Bears on Mission

This spring break, Baylor Missions sent 10 teams totaling 175 Baylor students, faculty, staff and friends to sites in Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, England, Japan, Peru and Texas. Each experience integrated faith, discipline-specific learning and hands-on service to address real-world challenges, fostering informed engagement at home and abroad.

Thank you to all of our faculty and staff who contributed to the planning and execution of trips, and a special thank you to those who took their time and resources to lead students on these invaluable experiences.

Colombia American Medical Student Association (AMSA)

A group of 18 pre-med student-members of the American Medical Student Association and two Spanish professors assisted at medical clinics in the province of Villeta, Colombia, with partner One More Child Global. By experiencing the field of medicine in an international, public health setting, students gained insight into medicine as a vocation and cultivated cultural humility.

“On the trip to Colombia, we had the amazing opportunity to work with One More Child as we established clinics for people in varying locations from a community church to a military prison. The opportunity to serve the people and provide medical aid in this regard was incredible. However, none of the medication or resources we gave them compares to the generosity and empathy we received. This trip allowed us to learn what medicine as a vocation means independent of the money or the prestige, and that is truly priceless.”
Caleb Graham
Senior University Scholars major

Costa Rica Education

A group of 19 Baylor students and faculty visited San Jose, Costa Rica, to work in an elementary school and a high school in the rural community of Santa Elena. They taught classes and assisted at the schools, conversed with local residents desiring to hone their English and participated in a community philanthropic event. Baylor freshman Bryan Lizano, an international student from Costa Rica, joined the team.

Dominican Republic Alpha Epsilon Delta

Pre-med honor society Alpha Epsilon Delta (AED) sent 10 students along with two faculty leaders to serve within the Azua community of the Dominican Republic. Volunteering with One More Child Global, the team provided needed medical supplies to local hospitals, educated the community about nutrition, vaccinations and hygiene and helped with the organization’s long-term construction projects. Visits to a local clinic and hospitals in urban and rural settings provided insight into the different levels of Dominican healthcare.

Dominican Republic First In Line

Representing a new Baylor Missions experience, the Baylor First in Line program sent a team of 25 first-generation students and two staff members to Santiago, Dominican Republic, where they worked with Casas Por Cristo to build a home in seven days for a family in need. Gifts from Baylor alumni and Baylor Chapel’s “2019 Change the World in a Day” event covered student scholarships and the cost of construction as well as home goods for the new homeowners.

“I was stunned by how positive and full of life people in this community are, despite all the hardships they’ve encountered throughout their lives. I was amazed by their warm welcome and eagerness to work alongside us and help us build this house for Teresa and Ramon’s family. This trip made me realize that you can find joy in anything around you and that you can learn a lot from people around you. I am so grateful that I got to spend time with an amazing team of people.”
Andreea Loghin
Freshman biology major

Dominican Republic MAPS (Multicultural Association of Pre-Health Students)

For the sixth time, the Multicultural Association of Pre-Health Students partnered with El Buen Samaritano in the Dominican Republic to provide healthcare support and education to residents of sugar cane bateyes and the city of La. The group of 11 pre-health and public health students and faculty collaborated with local healthcare staff to provide basic health screenings and education on diabetes, nutrition, dental care and women’s health.

England & Scotland Business Interdisciplinary

Students from Hankamer School of Business served in London, England, continuing business consulting services last provided in May 2018. The team of 20 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and university guests worked with local businesses, providing strategic guidance to enhance profitability.

Hunger in Texas

Nine Baylor students along with staff from the Texas Hunger Initiative traveled across Texas to experience firsthand the policies and programs that mitigate hunger among the state’s food insecure population. The team explored the scope, causes and impact of hunger in Texas as well as interventions such as emergency food assistance, federal nutrition programs and advocacy. They helped implement the interventions by volunteering at organizations in Lubbock and Austin.

Japan Urban Foods

An interdisciplinary group of eight students, one alumnus and two faculty leaders traveled to Tokyo and Fukuoka, Japan, to help local organizations provide free and discounted meals to children in poverty. The group worked alongside student volunteers from Hosei University in Tokyo and Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, honing their cross-cultural communication skills and learning about local solutions to child poverty issues. While in Fukuoka, they visited a flood devastated area and a local elementary school, where they coached 5th and 6th graders on English language skills.

Peru Medical Service Organization (MSO)

Baylor’s Medical Service Organization (MSO) partnered for the first time with Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing, sending 25 students and two faculty trip leaders to Peru. The team collaborated with Operación San Andres (OSA) to provide health screenings and education to a predominantly migrant and disadvantaged population of the Collique community, where the mountainous terrain makes for harsh living conditions.

San Antonio (TX) Honors Residential College

The Honors Residential College explored how students can serve refugees from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras (Northern Triangle). The team served with the Interfaith Welcome Coalition (IWC) to learn from asylum seekers, refugees and at-risk immigrants in San Antonio. Returning to Waco, the team served with SHE is Freedom to learn about the relationship between human trafficking and the refugee crisis and consider how to support local victims of human trafficking.

As part of the Office of Spiritual Life, Baylor University Missions nurtures the theological depth, spiritual wholeness and missional living of Baylor students, staff and faculty through integrated formational programming, transformative missional experiences, competent pastoral care and worship that is responsive to the Christian Tradition and sensitive to the culture. In collaboration with international partners and Baylor faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines, the Global Missions program provides spiritually rich and challenging experiences that deepen students’ sense of vocation and calling. For more information, visit baylor.edu/missions.