Baylor Missions Sprang to Action for Spring Break 2015

March 26, 2015

Follow us on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia
Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321
WACO, Texas (March 26, 2015) – Trading in sandy toes for service projects, five teams from Baylor Missions traveled domestically and internationally this spring break for a week of missions.
“It’s really one of the greatest ways you can integrate your faith and what you’re learning in the classroom with service. It really allows you to see how your gifts and callings can be used in a global context,” said Holly Widick, assistant director for Baylor Missions.
Baylor Missions is a part of the Office of Spiritual Life at Baylor University. Its mission is to essentially grow and integrate theological depth, spiritual wholeness and missional living in lives of students, faculty and staff through formational programming, missional experience, pastoral care and worship.
The teams visited work sites in Peru, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala and along the Texas border. Each team had an individual focus ranging from medical to sports missions, incorporating these disciplines into their respective service.
Peru Nursing Team
A team of 13 nursing students traveled from Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing in Dallas to Lima, Peru. They worked alongside a local church, Iglesia Evangelica Baptista Morada de Dios, in the local community by offering health education and physical assessments. Teams also took time to research local health practices.
Dominican Republic Multicultural Association of Pre-Health Students (MAPS) Team
MAPS partnered with the Good Samaritan Mission Council in La Romana, Dominican Republic. Eleven students and one Baylor staff member served in the Dominican Republic. Students served and shadowed in local medical clinics, observing and practicing routine checkups.
Guatemala American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Team
American Medical Student Association (AMSA) sent 19 students, two Baylor faculty members and a guest medical doctor to serve in the Guatemalan communities of La Cieneguilla, Huehuetenango and La Victoria, Quetzaltenango. Through a partnership with a local organization called Global CHE the team served locals within a mountainous region where many locals are unable to receive necessary medical treatments. Most locals typically live their whole lives with problems such as parasites, diabetes and ulcers. The team helped set up temporary clinics to bring free care to the locals.
Guatemala Sports & Community Development Team
In this new missions project, 11 students, one Baylor faculty member and a university guest partnered with Buckner International in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Students participated in community development with Buckner Family Hope Center, a sports camp for children served through Family Hope Center, English as a Second Language for adults and children at Family Hope Center and hands-on projects.
Texas Urban Mission Team: Eagle Pass
Sixteen students and two Baylor staff members journeyed to Eagle Pass, Texas, to partner with Mission Border Hope and Literacy ConneXus. For their third year, Baylor Missions students engaged in literacy work and building meaningful relationships with students. They read with preschoolers in day care centers in the morning and provided afternoon literacy programs for children who live in Eagle Pass and the surrounding communities. They also worked with the Restorative Justice Program by building relationships with students in the program.
Baylor School of Education Spring Break Effort in Costa Rica
In addition to the Baylor Missions spring break trips, the Baylor School of Education (SOE) hosted its annual spring break to Costa Rica.
Randy Wood, Ph.D., professor in the SOE’s department of curriculum and instruction, and Trena Wilkerson, Ph.D., SOE professor of curriculum and instruction, led a team of 25 Baylor students March 6 to San Jose, Costa Rica, to distribute the books. Wood and Wilkerson partnered with community leaders in San Jose who saw a need to supply instruction and curriculum books for the children and teachers who had only a few per classroom.

For more information, visit BU Missions
by Sarah Czerwinski, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 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. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.