By Jon Stroshine
Taylor Spring Break Missions co-directors Chandon Leckron and Lindsay Emery hoped new service trips to Atlanta and Memphis would increase application numbers for this year's crop of trips.
Instead, those two trips are not happening at all.
"There's a part of you that's a little disappointed that you have to cut a trip," Emery said. "But we obviously had some really great trips to choose from . . . at this point, it's really just in the past."
The decision was made fall semester to cut those trips, after initial applications came in.
Recently, Leckron and Emery have begun work to prepare a Spring Break cabinet to help run the program more effectively.
Leckron and Emery discussed the idea of a cabinet during the Taylor World Outreach retreat. Their proposal has since been accepted, and applications for the cabinet will be available after spring break."There's only so much you can do," Leckron said. "It's less people that you can really reach . . . Hopefully with the cabinet we can put a more mainstream focus (on spring break trips)."
Spring Break Missions is one of eight programs under Taylor World Outreach, most of which have cabinets. Emery said the move to having a cabinet is not to help spread the workload around, but to help the organization improve its missions trips.
The cabinet looks to feature dorm representatives from Taylor's residence halls who help plan events and promote participation in the trips, according to Leckron and Emery.
"The cabinet isn't necessarily because we feel overwhelmed," Emery said. "It's how can we get better and recruit better and maybe get more . . . people in general involved, not because we want the numbers to look good, but because I feel like there's a lot of students that just aren't being reached."
In addition, trips to Russia and Poland, regulars in the spring break lineup, are not present this year.
Spring Break Missions Graduate Assistant Amanda Steinbeck said that since Taylor has strong connections with the ministries in those countries, they cut them this year to begin partnerships with ministries in different countries.
"I think we'll have learned some new things from looking at these new ministries," Steinbeck said. "It'll be good for us to evaluate after spring break."
This year's destinations include Honduras, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Indianapolis, Mexico, Spain, Grant County, Ind. and Daytona, Fla.
Sophomore Rachel Kramer will be spending spring break in Cancun, Mexico. While many college students will be partying and drinking in the same city, Kramer and her trip-mates will be working at an orphanage.
"Especially on a week-long trip, it's easy to be like, 'We're not going to do much,'" Kramer said. "You just have to have that faith aspect that God's going to work through it."
Steinbeck and Taylor Chief of Police Jeff Wallace are leading a trip to the Dominican Republic and invited junior Billy Goggin to participate due to a shortage of male participants.
"I just feel like a lot of guys think that they have better things to do," Goggin said. "I just really think that if people took a chance and really got involved that they would see how fulfilling it is."
