Like more than 300 of her Hope College peers, sophomore Kristen Borst of Jenison will be spending spring break on a mission.
Borst will spend the vacation participating in a
mission trip to Queens, N.Y., one of more than 20 spring
break service trips that together involve more than 10
percent of the Hope student body. Her decision to take part
this year follows her positive experience during last year's
mission trip to Honduras.
"Last year was probably one of the best
experiences of my life," she said. "I learned more from the
people of Honduras than I ever expected." It is testimonies
like this that keep the number of trips rising each year.
"I've always wanted to go on a mission trip," said
freshman Heather Verbeke, of Yale, who will be heading west
to Apache, Okla. "When visiting Hope last year, I was told
about the mission trip program, and I have been counting on
doing a trip for a long time. When the opportunity came up,
there was no doubt in my mind."
The trips are a decades-long tradition at Hope,
but it is in recent years that participation has exploded.
According to Lori Fair, who is director of student outreach
at Hope, the number of trips organized by the college's
Campus Ministries Office has climbed from two trips six
years ago to 19 involving approximately 275 students this
year.
In addition, 24 students will be traveling with
associate professor of kinesiology Dr. Steven Smith to
Jamaica, and approximately 10 students will be going to
South Carolina with the college's chapter of Habitat for
Humanity.
The trips will occur during the college's spring
break, which runs Friday, March 17, through Sunday, March
26.
The Campus Ministries office organizes student-led
trips to various locations in the United States and Latin
America.
Five of the Campus Ministries trips will involve
urban ministry. The Center for Student Missions in
Washington, D.C., will be the home for Hope students as they
work in soup kitchens, serve in shelters and interact with
local residents. In Nashville, Tenn., student opportunities
include working with kids, the elderly and the homeless, and
at a food bank. Those going to Newark, N.J., will be
involved with serving the urban poor by leading Bible clubs,
tutoring children, renovation projects and assisting with
retail training. Traveling across the country to Hawaiian
Gardens, Calif., students will be working with "The Way Out
Ministries" distributing flyers, working with youth,
performing street dramas and running after-school programs.
Queens, N.Y., will be home to students as they experience
many facets of urban ministry, including evangelism, social
justice and physical labor.
Another five of the trips will focus on ministry
in a rural area, all through the Coalition for Appalachian
Ministry. Gap Mills, W.Va., home of the Psalm 23 Camp, will
allow participants to perform maintenance and repair work on
the camp property as well as low-income and elderly homes in
the community. Working with houses and children will be a
focus for the students going to Harlan, Ky. In Dungannon,
Va., students will work with community members to work on
home repair and maintenance. For those going to Walker,
Ky., a mid-wife and farm project operation awaits. A farm
that provides shelter and rehabilitation for the recovering
addicted, abused and homeless will become home for Hope
students participating in the trip to Loysville, Pa.
A third type of domestic trip enables students to
interact with those of a different culture. In Apache,
Okla., participants will interact with Native Americans of
every age and interact using drama, music, construction,
crafts and group dynamics. Refugees to the United States
make their home at Jubilee Partners in Comer, Ga., and
students traveling there will paint, garden, teach English
and learn about the refugees. Students going to Dulac, La.,
will find maintenance and construction projects in the
predominantly Native American community, and may also lead a
Bible school. The Spencer Perkins Center in Jackson, Miss.,
trains urban leaders to love and express God's love to young
people.
Five groups of Hope students will head to Latin
America this year. The group traveling to Honduras will
interact with residents in the capital city of Tegucigalpa,
and spend time on school construction through Worldwide
Christian Schools. Students will be working with Mexico
Caravan Ministries in Tijuana, Mexico, assisting and
interacting with the urban poor. The cultural experience of
Chiapas, Mexico, will absorb Hope students into the lives of
the indigenous people, while also allowing for hands-on
projects. Hope students who are members of the Young Life
ministry in Holland will spend time with the Young Life
family in the Dominican Republic, assisting with projects
and working with children and young adults. And in a first-
time trip for the college, there will be a medical
missionary trip to Sigsig, Ecuador, where students pursuing
the medical field will be assisting physicians with basic
patient needs.
About 10 students involved in Hope's chapter of
Habitat for Humanity will travel to Sumter, S.C., to engage
in home construction and interact with those whose homes
they will help build. The chapter has participated in
several trips since its founding in 1993.
For the fourth straight year, a group of Hope
students and Dr. Smith will be working on buildings on the
campus of the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf in
Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The mission for the students participating in the
spring break service trips is clear: to serve those in
need. But at the same time, the trips are recognized as a
chance for those going to grow and experience life in a new
and unique setting.
"First of all, I hope to be a servant for the
people of Apache," Verbeke said. "I hope to bring them some
of the love and joy that I've experienced. Second, I hope
that all of us on the trip will be changed and come back a
stronger person in Christ."