Immersion & Service

Following Jesus from Solitude ..

Preparing students to
Think with Clarity...

To Community ..

Act with Integrity...

To Service

& Serve with Passion!

The Office of Spiritual Life ( SpiL) offers students annual opportunities to participate in Spil Trips: domestic and international Pilgrimages to encounter & serve Christ amongst “the least of these” (Matthew 25:34-40). During Winter, Spring and Summer breaks, SpiL Trips last anywhere from one to four weeks and challenge students to learn from and work alongside people and organizations modeling Christian Community Development at its best in the context of the cultures, communities, and complexities people experience in under-resourced communities and oppressive environments. SpiL Trips are designed for students to learn through service with ears, eyes, and hearts wide open, and to get the opportunity to share the University’s "Be Known" promise beyond our own campus and borders .

The basic purposes of SpiL Trips are:

To help students “think with clarity” by prayerfully immersing and serving in closer proximity to people whose perspectives and experiences are outside of our own;
To help students “act with integrity” by partnering with others in Asset-based approaches to Christian community development (rather than only need-based approaches);
To help students “serve with passion” by sacrificially working to do whatever is in our ability to share the Be Known promise with people (so often labeled or only known as statistics) beyond our campus and borders.

2020 Spring SpiL Trips

Sacramento, L.A., San Diego, California & Tijuana, Mexico
with World Relief, Homeboy Industries & Global Immersion Project

This “Learning Lab” is made possible by partnering with World Relief (Sacramento), the Global Immersion Project (San Diego/Tijuana), and even a brief visit to Homeboy Industries/HomeGirl Cafe (Los Angeles). It is an unforgettable week-long road-trip to share the “Be Known” promise beyond our campus (& national) borders, listening not only to the lived experiences of refugees, immigrants and ex-gang members, but also in learning from local peacemakers (shelter workers, advocates, Border patrol agents and more) addressing issues affecting their marginalized and often dehumanized neighbors. Students can also expect the personal challenge of cultivating tangible spiritual practices that will help us follow Christ’s call to be everyday peacemakers where we live. We invite you to learn a little more with this video .

Dates: March 20-27 (Spring Break)
Cost/Person: $900 ($100 deposit upon acceptance)
Application & Deposit Deadline: November 1, 2019
Fundraising Campaign: December 2019 - departure
Mandatory Training Dates: Weekly Spring Semester Learning Sessions/Lab
Apply: Application Form

Seattle, Washington with Urban Impact

A team of students will serve with Urban Impact in Seattle, focusing on building relationships and serving in the community through the local church. The team will assist with a variety of projects and Christian community development opportunities from tutoring to administrative and cleaning projects to community service amidst one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the nation.

Dates: March 23-27 (Spring Break)
Cost/Person: $95
Application Deadline: February 1, 2020
Mandatory Pre-Trip Meetings: TBD | Spring Semester
Apply: Application Form

Foster, Oregon with Camp Attitude

Students will learn and serve with Camp Attitude, a not-for-profit Christian organization dedicated to providing a unique faith-based camping experience for families in the disability community. On this trip, our students learn through proximity to Camp Attitude’s work, sharing meals, work projects as well as listening and community building with staff and other students.

Dates: March 23-27 (Spring Break)
Cost/Person: $95
Application Deadline: February 1, 2020
Mandatory Pre-Trip Commitment: TBD | Spring Semester
Apply: Application Form

Yakama Indian Reservation with Mending Wings

Mending Wings is a Christian nonprofit, First Nations youth organization located in the Yakama Indian Reservation in Wapato, Washington. Trip participants will have the opportunity to learn and to reimagine “Missions”, immersing in a cross-cultural experience without having to leave the country! Students will also focus on community service projects with elders (like chopping wood and painting houses) as well as focus on spiritual formation through participating in worshiping God alongside indigenous leaders and seeing the power of Creator God at work through all of us across cultural differences.

Dates: March 23-27 (Spring Break)
Cost/Person: $95
Application Deadline: February 1, 2020
Mandatory Pre-Trip Meetings: TBD | Spring Semester
Apply: Application Form

Oregon Outdoors

Students can expect an outdoor spiritually formative experience centered around ‘kingdom’ cultivating efforts of being rightly related to God, self, others and the rest of creation. Students learn through hiking, being in solitude in nature, visiting a creation justice initiative at work as well as listening and community building with trip mentors and other students.

