The Center for Student Action held a launch party on Friday, Sept. 12, to announce the teams it will send across the world next spring break and summer. Attendees of the event included former members and leaders as well as students who are interested in joining an action team.
The program coordinator for action teams at CSA, Laurelyn Shaw, encouraged interested students to connect with former leaders and members and ask them about their experiences while serving.
“There’s a lot of different reasons why we go on short-term mission trips. We want to give, we want to serve, we want to change,” Shaw said to attendees.
The event was put together by Shaw and her group of students who will assist in choosing team leaders and members for the coming year. Junior psychology major Jo Tjhatra is part of Shaw’s team and excited to be a part of the process.
“We want willing leaders who have a heart for serving and a passion for leading others, and we want members that are willing to back and support those leaders,” Tjhatra said.
Students mingle with action team alumni during the CSA launch party. Photo credit: Camille Frigillana
This past summer CSA sent more than 30 teams around the world. Sophomore undeclared major Jonathan Ladner was part of a seven-member team that went to Japan for three weeks to serve at an all-girl Christian junior high and high school.
“There are so many things you will get out of being on an action team. You get to go to new places, meet new types of people, try new foods and grow spiritually and mentally,” he said.
Ladner and his team spent most of their time ministering to students and helping them out with their day-to-day activities, including playing games and cleaning the entire school.
“Our ministry wasn’t super-evident; we weren’t doing medical work or disaster relief or something equally tangible. We were just teaching and hanging out with students. It wasn’t until later on when the students told us what we meant to them that it really hit home the impact we were making,” Ladner said.
Ladner and his team help students with claswork during his mission trip in Japan.
Junior applied health major Parkar LaMothe co-led a team to Indonesia this summer. LaMothe and her team of seven served alongside Surfing The Nations, a ministry that uses riding waves as a way to form relationships with locals and tell them about God.
“I think one of the biggest lessons that I learned is that talking to people about Jesus is more simple than we tend to think. I love that this is true wherever you are,” LaMothe said.
Although Indonesia is not a trip destination planned for next summer, there are plenty of other opportunities for students to serve elsewhere, like reaching out to refugees in Greece or working with urban youth in Camden, New Jersey.
Freshman liberal studies major Eileen Cota has never been on a mission trip, but she attended the launch party in hopes of getting connected with former members and leaders.
“I want to get out of my normal bubble and experience other cultures. I saw that a lot of these trips involve kids, and I have a passion for helping out younger children in any way I can,” Cota said.
Aside from having the chance to talk to action team alumni, students also had the opportunity to taste drinks from around the world, such as horchata and chai tea. Representatives from the International Center were there to pass out global passes for Friday morning International Chapel.
CSA will send out 27 action teams all over the world this upcoming summer, and those at the center are excited about the amount of interest that was sparked at the launch party Friday.
To apply for a position on a team, go to CSA’s online application:
http://www.centerforstudentaction.org/apply/actionteams/