Ministry

Ministry is on the move at Washington Adventist University! Over spring break, fourteen WAU students embarked on an immersive service-learning experience in Baltimore, Maryland. Immersion Trips are slightly different than we might typically think of “Missions Trips.” If we want to honor God in our efforts to love our neighbor truly, we must think about the long-term effects of our service. Immersive opportunities help students critically analyze the most effective ways to serve and meet the needs of a community. Students have the opportunity to be exposed to the needs and challenges of a community and the assets and methods to enable them to have a long-term impact.

This year’s immersive spring break trip explored the systemic and human dimensions of complex social issues in Baltimore. The students connected with local leaders, including Baltimore City Council members and community organizers. Gopi Sunkara, one of the students who participated, shared, “We were able to explore Baltimore and help out local nonprofits in that area. It was a fabulous time to hang out with friends and make a positive difference. I look forward to doing it again next year.”

As students served, they encountered people suffering from poverty, food insecurity, and in desperate need of help. Not only did the people of Baltimore benefit, but the students were also deeply impacted. Junior Aguilar shares, “The alternative spring break experience has opened my eyes to the reality of poverty in the United States. But there is hope. I can make a difference, not only when I become a professional but even today, by volunteering and serving those in need.”

Let us, as a university community and the broader

Christian community, speak about the importance of service and endeavor each day to serve others. Our Christian responsibility is to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those suffering, marginalized, and forgotten. The world desperately needs people who will take tangible steps to alleviate the challenges and burdens of others. Let us continue to move forward and make a lasting impact for eternity. n