With Spring Break quickly approaching, groups for mission trips are beginning to prepare. Harding students had the opportunity to choose from 18 different campaigns this year.
One of the nearest campaigns, and therefore the cheapest, is the campaign to Knoxville, Tenn. This year, Bailey Gammill is a co-leader for the Knoxville campaign along with junior Victoria Sams. Gammill said he originally did not desire to be a mission-trip leader. In fact, he said he rejected offers to lead two other trips before he finally accepted the third offer.
“The third time I was asked to do it, I was like, ‘OK, I see what you’re doing, God,'” Gammill said.
The Knoxville campaign is centered on ministering to homeless people by doing service projects through organizations such as the Salvation Army. According to Gammill, the cost efficiency of the Knoxville campaign gives it a lot of appeal.
Another mission opportunity offered is the Panama campaign led by junior Isaac Alvarado and sophomore Caleb McCurry. Of course, the campaign is costlier and the scope of the mission is different. Foreign campaigns carry a unique set of challenges as opposed to domestic campaigns.
“Taking a group of people who have never been to this country, don’t speak the language and are not familiar with the culture is a challenge,” Alvarado said.
Both Alvarado and McCurry share the same mission experience in that they both attended the Port Angeles, Wash., mission campaign a year ago. According to Alvarado he realized during the Port Angeles campaign that he would best serve God by leading a campaign to his home country, Panama, where he would be able to understand and connect with the culture.
The Panama campaign has a three-fold plan. They intend to work at a school, implementing teachings about Christianity into the children’s classroom setting. They further intend to provide materials for a rural congregation to continue its efforts in building either a baptistery or a bathroom. Finally, they intend to evangelize among the local Indian tribe. The work to be done is part of a long-term effort, according to Alvarado.
That in mind, one danger of Spring Break campaigns, according to Gammill, is that people may believe that one week is long enough to make a drastic impact.
“If you are wanting to go on a Spring Break mission because you feel like you are going to change the world in a week, you might want to reevaluate your reasons for going,” Gammill said.
One quality of Spring Break mission trips that makes them special, according to all of the leaders, is the campaign’s power to bring individuals together as a group. One goal that many of the leaders share is simply for the group to have unity of mind in preparation for the campaign.
According to McCurry, it is vitally important that a campaign group find unity.
“We are seeking that each member has every need, every fear and every concern that is on their heart taken care of,” McCurry said.
