Over spring break, the 91łÔšĎ men’s soccer team traveled to Pucallpa, Peru, for a student-led mission trip centered on sharing the gospel through soccer. 

The trip was spearheaded by team captain, Aaron Babyak ‘26, whose initiative carried the effort from early planning to execution. After proposing the trip, he spent the following months coordinating with South American Mission (SAM) to finalize logistics and develop a plan for the week. He shared “I had questions about whether it would really end up working out. But in the end it went better than we could have ever thought.”

Throughout the week, the team hosted daily soccer camps for more than 200 boys and girls in Pucallpa. Each session combined soccer skill development with devotionals, using translators to communicate the message of Jesus Christ. “We used soccer as a door to share the good news of Jesus with them every day,” Aaron said.

While language barriers and the heat presented challenges, the team rose to the occasion. Soccer became a common language as the student-athletes formed trust and connection with the kids they served. Spanish-speaking students led in translating for the rest of the team, while some led devotionals, and others served in the background by handling equipment.

One of the most meaningful moments came at the end of the week. In the early days of the week, campers seldom celebrated exciting moments on the field. By the end of the week, that hesitation was gone. Aaron shared, “People who did not know each other’s names a couple of days ago were screaming in celebration and running around. All of a sudden, no one was too cool to celebrate anymore.”

By the end of the trip, more than 200 children had heard the gospel, and the team was able to donate equipment and soccer gear to the community in Pucallpa. Head Coach Luke Gibson highlighted the impact of Aaron’s leadership: “Aaron took full ownership of the vision and brought it to life through intentional planning, strong communication, and meaningful relationship-building with our hosts,” Gibson said. “His work was foundational to everything we experienced.”

This mission trip to Peru is an encouragement, seeing how 91łÔšĎ students are purposefully using their unique gifts and talents to make a lasting impact through global missions. 

SHARE exists to “help English-speaking families serving in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East meet their children’s educational needs.” Through this mission, SHARE seeks to serve global workers to enable them to remain where God has called them. Cairn teams have long partnered with SHARE in this mission.

Many of the children at this conference are considered Third Culture Kids. This year’s Cairn team included four TCK students, who were able to bring personal understanding and insight into the unique experiences of the children they taught and served. Throughout the week, the team demonstrated consistent Christ-centered service, humility, and energy. Evening debriefs revealed deep spiritual growth, seen by one student’s reflection on the importance of missions: “I just don’t want to waste my life.”

From May 28–June 8, a group of Cairn students and alumni traveled to Albania with the purpose of partnering with Fondacioni Jo Gjakmarrjes Po Jetes, which means “No Blood Feuds, Yes Life Foundation,” to carry out the foundation’s mission of supporting and encouraging those affected by blood feuds prominent in Northern Albania. Blood feud is a practice that traces back from over 500 years ago. Blood feud culture demands that if a murder is committed, a murder must be executed in retribution. Over the years, the feud developed into continual, back-and-forth killing between families, as retribution is not often taken out on the original murderer. This mindset has created a continual, unbreakable cycle. Unfortunately, the Albanian government continues to deny its existence, perpetuating the problem and causing many families to suffer for generations.

As part of working with Fondacioni Jo Gjakmarrjes Po Jetes, the group aided in running the foundation’s Kids Camp, aimed to serve children affected by these blood feuds, as they struggle with the loss of family members and breaking away from the ideals of blood feuds. Children of these blood feud families often skip school, struggle with maintaining their mental health, often feeling unloved. The camp offered respite for these children, where the mission team could spend time with these children. This simple act had a profound impact on the children and the team, as they showed them the genuine love and compassion of Christ, learning about the brokenness these children endure. Students also had the chance to lead a worship service at a local church in addition to sharing testimonies, reading Scripture, singing worship songs in Albanian, and praying together.

Despite the negative culture surrounding blood feuds, the mission team was able to appreciate other Albanian traditions such as investing in deep relationships, partaking in meals, and hosting sports events to continue to develop the sense of community they had quickly come to cherish in their time in Albania.

