2018 Spring Service Projects Report

BUILT TOGETHER

Spring Service Partnerships Spring Break 2018

‌ you are also built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. Ephesians 2:22

Haiti

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE Haiti

Ireland

by Alli Derr ’19

by Isaac Clausen ’18

United Christians International | ucihaiti.org

Dublin Christian Mission | dcmlive.ie

For the 7th year, Northwestern students worked alongside missionaries Kristie (De Boer ’95) and JeanJean Mompremier. In addition to pouring cement floors in homes and painting at the university, they also worked with 1st through 4th graders at the UCI school. They taught English and conducted health assessments. They also accompanied the 4th graders on a field trip to the waterfalls at Hinche.

Northwestern students partnered with Dublin Christian Mission, the second-oldest city mission in the world. Serving alongside Dubliners who are homeless, battling addiction and confronting other difficulties, together they served food, built relationships with guests who came to eat, and helped clean and organize the mission facilities.

Role of prayer Among those we met were the Haitian board members of UCI. Each is responsible for some area of the ministry: construction, finances, the university, sustainable agriculture. One board member’s sole responsibility is prayer for UCI. Every morning he spends several hours covering UCI, the community of Caiman, and the country of Haiti with prayer. His prayerful fervor and faith were uninhibited and inspirational.

Ministry starts at home UCI’s success isn’t based on having adequate resources or a ministry program to follow. It’s successful because a Christian family, the Mompremiers, saw a need in their community—starving children—and they responded. They met a physical need and also took the opportunity to share the gospel. As they saw other needs, they acted. And the gospel continues to spread in their community.

Watching them, we thought about how we could be more aware of needs in our home communities and, while meeting them, also spread the Good News.

On fire for Christ Many of the people our team members met were new to Christianity. They’ve been recently saved by the love of Christ through the outreach of the mission, and they love to talk about it. They inspired us to not let our faith become stale, to keep our spark for Jesus ignited.

Hope for change We were encouraged to form relationships with those who worked at the mission and those who were guests. Seeing the brokenness that comes into the mission every day can be draining, but we were able to see God’s work in the lives of Dublin’s homeless people. Participating in the ministry of Dublin Christian Mission gave us a glimpse of how the Good News of the Bible can be life changing. It gives hope and a future to those who wouldn’t have it otherwise.

Haiti

Ireland

2

The Netherlands

Nicaragua

by Hannah Powell ’18

by Rebecca Gritters ’19 and Kelsey Hofman ’20

Shelter Youth Hostels | shelter.nl

The Moravian Church

For 20 years, Northwestern students have spent spring break alongside staff and volunteers at Shelter City and Shelter Jordan in Amsterdam.

The hostels seek to demonstrate hospitality and Christian love by providing clean, affordable and welcoming accommodations for travelers.

Team members cleaned and worked in the hostels’ cafés. They also led evening activities and Bible discussions for guests.

For the 16th time, a team returned to Bluefields, Nicaragua, to minister in the community served by Reformed Church in America missionaries Rev. Adrian and Dr. Bernardeth Bobb-Kelly, as well as Olivia Holt ’14. The students cleaned and painted at the Comédor, which provides daily meals to kids, and at Tabitha Homes, which take in girls and boys who need short-term or long-term housing. Northwestern students also hosted a Vacation Bible School for children in another neighborhood.

Christian unity Part of working in this Christian youth hostel ministry is the opportunity to see God’s global church alive and active as people from around the world gather to worship. It was a blessing to meet people who spoke numerous other languages and still find unity in Christ—to hear their stories and be able to have conversations, read the Bible together and pray for each other.

Sharing stories While in Amsterdam, we learned the importance of story. We are all impacted by each other’s stories and have a lot of power when we share our stories that point to Christ. Every day we live the story of God’s redeeming work in the world by reaching out, learning about God’s people, and showing them the love he has for them.

Signs and language One of the most challenging parts of our experience was the language barrier. However, it forced us to rely on universal ways of communicating. We learned how much can be expressed through a genuine smile. Running around, playing clapping games, coloring pictures and singing together with the kids enabled us to form relationships. And as we formed relationships with them, they began to trust us and play with us joyfully. To us, this was a model of the child-like faith and joy we as Christians should find in our relationships with God. Community focus As our team reflects on our experience in Bluefields, we remember the passion for service we saw in the local leaders. We met Nicaraguan leaders who love their community deeply and want to see God’s work flourish. After processing the way these leaders are so attuned to their communities’ needs, as well as God’s leading, we began to ask how we can implement this in our own communities.

