Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" // Isaiah 6:8
This year's Spring Service Partnerships sent students, faculty and staff to serve with ministries in the U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica. SSP teams served meals at homeless shelters, helped build a school, tutored kids at after-school programs, led a chapel service at a prison, and aided in natural disaster recovery.
Through SSP, the efforts of a variety of ministries are encouraged, supported and helped in tangible ways. In addition, students have the opportunity to see God at work in the world, to understand their responsibility for responding to the needs of others, and to recognize their individual call to participate in the reconciling work of God's kingdom.
Kansas City, KS
Youthfront
by Madison Probst
For the eighth year, Northwestern joined Youthfront in serving the Argentine community of Kansas City, Kansas—a diverse neighborhood that is home to many first-generation immigrant families. Northwestern students assisted with food distribution, painted a room at the Argentine Mennonite Church, and played games and read with students through an after-school program.
Lessons in empathy
It was difficult to witness the struggles of many families and individuals within the Argentine community, and it reminded me of the privileges I have. Hearing the stories of community members, students and teachers broadened our team’s perspectives and taught us the importance of listening and understanding. This experience also helped shape me into a more compassionate and empathetic Christian.
Small acts, big impact
Seeing how our team’s efforts impacted the local community made me appreciate the power of small acts of service. These small acts make a big impact and help to create meaningful change. Moving forward, I want to continue living a life of service. I don’t want it to be a one-time thing, but rather a continual opportunity to grow and learn about my Father along with my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Baja California Sur, Mexico
Mazatlán Missions
by Mateo Flores
In partnership with Mazatlán Missions, Northwestern students helped build a school for the impoverished village of San Simón. The village’s previous school was constructed out of plastic and wasn’t a safe environment for children to learn. Members of the team who weren’t working at the construction site taught the community’s children lessons in reading, writing, numbers and the alphabet.
Wide smiles, big hearts
This trip taught me that we don’t need to have all the money in the world to be happy. We just need to have good people around us, supporting each other. I also learned that even the poorest of the poor share what they have with others. Sharing a smile is the simplest but most important thing we can do to change someone’s day. To make an impact in the world, we need big hearts and a willingness to serve the Lord in every situation.
Beginning a life of service
This SSP was my first time serving, and it completely changed my life. At first it was challenging because I didn’t know what to expect, but I soon realized how beautiful it is to serve others and God. I would love to keep serving and helping others in the future.
Grand Marais, MN
Coldwater Foundation
by Hope Wallace
For nearly 15 years, Northwestern students have assisted the staff at Coldwater Foundation in preparing for their summer wilderness camp programs. This year, students chopped wood, packed meals for outdoor trips, and hosted a community day of winter activities at Coldwater's basecamp. The team also served at Mount Rose Church on the Ojibwe Reservation, where they cleaned and painted in the church building and served a meal to youth group students.
Togetherness
God taught me the importance of relying on the strengths of others to work together as a team. Each member of our team had very specific gifts that, when combined, made the entire trip run smoothly. Our SSP was also unique because for most of the trip, it was just the nine of us. This allowed us to get to know and encourage one another, just like we did with those we worked with at our host sites.
Everyone needs hope
Something I learned on my SSP is that places like Grand Marais—a wealthy, tourist area—need the hope of Jesus just as much as places that are not as fortunate. Oftentimes, places like Grand Marais are left last for ministry and outreach because they seem to “have it all together.” But everyone needs the hope of Jesus, even if that hope is shared very simply by a group of young adults doing behind-the-scenes work to support the community.
New Orleans, LA
Urban Impact
by Maddie Loats, Tabitha Thatcher + Kaylee Bandstra
Northwestern students traveled to New Orleans to serve with Urban Impact, a ministry dedicated to creating safe neighborhoods where kids can thrive. The team shoveled gravel and filled potholes, trimmed bushes and trees, deep cleaned the youth center, and tutored kids in an after-school program. They also led Bible studies and played games with neighborhood kids on community nights.
Living at an intersection
Pastor John, one of the full-time staff members at Urban Impact, talked about how we are supposed to love at the intersection of God and people. Living at this intersection means loving people as Christ did, which in turn, helps build the kingdom. This really stuck with me, especially when Pastor John shared that “we are called to live in the hard spots at times.”
Wrestling with doubt
I now realize how important it is to be in a Christian community that is honest, vulnerable and talks about the hard things. Faith is not a lack of doubt; it is carrying on in the presence of uncertainty. A Christian community wrestles with those doubts—not by dismissing them or trying to find answers, but by sitting together in the midst of heartache and confusion. This also means seeking to understand before seeking to be understood.
