Over Christmas break, most students go home to spend the holidays with their families. A group of North Greenville University students sacrificed time at home to spend their break proclaiming Jesus Christ in other parts of the world.
NGU student Katie Potter makes friends with Ugandan children.One group traveled to China. “It was weird going to China over Christmas because they do not celebrate Christmas,” said Laura Wise, of Pelion. “I totally forgot it was Dec. 25 until we had a Christmas party that night.”
NGU students visited Chinese schools and taught English to children in kindergarten through ninth grade. “The kindergarten program was amazing,” Wise said. “They put a lot of effort and money into it for the kids so that they will stay in their school through the ninth grade.”
Diane Turner, NGU’s student activities coordinator, also joined the mission trip to China. “This was an amazing opportunity to visit another culture and be able to use the Christmas story to spread the love of the Father,” Turner said.
Another group traveled to Uganda. Along with the students, Jody Jennings, Baptist Student Union director, went. “The major part of the trip was to encourage the church there and help it to be ongoing,” Jennings said, “We are building a partnership with the people and helped with the construction of the church building.”
The group had afternoon Bible studies and visited an orphanage. Along with Jennings were students Katie Potter of Chesnee, Mandy Kirkman of Hartsville, and Jessica Berryhill of Easley.
“I expected to go and do ministry, but the people of Uganda ministered to me,” Potter said. “Praising God is not something they do week to week, but they live it out every day, and that was an encouragement to me.”
Berryhill added, “I loved the fellowship and closeness of friends, showing their love for each other.”
“Those people put me to shame,” Kirkman said. “I was challenged with my prayer life and faithfulness. This was a very amazing learning experience.”
Kirkman, laughing, also said that during the trip she was proposed to twice by a bota bota, which is a taxi driver. – NGU
Diane Turner has fun with a Chinese student on a mission trip taken by North Greenville University students over Christmas break.