34 International Mission Possible Students participate in summer mission trips. Harding’s Global Outreach packed summer 2024 with mission trips spanning five continents. Teams consisting of students and faculty alike led missions to several nations, including Northern Ireland, Saint Lucia and Mongolia. One of these missions included eight students who traveled to Hungary with the wife-and-husband team of Drs. Anessa and Tim Westbrook, both associate professors in the College of Bible and Ministry. The crew participated in the fifth mission trip led to Hungary by the Westbrooks, who served as missionaries there themselves for eight years. Anessa Westbrook reflected on the summer’s events and shared her enthusiasm for being able to provide a place for Hungarian Christians who have felt isolated or marginalized in their faith. The mission team assisted a small camp that had been slowly growing since its inception in 1999. “I can watch and just see people’s lives changing,” Westbrook said. “And it’s because of their interaction with Harding students and how they’re ministering to them, showing them love, showing them acceptance and encouraging them.” In another region of the world, a mission team explored the culture in Tasmania and Brisbane while learning how best to connect with the Christian community present in Australia. The group spent 10 days in Tasmania and a week in Brisbane, which allowed them to build relationships with host families and local churches. Director of Academic Resources Darla Phillips and professor of exercise and sports science Dr. Bryan Phillips guided the mission team as they joined forces with youth groups to tackle big questions about the evolution of Christianity in different places. IT TAKES A VILLAGE In Thailand, students stand outside a church building. These students got together to serve in Thailand for the summer. Photo courtesy of Carley Gray “We had a lot of conversations about what Christianity and the Church of Christ, in particular, looks like in Australia,” junior Hayley Waller said. “I just learned so much about the way the Lord works in community.” Waller spoke of how the group remained flexible to any possibility of ministry. This openness, she asserted, positively affected the dynamic of the team and how they worked alongside the Holland Park Church of Christ. The enthusiasm for Harding missions carried over into Europe as well. A group of two current students and a few faculty members committed to bringing the joy of the Gospel to the French-speaking population in Europe. The team planned class sessions, distributed flyers for their concert and practiced their repertoire of Sunday-school songs. “My favorite experience during the trip was doing VBS with the younger kids,” junior Josiah Linderman said. “They were excited to see us every time and were just so fun to be around and get to know.” Linderman, who extended his stay in Europe to serve in the Global Outreach mission following his participation in the French Advanced Culture and Conversation Experience program, shared that the group dynamic made the hard work enjoyable. Teams experienced other similarly impactful summer missions in the Dominican Republic, Canada, Kenya, Thailand, Hawaii, Japan, South Africa and Albania. The Global Outreach program bolstered the University’s mission of empowering its students to share the Gospel in any situation, and the summer’s efforts proved to be meaningful for both the communities being ministered to and the teams themselves. Written by Jessica Leite
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