiences week by week. Not only do I get to meet people from all over the world, but there is something so powerful about all getting to worship and pray together in unity. I also love the fact that I can practice my Spanish in the ‘real world’ through worship and in listening to the sermon!

The sweetest part of Veritas to me is the opportunity to join other Christian families in their daily lives. I meet with my mentor weekly for breakfast, but even outside of that, she invites me to so much. I spent a day wandering around a Spanish IKEA with her and her wonderful family, sharing my testimony and talking about our dream houses. She brought me to a Fourth of July pool party with several of her friends, and includes me in her daily life in so many ways. Other friends from the church have all the international students over to watch fútbol on the roof together, overlooking the beautiful European city below (quite exciting parties considering Spain’s 2024 Euro win)!

All of these memories that Veritas has given me is what is going to make it so hard to say goodbye to Sevilla. The community here has shown me such incredible hospitality and welcomed me so warmly this summer, and I could not be more grateful!

For more information on the Veritas program, including testimonials, city info, the specific Veritas application and more, visit www.veritasabroad.com.

Anna Grawunder is a student at Liberty University and an ISA Featured Blogger. She is studying with ISA Veritas in Seville, Spain.