Nicaragua

Compton, CA

3

U.S. SERVICE Compton, California

Jacksonville, Florida

by Moriah Wittenberg ’21

by Logan Richard ’19

Emmanuel Reformed Church | erc.la

2nd Mile Ministries | 2ndmile-jax.com

For the 7th year, team members partnered with Emmanuel Reformed Church, Paramount, Calif., which founded the Compton Initiative, a 40-year commitment to investing in their neighboring city of Compton.

The Compton Initiative aims to improve the city’s image and inspire residents to reclaim their neighborhoods by cleaning, repairing and painting facilities in the community. Students volunteered at a charter school, tutored at an after-school program,m and served a meal at the Salvation Army.

Team members volunteered at an elementary school in the Brentwood community of Jacksonville, assisting the classroom teachers and tutoring students both during class and in an afterschool program. They also participated in Brentwood beautification projects. This is the 7th year Northwestern has sent a team to 2nd Mile Ministries.

Intentional about community Two words that kept popping up during our experience were intentional and community. The people of Compton have such a profound understanding of community. They are so intentional about saying hello and welcoming others. They are genuine and vulnerable. They want to be with you and get to know you. It was such a privilege to be a part of their beautiful community for a short time, and their understanding of community is something we took home with us.

Lights of Compton God is working in mighty ways in Compton. The city has been and is continuing to be transformed through people who are courageously stepping out in faith and obedience, even when things are difficult or scary. Pray the light of Christ continues to push back the darkness in Compton.

Community leaders Brentwood is a community with challenges, but community members were positive, welcoming and grateful for our partnership. We were most impressed by the leadership team at 2nd Mile Ministries: Marc, Brittany and Jonathan. Their job is a tough one, but they maintain positive attitudes and keep working hard to make the community better.

Valuable wealth We learned about different kinds of poverty during our time in Jacksonville. Most of us think of poverty in terms of money or possessions. But a person can also be poor in other ways, like poor in values. The people in Brentwood are familiar with material poverty, but they are not poor in values or spirit. They have caring hearts. They’re loving and thankful.

Jackso nville, FL

Kansas City, Kansas

Annville, Kentucky

by Emma Van Meeteren ’20

by Sydney Rodman ’21

Youthfront | youthfront.com

Grace Covenant Ministries | annvilleinstitute.com

With the help of Youthfront staff member Amber Booth ’04, team members served in the Argentine area of Kansas City. They volunteered at a senior center and elementary school and painted a youth room at an Argentine church. They also worked at a community farm and spent time at the Snack Shack, an afterschool hangout for middle schoolers. This was the 2nd year Northwestern students partnered with Youthfront.

Students partnered with Grace Covenant Ministries, which includes an elementary school, a home for boys who are troubled, therapeutic horse-riding, sports camps, veterans ministries, and a thrift store.

The team participated in construction, maintenance and community outreach programs, including GCM’s Wednesday night worship and basketball ministry. Northwestern has sent a team to Grace Covenant Ministries (formerly Jackson County Ministries) most years since 1994.

Welcoming strangers As soon as we arrived in Kansas City, we were welcomed with open arms by the congregation of El Buen Pastor, the church that hosted us for the week. From inviting us to worship together, to sharing a potluck meal and providing us with a place to call home for the week, the hospitality of the Hispanic congregation demonstrated what it looks like to be Christ-like servants. Although communication was sometimes limited, their generosity showed that unlike language, love has no barriers.

Immigrant learning Throughout our trip, we spent a lot of time learning about and reflecting on the U.S. immigration system. The process of becoming a U.S. citizen is much longer and more complicated than most of us were aware of. After having conversations with many Hispanic brothers and sisters, we were challenged to consider how we can love and be a voice for immigrants.

Renewal For the majority of the time, we worked on redoing the flooring in the schoolhouse on the GCM campus. It was tedious work, but each person found a way to contribute to the team so we could all be satisfied when we were done with the job. The job was difficult because the building was nearly 100 years old. We had to be very innovative to be successful, but being a part of the building’s renewal was extremely rewarding.

Prayer support The GCM team we met demonstrated sacrificial service without hesitation. They put in additional time in the evenings and on the weekends in order to make their community better. As we remember our week with them, we’re praying their work will further God’s kingdom and bless the people of Jackson County.

