Reading the Bible, senior Caroline Prestridge shares the Word with a Peruvian o n June 28 during a campaign to Peru. Students who joined the campaign were requ ired to speak Spanish in order to teach the Bible. -Courtesy of Caroline Prestridge .. Talking with locals, senior Tia Karasch and junior Chris Travis hand o ut World Bible School brochures to South Africans in the Capetown marketplace June 2. Campaigners held Bible studies using the World Bible School program, a free correspondence course that gave others the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ. -Courtesy of Tia Karasch COME Students defeat obstacles to continue missions Hardi ng sent students on overseas campaigns every year to spread rhe Word of God, but in July of2006, a group of campaigners teamed up with World Wide Youch Camps CO take a campaign to the Ukraine. World Wide Youth Camps, an organization based in Adanta, focused on teaching children in Russia and the Ukraine about the Bible. WWYC funded visitation to summer camps established overseas to interact with the children while teaching them about God. h provided an opporruniry for the ch ildren to learn about Christ. So phomore Ama nda Nowlin was listening to then International Campaigns Direc[Qr Dwight Smith's presentation about this program during mission week in chapel in the fall of2005 and decided she wamed to go. She calked to Dr. Michael C laxton, assistam professor of English, about doing missions work overseas. C laxton had been on the Ukraine campaign during the previous year and provided her with helpful information. Ultimately, Nowlin decided she would go on {he Ukraine campaign in the summer of 2006. Claxton had already made plans for the summer that would keep him from going to the Ukraine. Nowli n tried to recru it more people to go, but she struggled in her efforts to persuade students to sign up. As the end of the semester approached, there were only two students, but the two had enlisted the help of Beverly Austin, professor ofart, to lead the campaign. After Austin jOined the team, twO more students signed up. T he campaigners then teamed with a mission group from Faulkner University in Alabama. "The whole group met up in March for a short retreat to get to know 'each other before going overseas," Nowlin said. "The team really cl icked well and we had fun planning lessons together." The group traveled to Yalta, Ukraine, on the C rimean peninsula in July. Eastern European Missions provided the campaigners with Bibles by mailing them ro the camps before the group arrived. "We learned to wait until after we tauglu the lessons to give the children their Bibles because they were so excited about getting them that rhey would read while we were trying w teach," Austin said. Not only were the campaigners respons ible for teach ing the children, but they also took the children w the Black Sea to swim and teach lessons rhere. The children did nOt speak English, so WWYC provided five translators for the entire group. Nowlin said she benefited from the experience even though it was difficult working with children who spoke a different language. "But when you are sitring there singing and listening to other people worship, it's so amazing [0 th ink that we are praising the same God," Nowlin said. -Krystle Boise summer campaigns 22
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