April 30, 2016
MARSHALL, Texas (4/25/16) – “I felt like God had called me to spend my time serving over spring break,” is what Taylor Turley said about why he went to serve. Stevi Slaughter said the reason why she gave up her time to serve was, “I wanted to give someone something that they deserved and could not do for themselves.”
Nine students from East Texas Baptist University, led by Dr. Scott Bryant, Vice President for Spiritual Development, spent a week in Hattiesburg, Mississippi partnering with Habitat for Humanity through the National Collegiate Challenge. The week brings colleges from around the country together to either work on new projects or provide needed repairs on homes in which the owners have no means to do themselves.
The majority of their time was spent remodeling a home of an 85-year old woman who had no resources to fix the issues she had. “Her home was built in the 1920’s and was incredibly uneven. Nothing was level and on one side of the house the siding had holes in it,” said Slaughter, a senior from Longview.
“We replaced the siding on two sides as well as a falling ceiling inside the house,” Dr. Bryant said. “It was good hard work and it was a blessing to demonstrate the love of Christ through service.”
The ETBU team was not alone in the two projects assigned to them during the week in Hattiesburg. The other project was installing appliances, cabinets, and trim for a new Habitat for Humanity build. Joining the ETBU team was a group from the University of New Hampshire, which is a state public school. The partnership between the two schools worked out very well.
“I had never been on a big mission trip like this before,” shared Slaughter. “I had no clue what the other group we would be working with was going to be like. God calmed my nerves and we even bonded with the New Hampshire group and became a big family.”
According to Turley, the time working alongside the UNH group allowed them to become friends. “Working with them allowed us to love on them and create friendships that we could show Christ through,” added the senior from Orange.
“The ETBU students did a great job,” praised Dr. Bryant. “They had positive attitudes, worked hard, and were intentional in their interactions with others. At the work sites, they were quick to do anything that was asked of them and were always eager to jump in to help.”
On Thursday evening the ETBU students invited the UNM students to join them where they were staying. Normally, the ETBU team would have a devotional time while they shared dinner together. On this night, they decided to wait until the UNH students arrived and after a time of fellowship, they asked them to join them as they read from the Bible and had time of prayer. All 10 from UNH joined and Turley led the devotion talking on the need to choose Jesus before self and before sin each day.
“I was so impressed by their desire to be a strong witness for Christ,” said Dr. Bryant. “They took seriously the challenge to be a bright light for Christ and they were great ambassadors for Christ the entire week.”
Both Slaughter and Turley recommend to their fellow students to take at least one mission trip while at ETBU. “Go and serve in any way you can. We cannot serve God without serving people,” Turley said. Slaughter added, “You will come back very close to the ones you served with, all while growing in the Lord. God will change you and surprise you.”
Also during spring break, ETBU students served locally in Marshall doing needed repairs on a home owned by a single mother with a young daughter, served in Belize on a water well project, and the Texas Baptist Student Ministry evangelistic outreach Beach Reach in South Padre Island.