by Leah Raich | Mar 11, 2011 | News Slider
Makeisha Seagraves says Lipscomb students have made a major difference in her life during her 10 years behind bars at the Tennessee Prison for Women (TPW). “The Lipscomb community has shown what true Christian love means,” Seagraves said. “They embraced me with open arms, never with a judging eye.” Seagraves is talking about what she has gained by studying alongside Lipscomb students who attend classes at the prison as a part of LIFE, Lipscomb Initiative for Education. The program gives students a chance to delve into both academics and service learning. Lipscomb history professor Richard Goode started this program with hopes that every student who attends Lipscomb would have the chance to take at least one class at the TPW at some point in his or her collegiate career. This spring semester, two classes are being offered: Society and the Law, as well as Disciplines of Christian Living. “This program and all involved have given me the strength to know that I am good enough to have a future,” says Tabitha, another inmate who believes her life was changed by LIFE. Ricki Adkins, a rising senior at Lipscomb University, spoke highly of the program. “As a student at Lipscomb, I am always looking for ways to better impact the surrounding community of Nashville,” Adkins said. “Prior to taking a class at the TPW this semester, I had no idea the place existed. Being a social work major, I have studied cases in which the U.S. criminal justice system often dehumanizes the incarcerated. “This experience has been life-changing, and I am so grateful to go to a school that provides...
by Leah Raich | Jan 18, 2011 | News Slider
New York City holds a different place in the hearts of this year’s winter break mission trip participants, after having seen the city in a different light than most tourists.. Coby Davis, assistant professor of education, along with 15 students and 2 alumni traveled to The Big Apple with a unified purpose: service before self. In a city, or shall I say, City, with so many distractions and tourists traps, it is rather easy to overlook the needs of the people who live there. The majority of our time was spent at P.S. 179, a school in the Bronx, one of the five boroughs of New York City. This school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. I had the opportunity to be a teacher’s aide in a third-grade class. My goal was to foster good relationships with my students, in hopes that they would feel comfortable talking and reading to me and asking for help as needed. Although I have been on several other mission trips to Mexico, Honduras and Africa, this was my first chance to work with this age group. Was it challenging and frustrating at times? Certainly. Would I go back tomorrow? Absolutely. Another aspect of our trip included service projects at both World Vision and Momentum. World Vision is an international evangelical relief and development organization whose primary objective is to “promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of God.” This organization receives school supplies, clothing, food commodities and medicine from vendors across the world that seek to engage in the act of giving to the less fortunate....
