Baylor students serve in Louisiana & New York, collect gift cards for Union

Posted: 3/28/08

Baylor students serve in Louisiana
& New York, collect gift cards for Union

By Rebekah Hardage

Baylor University

WACO—For most college students, spring break is a chance to head to the beach or the slopes for a little fun and relaxation away from the classroom. But hundreds of Baylor University students used their mid-March vacation as an opportunity to serve others through various mission trips around the United States.

Baylor’s Baptist Student Ministries sponsored a trip to South Louisiana to help rebuild homes for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Thirty-one students and staff headed to Plaquemine’s Parish, located just south of New Orleans, to share the love of Christ through both word and deed.

Shanna Ware of Round Rock brought in several hundred dollars worth of gift cards for Baylor’s “United for Union” drive to help meet the immediate needs of Union University students affected by a Feb. 5 tornado. (Baylor Photo)

Baylor BSM Director Clif Mouser felt led to take the mission trip back to Louisiana after several ministers in the area shared the tremendous need for continued help with the recovery process.

Volunteer coordinators planned for the students to assist in building four houses. Students roofed, painted, hung sheetrock and trimmed the homes alongside other BSM students from Texas A&M University.

Before they left for the mission trip, Baylor students felt there was more they could do for Plaquemine’s Parish than simply provide manual labor.

“They came up with the idea of a block party for the church,” Mouser said. “The students took the initiative to plan something in addition to the recommended program, and I was very proud of them.”

On Sunday, March 9, the BSM group hosted a cookout and games at Port Sulphur Baptist Church. Although the turnout was lighter than hoped, Port Sulphur’s pastor expressed his gratitude to the students for helping the church become a more visible presence in the community.

Mouser expressed his delight in the success of the mission trip because he saw some of his students “catch the vision” for ministry

“There is a place for everyone to use their gifts and talents to serve,” Mouser said. “I saw students grow in their understanding of how they can express their personal faith to further the kingdom of God.”

Meanwhile, several thousand miles away, another group of Baylor students also was having a mission-minded holiday.

Baylor mission volunteers (left to right) Pablo Mares, junior telecommunication major from Duncanville; Jesiah Watson, a freshman pre-business major from Seabrook; and Clif Mouser, director of Baptist Student Ministries at Baylor, serve in Plaquemine’s Parish, south of New Orleans.

University Ministries gave eight students the opportunity to do hands-on, relational mission work at a Christ-centered drug rehabilitation center located near New York City. The students served by painting a new building, constructing a stone wall and leading in chapel services. The journey was led by Rod and Suzie Hetzel, both staff psychologists with Baylor’s Counseling Center.

“The mission trip provided an amazing opportunity for Baylor students to work and live with people who struggle with alcohol and substance addiction,” reported Rebecca Kennedy, director for University Ministries and Missions at Baylor. “They were able to experience in a very real way how we are all part of the body of Christ and are intended to be church to each other.”

Kristin Oca, a sophomore psychology major from Fort Worth, said the work at the rehab center taught her to put herself aside in pursuit of helping others who need God.

“Jesus said he came to save the sick, for the healthy are in no need of a doctor,” Oca said. “In these words I have truly found my mission—being God’s hands and feet for those in need.”

The trip to New York was one of many discipline-specific opportunities provided to students through Baylor’s University Ministries, now called the Office of Spiritual Life.

Baylor’s discipline-specific mission trips are led by faculty and staff from various academic areas, creating opportunities for students to explore how to serve God by using the skills and expertise from their academic major and career field.

Baylor has planned several discipline-specific mission projects for this summer to Ghana, Rwanda, Armenia and Honduras, with teams from business, engineering, education, social work, nursing and several departments from the College of Arts and Sciences.

Some Baylor students made a difference in the lives of those in need without even leaving home. After a tornado struck Union University in early February, Baylor students, faculty and staff began working to provide relief aid to the Tennessee Baptist institution.

Union officials said their greatest need was for physical items like school supplies, bedding, Bibles, personal toiletries, shoes and clothes. To help meet those needs, Baylor Student Activities and University Ministries sponsored a “United for Union” gift card drive to help meet the immediate needs of Union students affected by the tornado.

The natural disaster on Feb. 5 caused major damage to 19 of the 42 buildings on Union’s campus and minor damage to 12 buildings. Forty percent of residence halls were destroyed, and another 40 percent were damaged severely. Fifty-one students were treated for injuries, but no lives were lost.

“We contacted Union University officials and offered a variety of help options, including an ‘alternative spring break’ program that would have taken a team of student volunteers to their campus to aid in clean-up efforts,” said Karin Klinger, associate director of student activities at Baylor. “However, Union officials indicated that they have had a tremendous volunteer response from their local community. But our contacts at Union cited the need for physical items,” which is where Baylor stepped up.

The Baylor drive still is underway, raising funds to purchase gift cards to stores such as Target and Wal-Mart to help Union students get back on their feet after the devastating loss of so many of their belongings. Baylor’s School of Social Work also collected and sent more than $300 to Union, designated to help their social work students.