By Lindsay Robinson | Echo
As Spring Break draws near and expectations for the coming seven days of freedom are optimistically relayed to friends, the pressure to have the best spring break ever intensifies. It is all about the experience, the difference that a week off from school can make.
Taylor University's Spring Break Missions trips offer life-changing experiences, but in a way that challenges the common perception of what it means to make a difference.
This year's Spring Break Mission's trips, directed by Taylor University World Outreach (TWO), are lead by co-directors junior Chandon Leckron and senior Toby Magers. The trips involve a week of hard work, immersion in a different culture and a unique experience for each team.
How can so much be accomplished in such a short amount of time? Magers said it is all about the attitude each team adopts as they serve a global community.
"A lot of the teams will go in with an attitude for learning rather than thinking that we're going to make a huge difference . . . it's a process of learning for a short time while we are there and walking with those who we are serving, just building relationships," Magers said.
Serving can mean a variety of things for each group.
"There are teams, like Memphis, and they'll rebuild people's homes," Leckron explained. "They work alongside the people. That's something that provides a very immediate need and provides a great deal of comfort. Then there's other trips that go to Russia and they work with the children. We are fostering relationships and we are doing a lot of good for people."
This year, ten teams will be traveling to domestic and international locations including, Grant County, Indianapolis, Daytona Beach, Fla., Memphis,Tenn., Spain, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Russia and Poland.
While Spring Break Mission's trips promise an exciting adventure overseas or close to home, the co-leaders stressed the importance of understanding what the missions teams are trying to accomplish.
"That type of work needs to be a personal decision. We encourage (students) to pray, and we trust that God will provide enough servants for us each year and He does," Magers said.
To better understand the cultural environment that each team will be serving in, students take preparation classes. Each team meets separately to share their testimonies and bond as one unit.
"I think that's huge because it builds relationships and they get to know each other really well, know each other's strengths and weaknesses so they know how to come alongside each other," Magers said.
Each team works towards being able to comfort and provide a helping hand for a week in a way that helps fulfill the needs of each organization that is affiliated with the Spring Break Missions program.
"I think there is something about Taylor in that we aren't like a lot of short term missions. . . . We actually are more of a supplement to an organization that already has its branches and roots out there and then we provide that organization with service," Leckron said.
The co-leaders explained that Spring Break Missions trips are a relational experience where teams learn more about the global community of believers, whether they be local to Taylor or far away, through service. It's a seven-day difference that is not soon forgotten by those who embark on Spring Break Missions.
