Charleston Southern University sophomore Kayla Sexton of Charleston described her spring break mission trip to Baltimore as “an experience of a lifetime.” Sexton was one of 27 members of a ministry team that traveled to Baltimore, Md., for spring break March 8-13. This was the second year that a team from CSU has partnered with Embrace Baltimore – a two-year emphasis by the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Not only did their ministry touch the lives of people in Baltimore, it was also transformational for the team. Sexton added, “God provided me with a fresh look on life and opened new doors in my heart. The highlight of the trip was getting baptized and God allowing me to experience his love and mercy while serving others.”
The team from Charleston Southern worked with The Church on Warren Avenue at Federal Hill. Federal Hill used to be a blue-collar area of Baltimore, but when the mills closed, the area became run down. City officials decided to turn Federal Hill and the Inner Harbor areas into a tourist attraction. Today, the Federal Hill area is one of the most exclusive areas to live in.
The Church on Warren Avenue (then known as Lee Street Memorial) was a vibrant church but over time has dwindled down to about 40 people, with the average age of membership around 70 years old. Armed with a vision to reach its city, the church needed help. Carter and his ministry team went into action during their week in Baltimore that made a big impact. “Our students got a taste of what it means to be on a mission with God. Our prayer is that they will not be content with missions being limited to a trip, but rather they adopt a missional lifestyle, always seeking to serve and honor God every day of their lives,” he said.
The team participated in 23 projects during their four days of ministry that included organizing all of the church’s important papers, updating the church’s Web site (www.churchonwarrenave.com), created flyers for future church events, gave out baby baskets with necessities for 13 new mothers, offered a “movie night” for neighborhood children, conducted Bible studies, held a prayer walk for the city, and offered a “sidewalk caf?,” to name a few. On the last night, 12 Charleston Southern students were baptized.
Jaimee LaFave, the director of mobilization for Embrace Baltimore, said, “It was great to have the team from Charleston Southern come and serve in Baltimore with The Church on Warren Avenue. They truly represented the Embrace Baltimore spirit of embracing the region with the love of Christ in the Federal Hill neighborhood.” Participating in the mission trip to Baltimore articulates the vision of Charleston Southern to be nationally recognized for integrating faith in learning, leading and serving.
Sophomore Matt Davis of Clinton will long remember his time of ministry. “Baltimore was an experience I will never forget. It was awesome to see God work through our team and to accomplish his goals. My life has been deeply changed by the Baltimore experience,” he said.
For Carter, the faithfulness of the team to obey God’s call to go to Baltimore, coupled with the faithfulness of God, was a rewarding experience. “I know that Baltimore has been touched and changed, because our students were faithful to accept the call to give their lives and their spring break to share the love of Christ,” he said.