I was traveling back from a conference yesterday when I got the news.
Yesterday at noon, registration for our Southeastern mission trip to Alaska over Spring Break went live. Within a matter of minutes (literally), the trip was full!
The Year of the Mission Trip!
When we announced during our Gathering Chapel at the beginning of the school year that we wanted to make this our biggest year of mission trips yet, I was hopeful but had no idea what that would mean. Since that annoucement, our mission trip interest list has continued to fill. At present we have hundreds of students who have signed up to receive more information on trips, and the list keeps growing.
Over Fall Break, I personally led one of our trips to Houston to engage in cross-cultural evangelism. That trip filled to capacity, and I had a phenomenal team of students ready to share the gospel with anyone that crossed their paths. It was a great time!
In our office, we started referring to this as the year of the mission trip for Southeastern. I knew opening registration for Alaska yesterday would be a big indicator of how our year would go in challenging students to step up and take the gospel across the country and across the world by participating in one of these trips. Needless to say, it demonstrated that our students are ready to go.
Thank you, students.
Before I cover any details, I want to say thank you! We talk all the time about Southeastern being a Great Commission seminary, but these are the moments that demonstrate just what that means.
We have an expectation that every student will participate in at least one mission trip while they study with us. At graduation, we even provide a cord for a student’s regalia to demonstrate that they met that expectation. Every semester, I look out across the room of students to see just how many of those white cords are represented.
Coming out of the pandemic, we hoped students would lean back into rhythms of going. So far, you have exceeded our expectations. This really is shaping up to be the year of the mission trip for Southeastern.
So, the Alaska trip is full… now what?
If you are one of the hundreds (yes hundreds) of students who signed up on the interest form for Alaska and were not able to register for the trip before it filled, we have other options for you.
In the CGCS, we are committed to finding pathways for our students to the field, even short term pathways. I’m a firm believer in the significance of these trips for our students as they discern their own calling to long term missions and ministry. We believe a theological education that doesn’t lead you to actively engage in the Great Commission is no education at all.
If Spring Break is the time you are clearly called to go and serve, know we are now working to increase options for you over that week. Stay tuned for an announcement of these opportunites.
Be looking for Utah registration.
We already have another trip planned during Spreak Break to Utah. Many people are on the waiting list for this trip as well, so I would encourage you to fill out the interest form for this trip if you want to know in advance when that registration link will go live.
As a rule, anyone who fills out the interest form for an upcoming trip receives advanced notice concerning registration for that trip. For instance, everyone who filled out the interest form for Alaska received an email five days in advance letting them know exactly when the trip would go live. It did not give anyone advanced registration, mind you, but it did let them know when to expect registration to begin. That’s the benefit of being on the interest list.
So, if you want the best chance at registering for the Utah trip or other trips, make sure you’re on the interest list.
Follow us for more info and new trip options.
Finally, as we make plans for additional trips, we will be announcing those trips through our social media and on our website. With the overwhelming desire to participate, I fully expect to create more trips besides Alaska and Utah over Spring Break. In order to know what new options are coming down the pike, make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Sincerely,
Keelan Cook, Director of the CGCS
