By Kamryn Koble | Echo
Every student needs a cross-culture course to graduate. Next J-term, you can earn it serving where you are passionate.
Over J-term 2020, the Taylor World Outreach (TWO) organization sends students on Lighthouse trips to countries that need God's love the most.
Director of TWO Chip Bii seeks to create experiences that are challenging to students, but do not push them off a cliff. Teams of approximately 15 students and team leaders offer support, guidance and encouragement to grow. This entails meeting people of different cultures, eating new food and sometimes atypical sleeping arrangements. Bii emphasizes the goal of acting with proper intentions. "We strive for a standard of excellence in engaging in short-term missions," Bii said. "Without this standard of excellence, we might be doing harm to ourselves or to people. We show up for three weeks and if we don't do it well, it can go wrong in different ways." Before the J-term trips, Bii travels ahead of the teams to assess the situations of who the students will be working with and what they should accomplish.
The six destinations offered for next J-term are Uganda, Central Asia, Napal, Greece, Southeast Asia and Spain. Each trip focuses on different aspects of missions. When applying, students can list their top three choices for destination; however, Bii urges students to pray and surrender their time to God. "The overall principle is that if you really feel God has called you to engage in mission, you don't really have the privilege to decide where," Bii said. "The posture from students should be I will go wherever God calls me." Bii believes that every student on this campus has skills that can be utilized on a Lighthouse trip. His goal is to provide students with the opportunities and then allow them to pray and discern if a trip is what they should do. For those who are interested in traveling with Lighthouse, there are mandatory sessions on April 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. in Euler 109. TWO will also release applications this Friday that will be available through the student portal and email announcements. The application is in-depth, as TWO is searching for committed students who can be placed where they will serve most effectively. Junior JD Groh shared his experience in Kosovo on the Lighthouse blog. "In a country where hopelessness is such a theme, I can't help but feel that God has given me hope for the people and Christians here in Kosovo," Groh said. "This hope is fueled by the image of God being our light, and we're just lucky enough to get to extend the flame to others." Students may contact lighthouse@taylor.edu for more information.