Strangers to friends
This trip started out with individuals who knew of each other but did not really know each other. We shared and heard many testimonies during the week, and through these stories, we were able to develop a deeper bond as a team. The people on the van ride to New Orleans were drastically different from the people who returned to campus—in the best possible way!
Lindale, TX
Calvary Commission
by Joey Desir
While in Lindale, Northwestern students assisted with yard work, cooking, cleaning and organization projects at the Calvary Commission Bible Institute, a seminary that provides biblical training to former prison inmates. Students also served with a homeless ministry, led a chapel service at a prison, and worked with Syndeo Ministries, a nonprofit organization that ministers to women who are incarcerated or transitioning out of prison.
Hope defined
I knew the word “hope” before I went on this trip, but now I have a different view of the hope Jesus brings. In talking to Calvary Commission students who previously served time in prison, I learned what hopelessness looks like behind bars. Fortunately, a lot of these students became Christians in prison and the way they described hope when they put their trust in Jesus was so beautiful. They explained how the new life they’ve found in Jesus is so much better than their past lives of sin. This was encouraging to hear, and it also challenged me to fully surrender my own life to Christ.
Growing conversations
When our team helped with the homeless ministry, we were given the opportunity to talk to homeless people and pray for them. We were also put in similar situations inside the prison and at Calvary, where we could talk to former and current prisoners. I am so grateful because God removed my fear of talking to people from very different life circumstances, so I was able to pray with them and have meaningful conversations. This brought me so much joy.
Opelousas, LA
Hope for Opelousas
by Olivia Hartlep
For 16 years, Northwestern College has partnered with Hope for Opelousas (HFO), an after-school program that supports students’ learning and growth as individuals. This year’s team scraped, sanded and primed a recently purchased home that will serve as an extension of HFO’s campus. Students also helped with preparations for HFO’s annual art show and read with kids in the after-school program.
Model of encouragement
Throughout the week, I learned so many things from my team, but the person who stuck out to me the most was one of our advisers. She truly wanted to get to know every single one of us. She asked challenging questions while we were working and was not afraid to be vulnerable. I have a strong Christian community in my life, but the way that she interacted with our team taught me how to be a Christian friend and how to facilitate the “iron sharpening iron” relationship.
Making things new
With the weather forecast not entirely in our favor, our team had the very ambitious goal of scraping, sanding and priming a two-story house. But with dedication and teamwork, we left that house covered in a fresh coat of white primer, ready to be painted by the next mission team. Working on the HFO house left us tired, wet from torrential downpour and sunburned, but stripping the siding to its most vulnerable state and then transforming it into something beautiful and full of potential was an incredible representation of how God redeems us.
Costa Rica
World Team
by Grace Van Namen
While in Costa Rica, Northwestern students taught English classes in a drug rehabilitation center, a juvenile prison, several high schools and a church. They also built relationships and shared the gospel through their personal testimonies and stories from the Bible.
Bold prayers
During my SSP, I witnessed God’s power on display. Before our trip, our team prayed that God would prepare the hearts of those we would interact with, and it was very evident that God answered that prayer. Many of the kids were receptive to our testimonies, and a number of people gave their lives to Christ. This experience taught me to pray boldly as I saw my prayers being answered in the kids, church members and my Northwestern peers.
Open to sharing
God also showed me that there are so many opportunities to share the gospel as long as I keep my eyes open to them. My perspective moving forward is to look for those opportunities, to pray that God would show them to me, and to pray for the courage to obey the nudging of the Holy Spirit.
Denver, CO
Mile High Ministries
by Emma Wilson
For the seventh consecutive year, Northwestern served with Mile High Ministries. MHM connected students with ministries such as Denver Rescue Mission, through which they served meals at homeless shelters, sorted food and clothing donations, cleaned out apartments, and engaged in street outreach.
Lord of all
God taught our SSP team to set aside our judgments and take time to listen to the stories of those around us. He is Lord of all—not just the people who have life “figured out” or own a house. Instead of viewing God’s people through the lens of preconceived notions, we learned to see others as Jesus sees them. It brought me so much joy to see people for whom they were and not whom I thought they should be.
God did it!
Another joy from my SSP was seeing those around me so driven for the work of Christ and praising God. We met a man named Gary who came up to us and repeated over and over, “God did it! Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.” He did not know us, but he was so excited to tell us how God had changed his life and given him hope.
