While you're checking out all the obvious criteria for choosing a college—stuff like size, location, majors, and so forth—don't forget to ask about opportunities for service. At a Christian college, there are often many options.

We talked to some students about the ways they've chosen to serve others while in college. Here are their stories:

Jenny Warner wanted to find ways to help others while at Palm Beach Atlantic College. And while helping out in the school's "Workship" program, she didn't have to look very far: The opportunities came knocking.

"Our fax machine is flooded with requests for help," Jenny says of the "Workship" program.

Workship coordinates projects for PBAC students, who complete 45 hours of community service each year as part of their coursework. "There's something going on in the office almost every week, and we also have weekend trips for regional projects, summer mission trips, and spring break trips," Jenny says. Although students are free to choose any type of service for non-profit agencies, the Workship office helps them to keep up with all of their options. Jenny and her coworkers contact organizations, promote projects, send out flyers, coordinate trips, and more.

Last year, Workship students worked with the Special Olympics, "a really popular project," Jenny says. "They had bowling games and outdoor games. People just loved it," Jenny says. For animal lovers, Workship provides an opportunity to pitch in at the local zoo. "We help out with the work they don't have the staff for," says Jenny. And for those who just want to make the community a safer place, there's always construction: "We recently installed smoke detectors in some buildings that didn't have any."

Although Jenny did her share of community service in high school, she says Workship has given her the chance to work in a wider variety of places. The many options for service make it easy, she says, to do what may seem like a monumental task.

"For some people, the community service requirement may seem like a really hard thing, but when people actually go, they have some sense of gratification because they've done something. They can appreciate what they have when they see people who have nothing."

Also, the ongoing nature of Workship is good preparation for service beyond college. "Little things will always come up in church or whatever," Jenny observes. Helping out with a lot of "little things" can add up, and people realize that they don't have to go on a big mission trip to make a difference in other people's lives.

Austin Ashenbrenner, a sociology major who graduated from George Fox University in May, believes "people are always willing to roll up their sleeves and help out if given the opportunity."

At George Fox, they most definitely are. Every year, the university devotes one day to community service. That's one day when no classes are held and the campus is all but deserted, because everyone from the university president to the newest freshman student is on the streets of Newberg, Oregon. As Austin says, "This is what George Fox stands for. We want to turn out people who aren't just educated professionals, but who are compassionate, whole individuals."

As part of that mission, the univers-ity celebrates "Serve Day." Last year, around 1500 volunteers participated, servicing 65 area non-profit organizations. According to Austin, there's a "pretty cool spectrum" of projects, from construction-oriented jobs like yardwork, painting, and working with Habitat for Humanity to ministry projects like leading worship at local retirement communities.

Everyone at George Fox, including students, faculty, and staff, is assigned to a Serve Day group. Each group has about 15 students and three or four non-students, which "gives students and faculty time to interact in a social setting. Students get to say they hung out with the president," says Austin.

When Serve Day rolls around (it's usually near the beginning of the school year), these groups put in a hard day's work at their designated project site. At the end of the day, everyone returns to the campus to wind down with food and music.

Although participation isn't mandatory, practically everyone is involved. "We count on the students," says Austin, adding that Serve Day is not just a school tradition, but develops "camaraderie" among students and faculty.

The Newberg community reaps the benefits of the school's commitment. Austin, who worked behind the scenes as an organizer/coordinator for Serve Day activities, discovered that "when you call these people to tell them you want to help, they're so overwhelmed. We're doing jobs that otherwise might not get done."

The sense of gratitude expressed by the churches, schools, and social service agencies that are visited on Serve Day is a reminder that there's always work to be done. Austin says, "Serve Day gave me a heightened sense of the need that exists in every community. We really need to get out there and help."

Service and ministry are also part of the curriculum at Columbia International University. For senior Terrace Crawford, it makes perfect sense. "Many students receive so much in the classroom and from their peers, and this gives them an opportunity to really apply it and use the gifts the Lord has given them."

At CIU, students get credit for their "field education" work, which can be almost any type of ministry. For one semester, students learn about field ed options in an orientation course. After that, they choose where they'd like to serve. While they work in the community, they are also enrolled in a lab course which provides a forum for discussing their work. "It's kind of like a mentoring program," Terrace says. "You can bring any frustrations and share them with the other students and the professor. It's a time of encouragement and getting a fresh perspective."