Annville, KY

y, KS Kansas Cit

5

New Orleans, Louisiana

Opelousas, Louisiana

by Kailee Jenness ’21 and Liesbeth Ten Hoeve ’21

by Faith Anderson ’20 and Nicole Koertner ’20

Urban Impact | urbanimpact.org

Hope for Opelousas | hopeforopelousas.org

For the 22nd time, a team of Northwestern students traveled to New Orleans to serve at Urban Impact and Castle Rock Church. Some residential lots surrounding Castle Rock Church remain abandoned since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Team members tidied up vacant lots, painted a fence at Castle Rock Church and also helped Castle Rock host a spring carnival for the neighborhood children.

Northwestern was the first college to send a service team to Opelousas in 2008, and teams have returned every year since. This year’s team worked with Loren and the rest of the staff of Hope for Opelousas. They offered support to teachers at North Elementary, an under-resourced public school. They also scraped, sanded and painted a house that will be used for afterschool tutoring.

Lots to do At times it was hard to see the point of the work we were doing.

All we did was cut grass and pick up garbage, and how much could that really do for people? It was fulfilling to see the cleared lot when we were done, but many of us still found it difficult to see that we were making a difference. As the week went by, though, more and more people stopped to tell us how thankful they were for what we were doing. People riding by in their cars would give us a thumbs-up. People on bikes would stop and ask questions about what we were doing and why, which opened up conversations about Castle Rock and Urban Impact. On one of the last days, while our group was clearing a lot, a couple came up to us and asked if we could clear their lot too. As we did, a member of Castle Rock invited them to church, and they said they would be there Sunday.

Story time Most of the people on our team shared their testimony at some point during the week, which helped us grow closer. It was tough hearing some of the things people have gone through (or are going through), but it was amazing to be that vulnerable with each other.

Some of us were nervous to share our testimonies, but it was so freeing afterwards. And it was great practice as well, because God calls us to share our stories—stories of how God is working in our lives—with each other.

Church at work Seeing how involved Castle Rock Church is in their community made us consider our home churches and the role they play in our communities. What would have to change for our churches to be as integral to the community as Castle Rock is to theirs? A person doesn’t necessarily have to go on a short-term mission trip to serve their own community through their church.

Community needs Since Opelousas is an economically depressed community, Hope for Opelousas is essential. HFO offers afterschool tutoring to kids of all ages and organizes field trips, hiking and things like that.

The HFO staff were incredible examples for us college students, especially Loren. He challenged us to consider someday living in a community with needs and then really becoming involved and investing in that community. He said we’ll be surprised at how much good we can do in a community that needs committed neighbors—and how much good a community like that can do for us.

Opelousas, LA

ans, LA New Orle

6

Grand Marais, Minnesota & Thunder Bay, Ontario

Mescalero, New Mexico

by Alyson Eversman ’19

Mescalero Reformed Church

Coldwater Foundation | coldwaterfoundation.org

Students traveled to Mescalero, N.M., to serve at a church pastored by former Northwestern computer science professor Mark Vellinga ’77.

Team members painted and planned and led worship, youth group and a kids club for the church’s Native American congregation. This is the first time an SSP team served at the Mescalero Reformed Church.

Team members helped Coldwater Foundation staff, including founder Kevin Sutton ’92, prepare to host campers by making food, cleaning cabins, and chopping and stacking firewood. They also worshipped and interacted with youth at a church on the Grand Portage Reservation and worked at Grace Place, a food pantry in Thunder Bay. Northwestern students have served with the Coldwater Foundation for 8 years.

God in nature We spent time with Kevin and learned about his vision for Coldwater Foundation’s ministry, which is beautiful. He wants people of all ages to engage in wilderness trips—camping and canoeing in northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters—as a way to connect with nature and commune with God. Time for relationships While in Grand Portage, we also met Pastor Jake McCormick and youth director Vallen Cook ’13. (Vallen is part of the Ojibwe Nation and grew up on the Grand Portage Reservation.) They were joyful and fun and encouraged us to ask questions. From them we learned why the concept of time is treated so differently in Native American culture—because in Native American culture, relationships take priority over schedules. For example, they don’t have quick “Hi, how are you?”/“I’m fine. You?” conversations. Rather, they commit to more meaningful conversations with anyone they engage with. Furthermore, on the reservation, it’s OK to be late for something if you were engaged in a good conversation or helping someone out. It’s something other cultures should be more mindful of.