Compton, CA
City Church
by Kenzie vonRentzell
Northwestern students partnered with City Church of Compton to assist in community beautification projects and to build relationships with area residents. Students painted the exterior of future classrooms for children with special needs, cleaned yards, played with local kids, and helped organize “the Lab”—a community center where Compton residents can gather to find support and experience community.
Power of prayer
One afternoon, the group couldn’t do work outside because of rain. Instead of hanging out or relaxing, we took this opportunity to spend an hour at the Lab praying. Some of us walked through each room and others sat in one place. We were given markers to write Bible verses or to draw pictures that came to us while praying on the studs of the unfinished building. It is wild to think that years down the road when the building is being remodeled, a worker might pick up one of the beams with Scripture on it.
Stilling our hearts
On our last full day in Compton, we woke up at 4:45 a.m. to drive to Seal Beach to spend time in prayer, reflect on the trip, and watch the sunrise. When we got there, we sat freezing in our PJs and heard the tide hit the beach while we reflected on our trip and listened to God. In the beginning, the most prominent aspect for me was listening to the tide. I reflected on creation and how we tend to undermine it. I thought of Peter walking on water and how he walked toward Jesus in the middle of the ocean during a storm. I pondered how I can start to put my faith in Jesus during the storms of life. As the sun began to rise, I noticed evidence of humanity in God’s creation: litter on the beach, smog over the city and oil rigs in the distance. This reminded me that, even though we live in sin, God is still among us. Afterward, we gathered for breakfast to reflect. It was neat to hear how the Lord used that time for each of my teammates.
Mescalero, NM
Mescalero Reformed Church
by Rose Hoogers
At Mescalero Reformed Church, Northwestern students helped with cleaning and repairs. They also prepared a meal for the congregation, helped lead youth ministry activities and learned more about life on the Apache Reservation.
Joy of serving
Throughout the week I was continually inspired by my team’s willingness to serve and how they did so with joy. I feel God was teaching me that, in order to truly do things for his glory, we need to approach tasks as opportunities to exemplify his love and not just with the goal of completing them.
Room to breathe
I thought we would be constantly busy with work around the church but found we had a lot more down time than expected. I wondered if we weren’t helping the church as much as we could be. But in that down time, our team was able to build relationships and intentionally get to know one another. The growth that happened as a result made it clear that we didn’t need to be working to be fruitful or productive.
Croc, Mexico
Youthfront
by Megan Van Kalsbeek, Mitchell Nelson and Samantha Vermeer
In partnership with Youthfront, Northwestern students worked at an after-school program, playing, tutoring and building relationships with children in elementary and middle school. The group also painted the after-school club and built new cabinets for the club kitchen.
Loved by God
Children in Croc do not always have a great home environment, and for some, there is not a lot of love shown to them. In the short time we were there, our role was to be that love for the kids and to show them that they are cared for—not just by us but more importantly, by our God.
Learning opportunity
God taught me so much throughout the whole SSP experience. The people of Croc demonstrated how much more welcoming and loving I could be, and that no matter my circumstances, I can still have joy—because joy is a choice. I also realized how privileged I am, and I was prompted to be more grateful for the gifts the Lord has provided me.
Joy in abundance
In reflecting on our SSP experience, one of our team members noted that “joy doesn’t require much.” Although many of the people living in Croc belong to a lower socioeconomic class, there was no shortage of the joy of the Lord on their faces. Immediately when we arrived in the community, we were welcomed with open arms and invitations to dinner. Even though they didn’t have much, the people of Croc were generous with their time, homes and resources. I pray that I, too, can love the people in my life as deeply and generously as they loved us.
Mayfield, Kentucky
World Renew
by Bryn Hoekman
The Mayfield team assisted with World Renew’s efforts to rebuild a community that was affected by a tornado in December 2021. Northwestern students helped with demolition, painting and construction projects, as well as sorting donations for tornado victims at a nearby church.
Bonded together
We grew as a group through bonding experiences both on and off the job site, sharing in laughter and conversation that allowed us to get to know each other on a deeper level. Although we didn’t see who benefited from our efforts, we often talked about how our work honored Christ by providing Mayfield residents with a renewed sense of hope and prosperity. This strengthened our understanding of God’s call to serve.
Exhaustion + elation
Though we felt some physical exhaustion toward the end of the week, many of us felt completely rejuvenated in our spiritual well-being. Every night we shared personal testimonies that demonstrated how each of us brought different strengths to the team and how we as God’s children could use those gifts to bless others—things that were gratifying to see and hear.