Fifty-four students in the WorldWide Witness mission trip program will soon pack their bags and gear up for their adventures.
Each summer, WWW sends many students on six- to 10-week mission internship excursions to various locations across the world.
Larry Henderson, WWW missions coordinator, said students are placed under the leadership of missionaries on site and taught to adapt their goals and intentions through the customs and political atmosphere of their location. They are usually sent to their location in a group of two.
“The idea is that we don’t want to just move the ACU bubble to somewhere and swamp what’s being done there, so we send small teams,” said Henderson, adjunct professor of Bible, missions and ministry. “We don’t want them to take over anything. We want them to be servants, and we want them to be students.”
A part of the Halbert Institute for Missions, WWW prepares these trips with the safety of the students in mind. Because of various tension in certain countries, Henderson said there have been instances where WWW decides not send anyone that year to particular locations for the safety of the students.
“Last year, for the first time in a while, we didn’t go to the Ukraine,” Henderson said.
Henderson said trips to Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt and Mexico were also canceled in past years because they were unsafe at the time.
Some students have already been on WWW trips but felt called to go back.
Austin Holifield, biblical text major from Keller, said WorldWide Witness was a formative experience for him.
“My life would be on a totally different track right now if it weren’t for that trip,” Holifield said. “Now, my wife and I are returning this summer to see if that’s where we would like to do full-time missions once we’re out of college.”
