Students put their faith into action

Not all college students are planning to lie in the sun or ski the slopes during their Spring Break this year. WELS Mission Journeys is working with campus ministries at several colleges and universities to coordinate short-term mission trips this March. 

Teams from Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC), Milwaukee, Wis., and the campus ministries at Michigan Tech, Houghton, Mich., and the University of Wisconsin—Madison are traveling to help missions in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Spokane, Wash. 

Shannon Bohme, coordinator for Mission Journeys, highlights the importance of providing these opportunities for college students. “They’re the future leaders [of our church],” he says. “The younger generations want to put their faith into action, so we’re trying to give them the opportunity to go and serve.” 

While some WELS high schools and colleges already have mission trip programs, Bohme says many don’t have the resources or contacts to do it on their own. By working with those schools, he can offer more students a way to experience a mission trip. He also plans to work with schools with existing programs to help coordinate needs and opportunities.  

Wayne Shevey, WLC campus pastor, says he appreciates the coordination that Mission Journeys provides. “[Mission Journeys] shares with us what their needs are. They do a lot of the leg work and then we connect them with the necessary students.” 

He continues, “This gives students a different experience than what they’re used to. Rather than being served as people in congregations, this gives them the opportunity to be of service.” 

WLC sent out its first group through Mission Journeys in January, when seven students traveled to Sahuarita, Ariz., during the college’s J-term to help Grace Lutheran Church with community outreach, English as a Second Language classes, and church property clean-up.  

Ryan Heiman, pastor at Grace, says the students’ work provided a boost to Grace’s ministry and its members. He also took this as an opportunity to expose the students to many different aspects of ministry work. “This might lead them down a path of being a pastor or a teacher or just get them excited about outreach and mission work wherever they may end up in their vocation.” 

While the students were able to help Grace with some practical tasks, they also learned lifelong lessons. “I learned that it often takes more than one encounter to engage others when it comes to speaking about church or Jesus. . . . Maybe the door in the face one time can lead to listening ears the next time. Who knows what God can work after that!” says Elizabeth O’Connor, a WLC sophomore and member at St. John, Lomira, Wis.  

David Wilson, a junior at WLC and member at St. John’s, Pardeeville, Wis., says that he could see some of the ideas and programs he learned about on the trip working in his home congregation as well as in his personal life. “I plan on taking this experience and utilizing what I learned to interact more with those I know who don’t understand the joy we have in Christ.”  

Both say that they would go again “in a heartbeat.” “These trips teach you how to engage others and instill a heart of service,” says O’Connor. “For those of you considering a mission trip, I strongly encourage you to go. There is nothing like it! You don’t have to worry that you are too young, too inexperienced, too nervous, etc. God will use you!”  

---

Learn more about Mission Journeys at wels.net/missionjourneys and in this month’s edition of WELS Connection. 

---

 

Author:
Volume 106, Number 3
Issue: March 2019

Copyrighted by WELS Forward in Christ © 2021
Forward in Christ grants permission for any original article (not a reprint) to be printed for use in a WELS church, school, or organization, provided that it is distributed free and indicate Forward in Christ as the source. Images may not be reproduced except in the context of its article. Contact us