Baylor Global Missions Teams to Serve Texas, International Communities over Winter Break
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-6275
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WACO, Texas (Dec. 12, 2018) – Baylor University Missions provides students with experiences that foster informed global engagement and promote the integration of faith with discipline-specific learning and hands-on service to contribute solutions to real-world challenges at home and abroad. This mission will continue over winter break, as Baylor Missions sends three teams of 48 students, faculty, staff and friends of the University to serve at locations in Texas and the countries of Guatemala and Italy.
Students will integrate academics and their heart to serve others during the break by shadowing physicians, volunteering at medical clinics, leading sports camps and learning more about global and collaborative efforts to address various issues from hunger to migration.
“These thoughtful initiatives are allowing for students to present their respective academic perspective and passions to enhance and diversify the way we approach community challenges and solutions around the world,” said Holly Tate, assistant director for global missions at Baylor.
2018 Winter Break BUMissions Teams
Rio Grande Valley (TX) American Medical Student Association (Dec. 12-18, 2018)
For the fourth consecutive winter term, a team of 10 Baylor American Medical Student Association (AMSA) members and a staff leader will serve in the Rio Grande Valley in Olmito, Brownsville and Los Fresnos. The team will shadow local physicians at Loaves and Fishes, a free clinic, and volunteer at the Respite Center, a Catholic organization that provides basic humanitarian needs. The team also will have opportunities to interact with children and help teachers at a local elementary school. The mission of AMSA Baylor Chapter is to build strong leaders with an enhanced knowledge and understanding of the medical profession so that they can become optimal candidates for medical school and excel in their health care careers.
Guatemala Sports Ministry (Dec. 12-18, 2018)
In partnership with Baylor Athletics, a team of 13 student-athletes, along with sports chaplains and staff, will be serving with Guatemala Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) to learn how sports ministry draws people toward the Kingdom of God. Over the week, the team will lead sports camps around the communities of Antigua, Canaan and Parramos, as well as experience Guatemala through cultural exchange and relationship building with local citizens. While the student-athletes come from various sports and majors, these sports ministry mission trip experiences encourage them to work together to utilize the strengths of their teammates and global partners to serve others and support each other as they discern their callings.
Italy Global Hunger and Migration (Jan. 2-11, 2019)
Rome, Italy is at the center of international efforts to promote sustainable development and combat world hunger. It also is at the center of a food security-related cross-border migration crisis. Through this juxtaposition of solution and need, students will have the opportunity to deepen their understanding of global issues and the collaborative systems that address them, as well as consider how their vocation and avocation can contribute to those efforts. The team of 22 students and two faculty leaders with Baylor’s Texas Hunger Initiative and Office of Spiritual Life also will meet with leaders at the United Nations agencies addressing global hunger, as well as individuals and organizations working with migrants and refugees in both Rome and Florence.
As part of the University’s Office of Spiritual Life, Baylor Missions nurtures theological depth, spiritual wholeness and missional living in Baylor students, staff and faculty by offering integrated formational programming, transformative missional experiences, competent pastoral care and worship that is responsive to the Christian Tradition and sensitive to the culture. Global Missions collaborates with faculty and staff from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds along with global partners in order to implement spiritually rich and challenging experiences for students.
“It is our hope that the students who participate in our trips not only enjoy the experience (which is important), but also discover a sense of vocation and calling as they see firsthand how they can use their discipline to serve,” Tate said.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.