Dates: March 23-27 (Spring Break)
Cost/Person: $95
Application & Deposit Deadline: February 1, 2020
Mandatory Pre-Trip Meetings: TBD | Spring Semester
Apply: Application Form

2020 Summer Spil Trips

Galati, Romania & Moldova with Word Made Flesh

This will be our 6th trip to visit our friends at Word Made Flesh Romania and Moldova. Word Made Flesh Romania serves among children vulnerable to running away from home, vulnerable to dropping out of school, vulnerable to being trafficked, vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and vulnerable to social marginalization and ethnic discrimination. Through ministry on the streets and educational programs at a community center, they strive for a transformed society in which the poor are redeemed and empowered. See this VIDEO for more on the realities of Romania and the community/work of Word Made Flesh there.

We encourage Social Work, Psychology and Education majors to consider this trip, but also any/all students interested in encouraging and nurturing this community through listening, learning and creative offering of talents through art, permaculture garden/aquaponics, engineering, computer science, graphic design, music, and other means of enriching the work of Christian community development there.

Dates: May 2020
Cost/Person: $3,600 ($250 deposit upon acceptance)
Application & Deposit Deadline: November 1
Interview Dates: TBD
Mandatory Training Dates: Weekly Spring Semester (dates TBD)
To Apply: Complete an Application Form and submit three Reference Forms

Eldoret, Kenya with Open Arms International

In our 5th year of linking arms with Open Arms International, this trip will be exposed to the holistic work of the Open Arms Village in Eldoret, Kenya. The village is home to more than 100 children, most of whom have been orphaned, abandoned or removed from homes due to neglect or abuse. The village provides a Christ-centered environment for physical, emotional and spiritual healing and a quality education at the Open Arms Academy. Our visiting team will learn and serve alongside the Village through medical clinics, outreach events and children's programs, possible prison visits and volunteering to coordinate training conferences for Ministers/pastors from various parts of Kenya.

Dates: May 2020
Cost/Person: $3,600 ($250 deposit upon acceptance)
Application Deadline: November 1
Interview Dates: TBD
Mandatory Training Dates: Weekly Spring Semester (Dates TBD)
To Apply: Complete an Application Form and submit three Reference Forms

2020-2021 Winter SpiL Trips

Nepal with Evangelical Friends Mission & CHE (Community Health Evangelism)

This particular trip will be a time of intense exposure to missionaries and communities in Chitwan through the Jhurjhure Friends Church and beyond. In the context of a dying world (both physically and spiritually), we will be seeking God's heart for these people and also how God would have us respond to the suffering of the majority of the world's population. We will be working with Evangelical Friends Mission and partnering with missionaries that create and distribute dignity packs for women and children who are experiencing marginalization.

Dates: Winter Break 2020-2021, to be confirmed Fall '19
Cost/Person: $3,500 ($250 deposit upon acceptance)
Application Deadline: November 1, 2019
Interview Dates: By Appointment
Fundraising Campaign: October - departure
Mandatory Training Dates: Fall 2020 | Fall Retreat 2020
Apply: Application Form

Haiti with Mama Baby Haiti and Vaudreuil Evangelical Church

A ten day experience in Cap Haitien, the Northern part of Haiti, with a goal to both learn from our Haitian brothers and sisters and to engage in mutual encouragement within the body of Christ. The program includes co-leading a two day conference with young Haitian professionals and university students associated with Vaudreille Evangelical Church. George Fox students will also have the opportunity to visit several Haitian families in their homes and travel to the towns of Port Francais, Calvaire and Shada with a Mama Baby Haiti midwife, to observe in a prenatal visit among pregnant women in those communities. Students will have a chance to provide health education to the community including in the areas of oral hygiene, dehydration, hypertension, and wound care. Last but not least, there will be times for rest at the beach and another day of hiking the 200 year old Citadelle Laferriere and San Souci Palace, over 10 miles of straight up and down hiking.

Co-Led Church Conference Soccer Coconut Drink

Dates: Winter Break 2020 (estimated dates January 1 - 13, 2020)
Cost/Person: $3,500 ($250 deposit upon acceptance)
Application Deadline: November 1, 2019
Fundraising Campaign: October - departure
Interview Dates: By Appointment
Mandatory Training Dates: Fall 2020 | Fall Retreat 2020
Apply: Application Form

Spil Trip Timeline

Information for the Winter, Spring & Summer Immersion & Service Trips is announced during chapel, around campus and online, with applications and references due in November each academic year. Applicants will then be notified if they are chosen for an interview. The team is selected from the interview process and meets two times prior to Christmas break (for Summer trips), prior to Spring Break (for Spring Break trips) and prior to Summer break (for Winter trips). During the Fall & Spring semester, International trips meet weekly for fundraising, planning, prayer, and preparation. Team members chosen are those who display a strong commitment to Christ, desire to learn, humility and flexibility.