Students volunteered across Abilene on Saturday for the Day of Service led by the Missions Students Association. The event took place throughout the entire day and partnered with ten Abilene non-profit organizations.

MSA officer Kelton Porter said the idea for Day of Service was born from the question of what participating in God’s mission looks like.

“That doesn’t just happen across the seas, but that also happens here in the city of Abilene,” said Porter, senior Bible and ministry major from Desoto. “We wanted to provide an opportunity for students to be able to start engaging in the city of Abilene and doing mission work essentially here where we’re already at.”

Students could sign up to volunteer through a link to the SignUpGenius website, which lists all of the partnered organizations, such as All Kind Abilene, Habitat for Humanity and We Love Abilene. Porter said all of these organizations help address certain issues or help provide for others in the community.

“We ended up choosing a lot of these ones, just from our own relationships with them and for their work being meaningful,” he said. “They’re not just saying they’re doing it, but they’re actually doing it, whether we’re engaged with them or not.”

Tamil Adele, junior criminal justice major from Midland, said she volunteered at All Kind Abilene where the group got a tour of the facilities and helped walk dogs.

“I just started learning to like dogs, because I used to be scared of them, so I thought that this would be a good way to give back,” Adele said. “I’ve also known about All Kind and the work that they do and how they’re always needing help because there’s just so many animals and so many dogs and cats and all that, and so I knew if anybody, really needed it, it was probably All Kind.”

Adele said other than learning about the organization or how to properly leash a dog, she learned valuable lessons and admired All Kind’s “dedication to animals.”

“I don’t think that’s a side of people that I ever see,” Adele said. “Often I see our dedication to other humans, but I think All Kind really shows kind of how God tells us to be good stewards of the Earth.”

Porter emphasized God’s calling to serve our neighbors and how that shapes his perspective on volunteer work.

“It’s not always pretty,” he said. “Sometimes it’s really awkward, but there’s beauty in service, and there’s beauty in stepping down and working with people. We don’t parachute in to try to save people. We work and live with them as we serve. And that’s the most beautiful life that I can think of.”

ACU Day of Service is a one-day event, but Porter encourages people to go back to the organizations and serve throughout the year.

“It’s our dream that students, through ACU Day of Service, find a place to be able to plug in, serve and build community outside of the ACU bubble, to be able to fall in love with the people of God wherever they are in the city of Abilene,” he said.