Whether they volunteer in a crisis pregnancy center, a youth camp, a local church, or a coffee shop, students are sure to have a wonderful learning experience. "We can really gain so much just by being in ministry. And we get to work along with other students and build relationships. There's just a great advantage to field education being part of the curriculum," Terrace says.

Terrace doesn't think the service "requirement" should be intimidating to students. "I see it more as an opportunity or privilege. It's so great to apply what you learn while you're learning it. You can grow so much more," he says. In addition, students get to see the examples set by their professors. "They're not just serving in the classroom, but really offering themselves in the community as well."

Terrace, who is majoring in youth ministries, feels he's benefited from his field ed experience. He first worked as a Sunday school teacher, then as an intern at a youth recreation facility. "It's been rewarding to see lives change and to develop new relationships," he says. "And you actually get college credit for it!"

Students at the University of Mobile dive right in to missions work. Chandra Barton, a junior communications major, says the university's "Urban Plunge" program is an intense, life-altering experience.

"I've lived all over the U.S.," Chandra says, "but God used Urban Plunge to really open my eyes to my world. My whole life and way of thinking changed."

Through Urban Plunge, University of Mobile students volunteer for service in one of several Southern cities. Students are then organized into small groups with specific tasks—which range from feeding the homeless to working with abused women and children to helping out local Bible schools. For 48 hours, the students work at their designated site, ministering to individuals and helping organizations.

For Chandra, who went on her first Urban Plunge in New Orleans, the experience gave her a new way of seeing things. She says she had some negative preconceptions about the people she was going to work with. "But after Urban Plunge, God just broke my heart for them."

After spending a weekend ministering to the homeless of New Orleans, Chandra says she can better understand the reality of life on the streets. Of course, the trip was more than a lesson in compassion. Because their destination was legendary New Orleans, Chandra and her group members were prepared for some interesting encounters. "Everyone had crazy stories about New Orleans, and we did run into some crazy stuff," she says. "We'd be out there on the streets with our Bibles, handing out peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, and people would come up to us and tell us they were vampires."

But the students remained focused. One of the benefits of Urban Plunge, Chandra says, is that it's essentially a distraction-free weekend: "You don't do anything but serve God." In fact, it's this sort of well-organized, whole-hearted approach that many students find appealing. When first learning about the program, Chandra remembers thinking, "It's completely free and it's an opportunity to go and meet people. You don't have anything to lose."

Like other participants, Chandra believes she gained as much from the experience as did the people she went to serve. "So many opportunities have come from Urban Plunge," she says. "Through Urban Plunge, God called me to full-time ministry"—a life of missions work.

Sometimes, there's no local "community" in community service. Jocilyn Voorhees, a junior at Point Loma Nazarene University, traveled halfway around the globe for her service project. Through Point Loma's "LoveWorks" program, Jocilyn spent three weeks working on apartment construction in Papua New Guinea where, she says, it was "amazing to see Jesus work."

As a freshman, Jocilyn knew that LoveWorks would be a good fit for her. "I want to be a missionary, and almost every Sunday at church they were talking about Papua New Guinea and I knew it was God" opening a door.

LoveWorks mission trips are planned according to the needs of established Nazarene missionaries; when a trip was planned for Papua New Guinea, Jocilyn knew that was the place for her. Like other LoveWorks participants, Jocilyn selected her destination and signed an agreement with the university, which made the travel arrangements.

For most of the following semester, the students prepared for their trips. They spent time training, learning about the countries they planned to visit, and preparing financially. Funds for the mission trips are raised by the students themselves, usually through a combination of personal contacts and program scholarships. "It's really cool to see how the Lord provides," Jocilyn says. "A lot of people can't go on trips themselves, but they want to support these programs."

Of course, all the preparation pales in comparison to the trip itself, Jocilyn says. Despite having trained for several weeks with her team members, it was going to Papua New Guinea that bonded the group. "You grow really close to your team members," Jocilyn says. "We got sick together; we were exhausted together."

But the highlight of the trip was connecting with the native population. "The best part was seeing Jesus in these people—he's not just the North American Jesus. That really opened my eyes to God's presence," Jocilyn says.

While working on the construction site, the team was frequently visited by their new friends. Jocilyn says the mostly white college kids "looked so different. People would just come around to see what we were doing."

In addition to construction-related projects, LoveWorks teams plan ministry-oriented, medical-specialized, and various other humanitarian projects. Jocilyn has plans for continued involvement. "You go in thinking you're going to give them all this stuff, but you end up just being so blessed—you really receive more than anything," she says.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
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