This year, for the first time, St. Isidore’s is offering two mission trip opportunities for students. One trip is during Spring Break, and the other during the summer.

“We decided to offer these trips because of the amount of interest that college students have in serving others and traveling. It offers another opportunity for them to strengthen their faith by putting it into action,” Campus Minister Brian Ziegler said.

Ziegler is in charge of organizing the trips and will be attending both trips with the students. Campus Minister Emily Bergkamp will be joining Ziegler on the spring  break trip. The spring break trip, also known as Spring Break Alternative, will be in Denver, Colo. The two mission trips focus on serving the poor and vulnerable. During the spring break trip, students will be focusing much of their time on working with the homeless. The students will be working with the Samaritan House, Volunteers of America, Head Start, and the Denver Rescue Mission. Because of the focus on helping people who are homeless, the students will be able to cross paths with different types of people and learn about a kind of life that many people do not understand.

Steve Seiler, a junior in biological engineering from Mount Hope, Kan., is one of 15 students going on the Spring Break Alternative. Seiler said he realizes that the mission trips can help students gain a better perspective.

“All too often I live just thinking about my next assignment or my next exam or the next meeting on my schedule. Living like this, it becomes all too easy to become self-centered and to take things for granted,” Seiler said. “Sometimes I forget that it is only by the grace of God that I have a roof over my head and don’t have to worry about where I can find my next meal.”

Students who go on the mission trips will also have a chance to strengthen their relationships with God. Before the students embark on their journey, they spend time in prayer and coming closer with God so it will be easier for them to share their faith with the people they meet.

“Our mission trips are different than many other mission trips because of the way that faith is so intimately connected with what we do. Not only do we work, but we also focus a lot on prayer and strengthening our relationship with God,” Ziegler said.

This is especially true with the summer mission trip. The 10-day trip, dubbed the “Works of Mercy Tour,” is planned for the state of New York. Students will be serving the poor and vulnerable throughout the state in places like Rochester and the Bronx, as well as in locations as they travel.

Claire Thiessen, a freshman in family studies and human services from Beloit, Kan., knows that the Spring Break Alternative trip will be a challenge, but she looks forward to meeting it.

“I am most excited for the opportunity to experience a completely different lifestyle. I hope to come home from the trip with a deeper love for God by witnessing the strength of the less fortunate. I also think that I will have a greater appreciation of all that I have been blessed with in my life,” Theissen said.

As the plans for the two mission trips are finalized and the students prepare to leave, Ziegler is reminded of why the trips are so important.

“The point of these trips is to get out and serve – taking God’s love into the world and sharing His joy with others. Christ did that, so we will also,” Ziegler said.