7

MN Grand Marais,

by MaKayla Tjernagel ’20

Worshipping together We loved building relationships with the people we met in Mescalero—hearing their stories and understanding them and their culture more. We learned that even though cultural differences exist, we still can come together in the love of God and worship him. Our eyes were opened to how God works in so many different places and through so many different people. It was amazing to see the passion of the church elders and the way God is using the Vellingas.

Called by faith Hearing Pastor Mark’s and Miriam’s story was one of the most impactful parts of the trip—learning how they packed up everything and left their family and home to serve in Mescalero. It’s a great example of trust and obedience. Now that we’ve returned, our team is asking for prayers for the Vellingas and for their ministry.

Pray the Mescalero Reformed Church will grow and spread God’s love further among the Apache Nation.

Mescalero, N M

Mescalero, NM, is also pictured on the cover

Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Mission

Northwestern College Campus Ministry is committed to Standards of Excellence (SOE) in Short-Term Mission. The SOE criteria were developed by representatives from many U.S. mission agencies, schools and churches who send short-term missionaries. The common set of standards helps ensure that individuals or teams sent by U.S. organizations are excellent.

Training, resources, peer input, data collection and accountability are all components of SOE membership. As a member, Northwestern is serious about doing short-term mission well—from preparation through follow-up.

soe.org

Grand Marais, MN

Lindale, Texas

Rockport, Texas

by Elizabeth Ellis ’20 and Conner Spainhower ’21

by Rachel Koertner’20 and Anna Perrenoud ’19

Calvary Commission | calvarycommission.org

World Renew | worldrenew.net

Calvary Commission (CC) is a ranch-like residence and educational center for ex-convicts who are born again and desire to spend time growing closer to God after they are paroled. For the 23rd year, a Northwestern SSP team traveled to Calvary Commission to help with yard work, maintenance and other aspects of the CC ministry. Team members also led a worship service at a Lindale prison.

Team members partnered with World Renew to serve in neighborhoods still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. They were joined by a shortterm service team from Central College and another from Michigan.

In addition to clearing debris left by the hurricane, they also sorted donations and helped repair homes, removing damaged drywall and then replacing and painting fresh drywall. They also worked on a Habitat for Humanity house.

Conviction The ex-cons we ministered alongside welcomed us with open arms and open hearts, and they were enthusiastic about the joy in Christ they’d found. Admittedly, we had some stereotypes to overcome— assuming things about their pasts or their faith in God—but as we got to know them, we discovered they are just normal people who might have made a bad decision once but who have turned their lives toward God. Forgiveness We met an incredible woman, Hannah Overton, who started Syndeo ministries after she was wrongly imprisoned for seven years. Her strength and faith in God—before, during and after her imprisonment—is beautiful and inspiring.

Free to worship Some of us were a little on edge before leading worship in a prison.

Might we feel unwelcome or intimidated? Might it be scary? We were wrong. The inmates were dancing and clapping and just having the time of their lives as they worshipped God.

Still recovering The media has stopped covering the hurricane, but there is still so much work to be done. People are still living in terrible conditions and a lot of them have lost hope for the future. The people we served have been waiting a long time to receive aid, and they were so grateful we came all the way from Iowa because it assured them they haven’t been forgotten by the rest of the country.

Personal disaster We arrived at John’s, Mary’s and Laura’s house and helped them remove belongings from a damaged garage. Moving their things personalized the hurricane for us from a disaster reported in the news to something that we understood affected real people with real lives that just got wrecked. Understanding that affected our attitude toward our work the rest of the week.

Rockport, TX

9

Lindale, TX

SPRING SERVICE PROJECT TEAMS Haiti

Megan Cummings Andrew De Boer* Alli Derr* Clayton Ehlers Maddie Godfredsen Breanna Harthoorn Sophia Holt Cole Mills Liz Munyon Peace Preston Deb Sandbulte* Rebecca Sparks Leslie Stover* Joy Van Gorp

Ireland

Derek Brower * Isaac Clausen Shania De Boer Dani Duistermars* Sarah Halse Lucas Heiberger Kristina Sevcik*

The Netherlands

Stephanie Brethouwer* Sam Callahan Hope DeRuyter Barb Dewald* Darbi Duistermars Corrie Hayes Tiffany Pettus Hannah Powell Jimmy Tidmore Jasi Vasher Natalie Wheeler* Sydney Wright*

