Discipleship to Belize

Thirteen Discipleship students traveled to Belize May 13-22. The group worked with children in Orange Walk Town, Belize. The students organized and taught a Vacation Bible School program and worked with kids at a local elementary school. “Service-learning travel awakens students to new experiences, and helps them see the world – places, but also people – through a new contextual lens. The world simultaneously becomes smaller and bigger, beckoning wonder, prompting reflection, and nurturing skills in empathy,” said Rev. Molly Just, director of Discipleship. “For the discipleship team, travel helps us see how Christ is at work in other parts of the world, and allows us to share stories from the global church here in Winfield.”

“. . . the top three memories for students from our trip to Iceland are the dramatic and beautiful scenery, laughing together while cooking and enjoying our family style team meals, and the meaningful service work we performed at the petting zoo, particularly, in light of the strong servant leader practices modeled by our service host.”

– Brae Wood, director of Leadership Southwestern

Leadership to Iceland

Students from the Leadership team traveled to Iceland for their international service learning trip. In Reykjavik, thegroup partnered with Whales of Iceland and the International Foundation of Animal Welfare to advocate for tourists to not eat whale meat while visiting Iceland. The team also completed service work at Daladýrð Petting Zoo helping farmers dig fence post holes, build a goat playground (and watch the goats play on it in the end), and help with the farm chores in general. The team also traveled to the Blue Church, a popular tourist destination, in Seyðisfjörður, where they partnered with the local community to clean, organize, landscape, and paint in the church cemetery.