Students lead trip to Atlanta, GA

Over spring break, 27 Indiana Wesleyan University students and a group from Bethel College will partner with Experience Missions to learn about social justice and serve the inner city of Atlanta, Ga.

Katherine Medlin (jr) and Danielle Faust (jr) will lead the IWU team. Medlin and Faust have been working with the Center for Life Calling and Leadership in order to organize meetings on campus and arrange for use of the school vans.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how the school worked with us,” Medlin said.

Experience Missions has locations throughout the United States as well as international locations. The organization coordinates missions trips for various groups throughout the year. In Atlanta, Experience Missions has partnered with the Salvation Army in order to more effectively minister to the community.

Medlin and Faust interned with Experience Missions last summer. They coordinated and led trips in Atlanta for youth groups and churches; they are eager to share the experience with fellow students.

“We’re really excited to be going back,” Medlin said.

Each morning, speakers will talk to the group about social justice issues. These sessions are meant to prepare the students for the activities of the day.

According to Medlin, “Getting your heart in the right place will help you get prepared.”

One activity will be running Kids’ Club activities with inner-city children. Partnering with the local Salvation Army, Experience Missions runs two Kids’ Club locations in Atlanta. One ministers to a mainly African-American and Vietnamese population, the other to a largely Hispanic population, according to Faust.

The group will spend time playing games, making crafts and eating snacks with children from under privileged neighborhoods.

“It’s basically like a VBS,” said Faust.

Experience Missions’ Kids’ Club has become a bridge to build trust with the residents of these neighborhoods, according to the organization’s Web site. One mother, Gregoria Sanchez, 28, told the Salvation Army she would not allow her children to play outside if there were no Kids’ Club.

“They are excited to go to the activities, and I trust they will stay out of trouble there,” said Sanchez.

The group will also participate in Canteen, a project that serves food to the homeless. A late night Canteen will minister to the homeless as well as prostitutes and those regarded as the “bottom of the barrel,” said Medlin.

“We’re just excited to see what God can do with this [trip],” said Faust.

The IWU students who are signed up to go to Atlanta are excited to participate.

“I didn’t want this to be a spring break that I … sit around and think about ‘me, me, me, me,” said Chelsea Pickslay (so). She wants to have a meaningful break and to spend time with people, she added.

Vaneetha Christopher (so), who has gone on international missions trips in the past, is also looking forward to serving God within the United States.

Christopher said that she is excited and happy “to experience God in a new way.”

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 8:00 AM and is filed under News.
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