Nicaragua

Alex Currier Kirsten Dunia Becca Gritters Kelsey Hofman Angela Holt* Elizabeth Huyser Aften Pennings Emily Starr Bailey Swain Katie Thomson* Shelby Varilek* Cole Verbrugge Emily Weeks Tara Woodward*

Compton, CA

Ali Almail Dave Arnett* Caleb Arnett Hans Epp Breanna Harmelink Jeff Jeltema* Alayna Loveland Amanda Rens Shelby Van Den Berg Brianna Vermeer* Moriah Wittenberg

Jacksonville, FL

Andrew Cooper* Sean Crowell Justin Faber Ross Fernstrum* Colton Hage Sean Kleinwolterink* Tanner Machacek Rick Maris* Matt McCarty* Brady Moser Vaughn Moser Devin Mouw Logan Richard Trevor Rozeboom Jacen Saavedra Colin Snyder Bryce Van Beek Marcus Van Kekerix Brady Van’t Hul

Kansas City, KS

Jill Adam* McKenna Davenport Noelle De Haan Elizabeth Glover* Reghan Harms Sharon Kampman* Wendell Kampman* Jonathan Muyskens Dan Tolsma Emma Van Meetern

Annville, KY

Amanda Bunce* Zach Dieken* Brody Pickart Ben Pirrie Cassidy Rodman Sydney Rodman Jesse Scherer*

Craig Sterk Anna Stroh Devin Vander Werff*

Emily Reynen Mitchell Van Kalsbeek

New Orleans, LA

Austin Blankespoor Mark DeYounge* Ian Hofer Jacob Jenness Sarah Meyer Bethany Muyskens* Lily Peschau* MaKayla Tjernagel Elison Wagner Megan Willroth

Mescalero, NM

Nolan Behr Joshua Dueker Nicole Farnsworth Jason Hiebner Lindsay Hubbell* Kailee Jenness Michaela Kleinwolterink Anna Niessen* Joshua Niessen Courtney Robyn* Michael Simmelink* McKenzie Sonnek Michaela Strom Kyle Swart Liesbeth Ten Hoeve Morgan Tilgner Mattea Van Kalsbeek Dana Van Ostrand Allison Wheeler

Opelousas, LA

Faith Anderson Kortnie Bonnema Anita Cirulis* Amber DeStigter Lindsey Hassman* Emilee Hulsing Mariah Kleinwolterink Callie Klopfenstein Nicole Koertner Laura Korver Callie Namminga Ann Pater Ivy Sieperda Cora Spainhower Karly Summy* Amie Uithoven Heather Van Itallie

Julie Anderson* Elizabeth Ellis Leeorea Fluellen Victor Garcia Armani Johnson Emily Law* Cailey Linn Chris Miksch Hannah Morgan* Nnenna Nwaelugo Justin Schrock* Carlye Sherman Conner Spainhower Sarah Te Grotenhuis Kia Veen Leah Wright

Rockport, TX

Grand Marais, MN Kayli Christiansen Kelsey Epp* Alyson Eversman Kaitlyn Hassman Sam Kallevig* Hannah Lindsey Kevin McMahan* Lynne McMahan* Douglas Pervais

Lindale, TX

Eric Anderson* Bailey Banwart William Browning* Allison Daugherty Lauryn Hilger Teagan Hill-Norby Lauren Johnson Dalton Kelley* Cassandra Koel Rachel Koertner Sydney Martin Jessica Mulder Anna Perrenoud Jelissa Rozendaal Dakota Schnell Jori Steenhoek Anna Tiegland Emily Van Gorp*

*Student, staff and alumni team leaders

101 7th Street SW Orange City, IA 51041

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Mission minded The Northwestern College mission is to be a Christian academic community engaging students in courageous and faithful learning and living that empowers them to follow Christ and pursue God’s redeeming work in the world. That’s why Northwestern’s distinctively Christian education includes: ¾ Discipleship groups on every residence hall wing or floor ¾ Weekly worship that includes prayer, chapel, and student-led Praise & Worship ¾ Spring break trips that send more than 200 students to missions around the world ¾ Mission projects and trips by athletic teams and performing arts ensembles ¾ Leadership opportunities for more than 90 students who are mentored by campus ministry professionals ¾ Campus ministry teams focused on justice, service and issues like poverty, homelessness, prison reform and human trafficking

Learn more at nwciowa.edu/faith

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