Rachel Mulder-Staff Writer

In just a few short weeks, 44 Dordt students and eight staff and faculty members will go to one of five destinations to participate in an A Mission OutReach (AMOR) service project.

The five sites include One Body One Hope in Liberia, Ethiopia Reads in Ethiopia, World Renew in Tanzania, Children of the Promise in Haiti, and Caribbean Lifetime Missions in Jamaica.

In past years there have only been two or three AMOR trips taken over Christmas break. This year there are more because these organizations were connected with the AGILE project that students participated in this fall.

The AGILE project worked closely with five organizations, and four of the five organizations are AMOR sites. Organizations chosen for AMOR sites were determined through a combination of student and faculty input last spring through a survey, said Nathan Tintle, professor of Statistics.

Emily Vande Griend, executive assistant for vice president of student services, works closely with Aaron Baart, dean of chapel, to coordinate these AMOR trips each year.  Vande Griend believes AMOR service projects encourage students to incorporate the worldview they’ve discovered at Dordt into off-campus service to others.

Bruce Kuiper, professor of communication, is going to Jamaica as a team leader.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how our team works together, and how that teamwork can be a ministry to those around us,” Kuiper said. “Also, as much as we hope to serve our brothers and sisters on our trip, it’s difficult to make an impact in just a week-long visit, so I’m also looking forward to seeing how we can be used, and how we can get a good idea of how God is working in Jamaica.”

Students participating in these service trips are also looking forward to the work that will be done there.

“It is my hope and prayer that we each will be radically changed as a result of this trip, that our perspective will never be the same and that we will see everything in a new light, said senior Nate TenBroke, who is going to Haiti. “Furthermore, it is my desire that serving in this small capacity may open our hearts to doing further mission work and we will understand our relationship to each other, the rest of the world, and to God in a dramatically different manner.”

Although excitement seems to be the main emotion, many students and leaders are also feeling anxious about long flights and the work that will be done.

“I am a little bit anxious about being able to encourage and bless somebody whose life is so different from all of ours, but at the same time I know that God is going to make our time over there very profitable in some way, whether it be for the team traveling to Liberia, or for those we will be spending time with. I can’t wait to see what happens!” said junior Regan Lundburg.

After spending a semester fundraising, meeting with teammates, getting immunizations and praying for God’s guidance, students participating in AMOR are ready to experience another culture and make a positive impact.