Students travel the world to enhance their studies and serve others during Spring Break

About 200 Liberty University students and faculty traveled to 13 countries around the globe on university-led trips during Spring Break this week as they seek to supplement their classroom learning and serve those in need abroad.

“Although we have been sending student groups abroad for the past year, this is the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out that we have had this many programs abroad at once,” said David Welch, executive director of LU Send, the office that coordinates all student travel. “It is certainly cause for celebration. I am so proud of my team at LU Send, of LU Serve, and our trip leaders and faculty. I am thankful for the administration of Liberty who are passionate about the Great Commission and see it as our mandate to send.”

LU Send exists to Train Champions for Christ to become global citizens through experiential learning and cultural engagement. Students taking part in the Spring Break trips will receive academic and/or Christian Community Service (CSER) credit.

Theatre students in California will be sharing the Gospel through the dramatic arts, presenting dramas at schools, churches, and local ministry organizations. Psychology students in Peru will learn of the different cultures within the Latino culture and philosophy and John W. Rawlings School of Divinity students in England and Ireland will have the privilege of visiting Dublin and many important sites where C.S. Lewis lived and worked.

In Africa, junior School of Nursing students will be able to complete all of their pediatric hands-on nursing clinical hours at the Jesse Kay Children’s Hospital and Happy Life Children’s home In Kenya, while counseling students in Rwanda will attend events that will educate them on the trauma experienced by the Rwandan people through genocide. In addition, they will work with staff from African and Leadership and Reconciliations Ministries (ALARM).

Counseling students in Sweden and Finland will have the opportunity to witness some of the top-ranked school systems in the world and discuss similarities and differences to the U.S. school system. Students will be able to engage with outdoor therapy, a therapeutic approach widely used throughout the Nordic region.

Over 20 students, faculty, traveled to Germany, Switzerland, and France for the Reformation Study Tour, led by School of Divinity professor Dr. Kevin King. Participants will visit the specific locations where three of the Reformation’s most impactful figures — Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin — walked.

The group will dedicate almost a full day to praying over Paris. King said many of the days will be long, with coursework and touring experiences from sunrise to sunset.

“We will have several classes and some of that will consist of looking at theology in a broad sense,” he said. “We’ll also look into each of the reformers such as Luther and his basic struggle of how to be saved. He really struggled with assurance and how he would ever figure that out. Stemming from that, he then had his view of justification by faith. What I want to do is portray the personal element of these theological statements that, if we are not careful, can just sit in big books on our bookshelves and we never read them again.”

While this will be King’s fourth time leading this trip, for others such as Master of Divinity student Charlotte Jagielski, this will be an entirely different experience than anything she has done before.

“I’m looking forward to going to the places that I’m learning about and to see the places where human history and church history changed forever,” she said.

Welch said the LU Send trips often add another dimension to college memories for students.

“I see international exposure as one of the most critical components to a well-rounded college experience,” Welch said. “This is not just tourism. Sure, our students are seeing the world and experiencing unique cultures, but they are also learning how to serve the Lord overseas using their degree and also participating in meaningful service learning. Hundreds of hours of planning and research go into making each LU Send program what they are known to be: life-changing.”

See the list of trips below.

Spring Break Travel

Department of Theatre Arts – California

Psychology Department – Peru

Philosophy and the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity – England and Ireland

John W. Rawlings School of Divinity – Germany, Switzerland, and France

Counseling Department – Sweden and Finland/Rwanda

School of Nursing – Kenya

Faculty & Staff Trip – United Arab Emirates (Dubai/Abu Dhabi)