FOREST CITY – Eighteen Waldorf College students and six staff will spend spring break on a mission trip to Arizona. The students will be working in Tucson with Praying Pelican Missions, a short-term international mission organization.
Mission trips are a good alternative for spring break activities because it gives students the chance to travel and also to help others while having fun. “The benefits [of these trips] to students are largely in the friendships they make on the trip. It is a chance for them to ask questions about their faith, meet people, and serve others,” Anne Marie Werthmann, campus ministry coordinator, said.
Previously, Waldorf College students have traveled to Kentucky and South Dakota over spring break to participate in mission trips. “In each location there is an effort made to learn more about the people, culture, or area that we are serving,” Werthmann said.
Waldorf College’s tag line reads, “Learn. Live. Serve.” They believe instilling the values of service, community and lifelong learning into students will prepare them to understand and contribute to life in this complex and ever-changing world.
Kristen Wilke, a sophomore in communications at Waldorf, will be going on her second mission trip with the college this spring. “Serving others teaches us how to work with lots of different types of people and on a team for the greater good,” she said. “You learn to put others needs before yourself, and it doesn’t feel like a job that you have to do but one you want to do.”
The group will depart Friday, March 14 and return Saturday, March 22. Students attending include:
CALIFORNIA
Manteca – Airenne Curry
Sacramento – Crystal Langford
FLORIDA
Palmetto – Jarvis White
GEORGIA
Pooler – Stephon McClendon
IOWA
Clarion – Jenna Tegtmeyer
Elkader – Kristen Wilke
Spirit Lake – Kendra Stokke
MINNESOTA
Chaska – Shaye Sutherland
Fridley – Deidra Jefferson
Granada – Carlee Von Holdt
Mantorville – Kathryn Wilcox
Saint Paul – Samantha Holman
Stewartville – Jennifer Speer
NEW MEXICO
Farmington – Lauren Schryver
NEW YORK
Brooklyn – Antoine Cummins
Rosedale – Delroy Nichols
Waldorf College Staff chaperoning the group:
Steve Smith – Chair, and Assistant Professor, of Religion and Philosophy
Cynthia Ryder – Professor of Business and Sports Management
Anjaih Clemons – Director of Student Activities and New Student Orientation
LeeAnn Smith – Assistant Food Service Director
Greg Anderson – Associate Pastor, Immanuel Lutheran Church
Anne Marie Werthmann – Campus Ministry Coordinator