One student, Gabrielle Parache, said of the trip: “I am immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this mission trip. It was a blessing to work with the children there and to see the amazing things the Lord is doing in Albania. The Lord used this trip to increase my faith and develop me spiritually.”

From May 13–28, six Cairn students traveled with their group leaders to Spain on a mission trip. They settled and began hosting at La Fuente del Peregrino, or “the Pilgrim’s Fountain.” In their time there, students encountered and served people from all over the world who were traveling the Camino de Santiago, translated as the “Way of Saint James,” is a network of pilgrimage passages that ultimately leads to the shrine of the apostle Saint James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

As these pilgrims from both nearby cities or faraway countries made their journey to the shrine, the students were able to interact with hundreds of these sojourners at La Fuente del Peregrino, which functions as a stop for rest and refreshment along the Camino de Santiago. La Fuente del Peregrino, a hostel under the Christian organization called Agape, is one of the few on the Camino run by volunteers and donations. The simple offering of whatever the travelers may have needed also provided an opportunity to get to know many of them. The group interacted with pilgrims from the US, Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Taiwan, Japan, Ireland, England, and Canada. Many who stopped in at La Fuente del Peregrino reflected and prayed with the students on the significance of the walk, as well as the connections to Jesus as the true “way” over a dinner each night hosted by the students.

Student Joshua Hoagland reflects on the mission trip:

“I feel like the world is right at your doorstep. It’s a really great opportunity to meet people from all over the world. I really enjoy trying to communicate in languages that I don’t know personally. I think it’s a great way to be bold for Jesus, be bold for Christ, and it’s a great experience overall. It’s a very special ministry. God is definitely at work here and I really appreciate getting to be part of the ministry and furthering God’s kingdom.”

Not only did the team engage with travelers of the Camino, but they themselves were able to traverse and complete the Camino de Santiago, frequently running into those they had met with earlier at La Fuente del Peregrino. After walking roughly 70 miles, they arrived at the Cathedral, bringing their mission trip into a full-circle moment.Ěý

On January 23–26, 2023, 91łÔšĎ hosted World Reach Week. Building on the theme “Right Here, Right Now,” speakers and events focused on the work of participating in and anticipating God’s Kingdom as a current reality, not a distant future.

In Monday’s chapel, keynote speaker Pastor David Harrop focused on the advantages of being young adults. He called students to consider how seriously they take the great commission—to distinguish their feelings of what they think they want to do from what they are commanded to do. Encouraging them, he added that we have God-given gifts that, even if we feel as though they may not be useful in mission-oriented ways, will lead us to opportunities to use those gifts in ways that serve others and magnify the Lord.

On Wednesday, an alumni panel was able to share their thoughts on “How Is God Calling After I Graduate?” By relaying their personal experiences, the panel motivated students to persevere through difficulties or uncertainty and continue to find ways to serve God and others. The panel also encouraged the audience to engage with an individual’s faith values in order to have the chance to share the gospel in any setting students may find themselves in.

Friday’s chapel featured the Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dr. Aneesh Khushman. Using the metaphor of his sourdough starter, Dr. Khushman pushed the students to be those who work to “pass” the gospel to others, just as he passes on some of the sourdough starter to others. Dr. Khushman also shared his own missionary journey, particularly how it led him to Cairn. His recognition that teaching is still full of missionary purpose and opportunities helped remind students that mission work can happen anywhere.

Other featured events throughout the week included the popular World Feast, Cafe and Community at mission rep’s tables, and an evangelism training session, all of which gave students more opportunities to further discuss and prepare for taking on the role of an active member of the Kingdom.

Since 2018, Cairn has served the outside community through its Community English Learning Program (CELP). Organized by School of Education Professor Marika Ravin, CELP has joyfully taught adults seeking to learn or improve on their English every Wednesday evening during the academic year. Students are divided into groups, each group representing a level of English the student knows—one being very little and five being more advanced. Many of the volunteers that assist with teaching lessons and creating engaging activities are Cairn students.

