Harding students delight me. They show kindness, patience and understanding of others. When they look to their own future, they dream about majestic, world-changing goals. They inspire me.
In 1980 some wise administrators founded Harding University in Florence (HUF) on behalf of our students. HUF was conceived as the first international residential program of Harding University. Over the past 34 years our students have gone to Italy, Greece, Australia, Asia, Africa, France and England to live, study and to enact and enliven their dreams.
Working at Harding is rewarding in many ways, but the most significant benefit for me is to see students find themselves while studying abroad. “Finding” oneself can take on many forms; let me offer some examples. One student saw in advance an opportunity to help refugees camped outside of Athens, Greece, and before heading across the Atlantic raised $10,000. He bought blankets and sleeping bags for Kurds who would have otherwise slept unprotected in the cold that winter. An entire mission team to Uganda formed while studying in Italy. One student who attended our program in Zambia returned with a passion for caring for the needy and raised $35,000 for agricultural starter sets for those under the threat of famine. Eight years later she remains devoted to caring for others. After attending our program in London, one student returned to the United Kingdom to pursue her Ph.D. on the work of Thomas Hardy and was asked by the British National Trust to be the caretaker and curator for the author’s Dorsett county home (Max Gate). This offer was so unusual that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) televised a series of interviews with her. No other U. S. citizen has been honored in this way.
All of our programs feature spectacular examples of God’s creation and as the Apostle Paul said, “God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.”
Several students who have studied at our program in Chile have returned as missionaries to Latin America. Most students return from the Harding International Programs having seen the value that other cultures place on children and the elderly and learn to embrace those values.
Senior exit surveys suggest that for those who are able to attend one of our programs, a significant part of a student’s university experience was gained through the one semester they studied in another country. Isolation from one’s own culture can promote a period of reflection, questioning, self-examination and resolve that turns lives toward God. The Greece program is specifically pointed toward encouraging this result through reflection, but we observe wonderful evolutions of faith from all of the programs. One student who returned from Zambia last November wrote to our office:
“I came to the conclusion that my life on this Earth in no way is needed by God; he does not operate the universe based on my performance or service. Instead he invites me, as well as all other disciples of him, to partner in the beautiful mission that he has brought about through his son and the church.”
Of course this happens in Searcy as well. Perhaps the journey can be seen more vividly in the smaller groups that characterize our programs.
I hope you enjoy reading reflections from students who are studying abroad this semester in future issues of the Bison.
Next issue: Aristides Ortiz from HUG
