Gardner-Webb Teams Prepare to Serve People in Kentucky, Greece and Kenya

Three Groups Travel in May to Minister to Refugees, Human Trafficking Victims, Expectant Mothers, and Homeless

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—The mission of Gardner-Webb University is to prepare graduates for leadership and service in their professional careers and personal lives. To fulfill this vision and the University’s motto, Pro Deo et Humanitate (For God and Humanity), the Office of Christian Life and Service sponsors mission trips each year. In response to needs in America and internationally, three groups will be embarking on mission trips during May to provide medical care, clothing, food and shelter to those in need. 

“These trips encourage our faculty, staff, and students to join together in efforts of eternal significance that allow for personal, spiritual formation and development,” observes Vice President and University Chaplain for Christian Life and Service Dr. Josh Parrott. “The Good News that Christ died for our sins and on the third day was raised again to bring us to God is the greatest news in the world. Trips like this show that we care deeply about fulfilling the Great Commission, expanding the Kingdom of God, and engaging in practical acts of service.”

Parrott adds, “Please pray for: the logistical issues associated with travel, the safety of the teams on the ground, for opportunities to show God’s love in action, and for productive, Gospel-centered conversations that the Holy Spirit will use to draw others to repentance and faith in Christ.”

The first group travels to Athens, Greece, May 6-14. Led by Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Nicole Waters and Professor of Nursing Dr. Candice Rome, the seven students will work with Living Hope Training Center and missionaries to Greece. The team will have an opportunity to conduct mobile medical camps and share God’s word with refugees and human trafficking victims. They will experience community health in a foreign country and show the love of Christ to all refugees and families. 

The second group of five students led by Assistant Director and Associate Professor of Hunt School of Nursing Dr. Anna Hamrick and Instructor of Nursing Nicole Beaver will serve in Jenkins, Ky., May 8-12. This team is partnering with North Carolina Baptists on Mission and a community ministry known as “God’s Love from a Diaper Bag.” This organization serves the poorest of the poor in southeastern Kentucky as well as neighboring counties in southwest Virginia. The Gardner-Webb group will assist the ministry to care for expectant and new mothers. They will help with clothing distribution, baby showers for expectant mothers, and participate in other opportunities to share God’s love through community health.

The third group of nine students is led by Associate Minister to the University for Pastoral Care Stacy Simmons. This group travels to Kisumu, Kenya, May 9-19, to help build houses for families in need. They will assist in building four houses in four days, working with a group of three Kenyan builders each day. As part of a church planting strategy, local pastors are active in planning, conducting, and follow-up of each project. The hope is that a church will start out of this, and several have.

The recipients of the houses are determined by the village, and are usually widows, women who have been abandoned by their husbands, or someone with a disability. Often, these families are unable to keep their houses up to safe, sanitary standards. The house-building project brings the community together for service to one of its members and exposes them to the gospel through a house dedication service. The team will also visit door-to-door, sharing their testimonies and the plan of salvation, and participate in activities for the children as well as a feeding program.

Summer Mission Teams

Athens, Greece

May 6-14

Leaders:

• Dean of the College of Health Sciences and Associate Professor of Nursing Dr. Nicole Waters
• Professor of Nursing Dr. Candice Rome

Members:

• Amelia Borders
• Madison Greene
• Elsa Krueger
• Emma Langley
• Dakota Lavander
• Jenna McKee
• Allison Shortridge

Jenkins, Kentucky

May 8-12

Leaders:

• Assistant Director and Associate Professor of Hunt School of Nursing Dr. Anna Hamrick
• Instructor of Nursing Nicole Beaver 

Members:

• Kiley Burnette
• Maren Canupp
• Abi McBee
• Alethia McDowell
• Anna Sample

Kisumu, Kenya

May 9-19

Leader:

• Associate Minister to the University for Pastoral Care Stacy Simmons

Team members:

• Elizabeth Bradley
• Sydney Burroughs
• Natalie Coffing
• Tichina Hankins
• Emily Harper
• Emma Hegler
• Emily Mosier
• Charity Rosenhauer
• Sarah Walker

Gardner-Webb University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Ignite your future at Gardner-Webb.edu.