This year, the CELP community has seen tremendous growth in attendance due to the war in Ukraine. As refugees come in, CELP has opened its arms wide to accommodate. Within the five different levels, class sizes can vary from six students to 40, primarily consisting of Ukrainians. With two or three volunteers in each classroom, they spend time opening the class with a fun question or prompt. Not only does this help them practice speaking English, it also builds a strong community. Students have the opportunity to know their fellow classmates as well as their teachers. After the prompts, each classroom has a unique activity that engages with the student in a way they best understand. The level five class is currently reading through Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers in order to practice reading, comprehension, and discussion. The level two classroom practices grammar from workbooks as volunteers walk around to offer help. CELP also offers a room for the youngest children to stay and play while the parents learn. Currently, over 50 children are enrolled.

Marika, in awe of the support and help CELP has received this year, says “I just remember that this is God’s program.” With the sudden flow of Ukrainians desiring to learn English, the CELP program was in desperate need of more help. The need was quickly met, and each class has at least two volunteers.

Joshua Maier, a level four volunteer and history major, says that during one of his classes, they asked a prompt discussion question: “What is something that made you happy this week?” A student responded “I’m happy for everything in my life. Anything that happens to me here is so much better than my loved ones in Ukraine.” Despite the hardships many of the students face, Joshua says “I am encouraged by their dedication to making a better life for themselves and their children in this new country.”

Level five volunteer Jeff Endres has been working with CELP for three years now. Throughout the experience, he says “As a TESOL major, getting to know the students has been a highlight for me in my time volunteering, as well as being a great opportunity for gaining experience teaching English.”

The CELP program has consistently demonstrated a care and passion for serving that is evident not just in the program as a whole, but also in the individual volunteers who set aside their time to plan lessons and get to know their classes deeply.

Those who are interested in CELP courses can learn more and register at cairn.edu/CELP.

Cairn hosted its biannual World Reach Week on the week of January 24–28, 2022. Over the course of a three year cycle, Cairn has emphasized three aspects of missions: discover, prepare, and commit. The 2021–22 academic year marks the third year of this cycle; accordingly, this week focused on forming a commitment to participate in God’s work around the world. 

During chapel on Monday, two representatives from SEND International shared how their teams strive to serve incoming refugees and local immigrant communities by meeting spiritual and physical needs of our international neighbors. The speakers related personal stories of their relationships with refugees from the Middle East, encouraging the student body to seek opportunities to love incoming foreigners as they build new lives in nearby communities. 

In Wednesday’s chapel, Liz Givens facilitated a Q&A with current students who have served internationally. Students shared formative experiences concerning their mission work in Greece and Kenya, as well as relationships they established through service. 

The last chapel, during Friday morning, was a time of worship. By praising God’s attributes, seeking to mirror His character, and asking Him to break our hearts for what breaks His, students were given the chance to reflect on the idea of commitment in pursuing ways to love others as we have been loved.

Students were invited to participate in additional seminars throughout the week. Dr. Plummer led a seminar titled “Addressing Objections to the Gospel,” Global Recordings Network and Disciples for the Harvest led a seminar on “Sharing the Gospel in 6,500 Languages Using Your Smartphone, and Ari Hauben of Chosen People Ministries spoke to “How You Can Effectively and Appropriately Reach the Heart of Jewish People With the Good News.” 

In addition to learning and listening, University students also had the opportunity to serve and celebrate. After collecting supplies for several weeks, the students made Luopads, reusable feminine hygiene products for women around the world, on Thursday afternoon. Later that day, MuKappa, the TCK student organization, organized a World Feast in Heritage Hall to celebrate the numerous cultures represented in the student body through food.

As students continue to learn about what it means to discover, prepare for, and commit to missions, World Reach Week continues to be an effective series of events educating the student body and developing a passion reflective of God’s heart for every tribe, nation, and tongue.