Students Engage in Summer Missions Close to Home
College students have an open missions opportunity this summer without worries over cultural assimilation or foreign language learning.
College students have an open missions opportunity this summer without worries over cultural assimilation or foreign language learning. Here's Life Inner City is sending out students to spend "summer in the city," ministering to those unfamiliar with the Gospel.
Some 100 plus students and staff will penetrate six major U.S. cities – New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Seattle and Bakersfield – beginning the first of June. Once oriented to their respective urban areas, each will engage in several types of compassion ministry through inner city churches for a four to eight week mission.
“‘Summer in the City’ is designed to help students grow in their compassion for the lost and for those who are needy," said Janet Grams, short-term mission director of Here's Life Inner City.
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It helps students "be able to see how they can help meet the physical and spiritual needs of others and see where God might want to be calling them in the future to work," she added.
Outreach programs with local urban churches include tutoring, ministering in jails, serving the homeless, evangelizing on the streets, and visiting rehab centers among others. Students have the chance to rotate to gain experiences in a wide variety of missions and ministries.
One Summer in the City student-missionary who worked with Jones Memorial Church in Louisville was met with a young Bible club participant who accepted Christ. According to Here's Life Inner City, the student-missionary, Allison, provided the boy, Anthony, with his own Youth Bible and he is now actively involved in church activities.
Summer missions participants are partly funded by the urban outreach ministry, but for the most part raise their own financial support through families, churches and the community at large. In the case that funds fall short of the necessary amount, many are able to gain assistance through the ministry's scholarships.
"It's rare that we'd say 'you can't come,'" Grams said, explaining that they try to support the students who want to participate but may lack the funds.
Applications have already been turned in and students are being accepted to take part in the summer in the city program. The summer outreach is still open to college students as well as others at least 18 years of age with applications being accepted until the very end, according to Grams.
Grams expressed her hopes of seeing a more diverse group of participants this year as the ministry generally receives mainly Caucasian applicants.
"We would like our teams to be reflective of those groups [they minister to.]"
To apply or fund the summer missionaries, visit www.seizeit.org.
