Tag: Discipline Specific

Transforming Lives with Caring Hearts Ministries

Some of the International Missions trips offered are more immersive in nature than project based. This means that, the trip itself is a chance to be immersed in a local culture outside the U.S., to grow in one’s understanding of the cares and concerns of those communities, and to promote fellowship and mutuality in your interactions with others. In other words, while there are opportunities to serve and complete projects, the emphasis is on learning and relationship. While some international missions trips have a really clear objective, some have more of a projected outcome that teams likely will not see manifested within the short period of time that they are there.

A child from Oasis Boy’s Home

This spring break, a team of students and Fit Rec faculty will travel to San Luis Mexico to partner with Caring hearts ministries in a community development initiative.  Caring Hearts Ministry is an interdenominational non-profit whose mission is to be a blessing to the people in the extremely poor border town of San Luis Rio Colorado in Sonora, Mexico. Currently, this is being accomplished through short term missions trips and a permanent local Church. This local church partners with our other ministries such as  Oasis Boys’ Home, Medical Outreaches, A Soup Kitchen, Drug Rehab Center, and Blind Center. In these really amazing partnerships, a variety of special needs arise for programming.

A group praying with the shut in ministry

The Belmont team will invest in San Luis Mexico by practically applying health and wellness knowledge to empowering those in need physically and spiritually with the following ministry opportunities.  Students will implement a food garden at the Caring Hearts Soup Kitchen where 150 kids come daily for meals and tutoring.  Further, the team will teach the basics of nutrition and meal preparation at the church and in the community, that are culturally accurate and in line with the available resources in San Luis, Mexico.  The team will also lead a 5-day exercise course for the kids at a soup kitchen, men at a rehab center, churches in the community, and the Oasis Boys Home.  Some unique ministry opportunities include visiting the individuals in the community who live at the Garbage Dump and the sick families in the shut-in ministry.  The team will also conduct a small work project for a family in need (painting, fixing a roof, etc), which will provide some basic assistance to allow the community members to access and harness their opportunities to thrive.

An image from “The Lord’s Watering Hole”

This trip will provide students with a really real look at the beauty of communities unlike the ones that we are used to.  If you have any questions about Caring Hearts Ministries or other Belmont on Mission Trips, check out global.belmont.edu and reach out!

Student Take: Abby Connolly Practicing a Discipline on Mission

 

Abby Connolly is a sophomore Experiential Design major.  Over the summer, Abby participated in the Athentikos trip to Guatemala! Today, she is sharing with us a little bit about her experience serving on a discipline specific trip.

 

“Coming to Belmont, I was amazed with how this community serves others. I knew I wanted to contribute in sharing my gifts to benefit others. Last year, during my fall semester, I met with Dr. Meaghan Brady Nelson so we could talk about the possibility of me going to Guatemala with Belmont on a Mission in partnership with Athentikos. If you have never met Dr. Meaghan Brady Nelson, she is one of the most wonderful and spunky professors I have gotten to know since my time here at Belmont. She is so passionate about art and has such a servant’s heart. She gave me a run down of what the trip would be like explaining that we would we doing art therapy with at risk youth. Immediately after leaving her office I called my mom and told her that I needed to seize this amazing opportunity that Belmont was offering. 

 

 

Fast forward six months later I began this life changing journey to Guatemala. I got to work with an older group of boys ages 14-16 who came from a very tough part of Guatemala. Having the chance to help them heal using art was an experience that I will never forget. One thing that I learned from the journey was that language is no barrier for love. It was so interesting to see the transformation of these boys through just one week at camp. They came in putting up walls, but by the end they opened up so that I could really get to know them and meet them in their suffering. As one of my boys Miguel said, “The memories will last a lifetime.” Belmont on a mission allowed God to not only transform my life but also the lives of the kids I served. The program also enabled me to meet so many new people from Belmont that I would not have gotten to know otherwise. If you are considering doing service whether it is here in our backyard of Nashville, or on another continent I would highly encourage you to do so and Belmont on a mission is an incredible place to start.”

If you have any questions about this trip, or any other Belmont on Mission trips, please reach out!