This spring, amidst the hustle of the semester’s projects, assignments and activities, Olivet Nazarene University is preparing to send 78 students and 12 faculty and staff members across the world where they will serve others through different academic- and mission-based programs. Olivet’s Shalom Project Ministry Trips provide students with unique experiences to travel outside of the Bourbonnais campus and experience new cultures and communities. These trips are meant to inspire, empower and equip students in the creative act of restoring broken relationships with God, ourselves, others, and creation – God’s project and ours as well.
“We go on these trips to listen, learn, and love; to see how God is already at work and to come alongside and partner with others in the family of God,” says Shalom Project Director, Esther Tueck. “We hope it will help us to become learners, listeners, encouragers and participants in bringing the hope and love of Jesus Christ not just on a trip but that it would challenge us to be missional every day of our lives wherever that may be.”
This spring, students will travel to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Inez, Kentucky. During this week of intentional service, students will have the opportunity to partner with local churches; teach in schools; participate in community restoration projects and relationship building; host VBS and after-school programs; aid in the work of medical clinics, rehabilitation centers, and women’s shelters; and help in minor construction projects.
Kaden Jull, a current senior at Olivet, is attending the Dominican Republic (D.R.) trip. “The six days that we will be there will only be a small page of how God is working already through the people in Santiago, Dominican Republic and we get to be a small part of it,” Kaden says. “My hope is to not have the trip just be another week out of the year, but to be a time that I feel challenged by God to break down walls and build a closer relationship with Him, the people of D.R., and the other students and faculty going on the trip. After the trip, the challenge will be to incorporate the faith and experiences from the trip back into everyday life, but that is what God is calling us to do.”
Please join the rest of the Olivet community in praying for those that we are sending out into the world to further God’s mission and learn more about their own personal calling.
To learn more about Spiritual Life and Development, please visit our website!
