Admissions | Undergraduate Admissions | Transfer Newsletter | The Joy of Serving

The Joy of Serving

By: Sarah Reid, Junior

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was packed and ready to head to Lapwai, Idaho, on my first serve trip with George Fox. Nervous doesn't fully describe the feeling in my stomach; terrified is a better description. I was going to live on a Nez Perce Reservation for a week with 18 students who were essentially strangers to me.

As a transfer student, I felt I was at a disadvantage. The others my age already had an established group of friends and weren't necessarily interested in expanding their social circles. Although I had met some people in my classes our relationships never seemed to pass the point of shallow conversation. That was one reason I applied for a serve trip over spring break. Even though I knew I'd be forced out of my comfort zone, I desired to begin building relationships with those at my new school.

On that foggy morning, we jumped into two giant vans to begin our long trek to Idaho for a week. It was my first opportunity to be immersed in another culture, and the Nez Perce people I met impacted my life in a deep way. Although we were in America, it felt so different from anything I had experienced before. The people we met lived poor lives, downtrodden by the constant problems of alcoholism and drug abuse prevalent on the reservation. But even through this, the children we met clung to my team and the love we brought. After their school let out for the day, we'd immediately see a stream of kids running toward the church for hugs and basketball games.

The memories I made that week will forever be ingrained in my mind. My team bonded very quickly through sharing life stories, playing football in the sanctuary, painting the church (or each other), and working at Vacation Bible School. By partnering with other students from George Fox to serve people, we grew to know each other on a deeper level rarely achieved in a normal and comfortable environment.

That serve trip was the launching point for my time at George Fox. I continued to develop the relationships made on that trip, and today some of my team members are my closest friends. Even a year later, we regularly get together for dinner and pick-up football games. To this day, I'm still amazed at how one week can be so influential. I went to Idaho as a lonely and lost transfer student. I came back with a group of friends I felt connected to and safe with.

This May, I'm heading to Brazil for a three-week serve trip with 15 other members of the George Fox community to teach English and work with street orphans. When I found out about this opportunity, I immediately began to pray. God has put such a passion for service in my heart and for developing relationships with those I'm serving and those I'm serving with. This is what makes my heart sing. I can remember receiving the e-mail of acceptance and jumping around the room with some of my close friends in pure, unbridled excitement, anticipation, and joy.

I've been preparing for this trip all semester, and I'm already seeing God's work flow through the interactions of our team members as we prepare for what we will be doing. Each of my team members comes from different places in life, and each has strengths and passions they bring to the table. It's in the midst of this beautiful assembly of talents, passions, and vulnerability that we find our identity as a team. We find our identity in Christ as we follow his heart to care for the needy and broken.

In short, serve trips have been the most influential and memory-filled moments I've experienced at George Fox. It is through them that I have developed some of my deepest relationships and grown to know the heart of God in much more intimate ways. I would (and do) encourage every student to be part of one - the friendships you make and the experiences you encounter will revolutionize your life. I promise you won't regret it.