Students to serve during spring break

More than 200 Northwestern College students, faculty and staff will travel across the United States and around the world for the college’s annual Spring Service Projects (SSP) March 3–12.

This year’s teams will serve at 13 sites that include two new ministry partners. A new international destination is Haiti, where students will work with Northwestern alumna Kristie Mompremier and her Haitian husband, JeanJean. The Mompremiers established United Christians International in Haiti’s central plateau. The students will work on construction projects in the morning, help with food distribution in the afternoon, and spend evenings with local youth.

A new U.S. partner for the Spring Service Project program is 2nd Mile Ministries, a Christian community development organization in Jacksonville, Fla. Students on that team will help with work projects, relational ministry, building renovation and recreational activities.

Along with Haiti, there are two other international SSP teams. One group of students will fly to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where they will share their faith with guests at two Christian youth hostels. Another group will partner with the Moravian Church in Bluefields, Nicaragua, where they will work on a construction project, lead Bible school for children, and help at a health and feeding center.

Additional U.S. service opportunities include an after-school program and community improvement projects in Jonesboro, Ark.; construction, tutoring and community cleanup in Opelousas, La.; and renovation of a new ministry center for Urban Impact in New Orleans.

In Minnesota, one team will teach English to Somalian immigrants in Minneapolis, while another will interact with youth and participate in work projects and a community snow carnival on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation.

Still other students will spend the week assisting with a dental clinic and child education programs in Cary, Miss.; working in a free health clinic and learning about urban ministry and racial reconciliation in Jackson, Miss.; helping at a homeless shelter in Spartanburg, S.C.; and serving with a ministry to ex-prisoners in Lindale, Texas.

Spring Service Project members raise their own travel funds through their individual families, friends and churches and also through fundraisers on campus and in the community.

Northwestern College’s short-term mission programs bear the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Missions (SOE) seal, ensuring that participating organizations get NWC mission teams that are of high quality. SOE standards include adequate pre-trip training and resources, as well as consistent post-trip follow-up and accountability.