Early this summer, as a part of Corban University’s cross cultural internship program (a requirement for all ministry majors), the University sent a team of six to serve local ministries in Thailand.
Partnering with Children to Love, an organization with a history of working closely with Corban, the team was able to work directly with Grace Boarding House and Mae Sot Evangelical Church assisting with VBS, evening Bible studies, preaching, evangelism, and other services to the local church community.
For Dr. Jordan Newton, trip leader, director of the Kairos program, and assistant professor of Christian ministry, global service trips like these are vital to developing young ministry leaders, broadening their perspectives concerning the global church, and developing the skills and competencies they will take with them into their future ministries.
“These trips help shape students for ministry in a global marketplace by exposing them to how ministry is being done by brothers and sisters in other places,” he said. “They help to deepen cross cultural competencies, build lasting partnerships, and are a place for students to demonstrate their learning in the field, guided by the same professors who teach them in the classroom.”
One of those students, Corban junior Isaac Immel, has flourished in Corban’s ministry-minded environment. According to Isaac, he first felt the call toward missions after a presentation during the annual World Outreach Week event where dozens of missionaries and missions organizations flood Corban’s campus for a week dedicated toward global missions, featuring seminars, workshops, Bible studies, and keynote presentations. Following this experience, Isaac asked his professor, Dr. Newton, what opportunities existed that he could get involved in. Shortly after, he was plugged into serving in a local ministry tutoring high school students from refugee families and had signed up for the upcoming trip to Thailand.
“It is a real privilege to be standing near someone whom God is actively changing or shaping,” Newton said of Immel. “At Corban, I get to start relationships, see those relationships grow and change on trips like these, and keep shepherding students after the trip. For the KAIROS students in my program, this experience can be a discipleship multiplier as it builds on all our previous work together and provides a context to see the student challenged and grown in a new way.”
Just one of many global mission trips the University takes with its students throughout the year, the Thailand trip provided a valuable opportunity for the team to understand the heart of global missions work. “I’ve learned that humble obedience to the Holy Spirit leads to the kind of life that God desires for all His children to have,” said Immel. “When you follow God, and obey the Spirit, life has hope, meaning, and joy, even amid terrible circumstances. Because of what God did in Thailand, I long to be more faithful to Christ as He is being faithful to so many people all over the world.”