South Africa Mis­sion Trip Hap­pen­ing Af­ter Two Year Hia­tus

MISHAWAKA­­–– Bethel Uni­ver­sity has many op­por­tu­ni­ties for mis­sion trips through dif­fer­ent or­ga­ni­za­tions and geared to­wards dif­fer­ent groups. The South Africa trip hap­pen­ing June 7 to 21, 2022, is led by Rev­erend Court­ney Richards, who was the speaker at Spir­i­tual Em­pha­sis week this year. In ad­di­tion, Theo Williams, Ph.D., as­so­ci­ate pro­fes­sor of com­mu­ni­ca­tion, and Williams’s wife also help lead the trip.

The trip is through the or­ga­ni­za­tion that Richards founded in 1996 called RE­NEWED Min­istries. The trip has had to be post­poned in 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19. 

“My wife (Nicole) and I are both board mem­bers,” Williams wrote in an email re­sponse to the Bea­con. “We have min­is­tered with RE­NEWED Min­istries sev­eral times in the past.” 

The trip is es­ti­mated to cost $2,500 per per­son, which in­cludes trans­porta­tion, food and tourism at­trac­tions. Any money for per­sonal shop­ping or sou­venirs is re­quired.

The trip is geared to­wards stu­dents in­ter­ested in mis­sions or min­istry, much of it in­clud­ing young chil­dren. Ac­tiv­i­ties in­clude go­ing to schools and hold­ing camps and clin­ics in­volv­ing bas­ket­ball, and po­ten­tially vol­ley­ball and soc­cer. In ad­di­tion, a mu­sic min­istry takes place with the youth. 

“The high­light may be a na­tional youth day that takes place dur­ing the time the team will be there,” Williams said. “In 2018 this event in­volved around 400 youth and it in­volved games, work­shops, dance, drum­ming, sports and drama.” 

Lastly, there would be a sight­see­ing day, in­clud­ing a visit to Rob­bins Is­land, which was where Nel­son Man­dela was im­pris­oned, and Table Moun­tain. 

If stu­dents are in­ter­ested in the South Africa Trip, any­one may ap­ply to go through a rec­om­men­da­tion and se­lec­tion process. Stu­dents go­ing on the trip will need to be vac­ci­nated or will have to sign an amended waiver to go on the trip.

The trip is through the or­ga­ni­za­tion that Richards founded in 1996 called RE­NEWED Min­istries. The trip has had to be post­poned in 2019 and 2020 due to COVID-19. 

“My wife (Nicole) and I are both board mem­bers,” Williams wrote in an email re­sponse to the Bea­con. “We have min­is­tered with RE­NEWED Min­istries sev­eral times in the past.” 

The trip is es­ti­mated to cost $2,500 per per­son, which in­cludes trans­porta­tion, food and tourism at­trac­tions. Any money for per­sonal shop­ping or sou­venirs is re­quired.

The trip is geared to­wards stu­dents in­ter­ested in mis­sions or min­istry, much of it in­clud­ing young chil­dren. Ac­tiv­i­ties in­clude go­ing to schools and hold­ing camps and clin­ics in­volv­ing bas­ket­ball, and po­ten­tially vol­ley­ball and soc­cer. In ad­di­tion, a mu­sic min­istry takes place with the youth. 

“The high­light may be a na­tional youth day that takes place dur­ing the time the team will be there,” Williams said. “In 2018 this event in­volved around 400 youth and it in­volved games, work­shops, dance, drum­ming, sports and drama.” 

Lastly, there would be a sight­see­ing day, in­clud­ing a visit to Rob­bins Is­land, which was where Nel­son Man­dela was im­pris­oned, and Table Moun­tain. 

If stu­dents are in­ter­ested in the South Africa Trip, any­one may ap­ply to go through a rec­om­men­da­tion and se­lec­tion process. Stu­dents go­ing on the trip will need to be vac­ci­nated or will have to sign an amended waiver to go on the trip.