Most of us will be lucky enough to go on one or two mission trips throughout the span of our lives.
Nineteen trips and counting over the span of 11 years is the number for Lipscomb Bible professor Phil Kinzer, who finds importance in going on mission trips through the strong relationships he has built over the years of leading trips at Lipscomb.
Even after a conversation with Phil Kinzer, you will ask yourself how this man has the time of day to serve in the capacity he does. The stories he tells about his life are amazing enough to write his very own book. But where does he find his time? You’d think his daily job as an adjunct Bible professor, pulpit minister at the West End Church of Christ, and grandfather of three would be enough to fill a day’s work. For this man, it’s not enough.
In his early twenties, Kinzer started going on mission trips to the Philippines. He described his passion for these trips, saying it that it runs through his blood. Kinzer has traveled all around the world, teaching the Word of God to countries such as Australia, Haiti, Mexico, Egypt and Israel. The Lipscomb professor leads two annual trips with students to Mexico and Haiti.
“Going on a mission trip changes your perspective about your country. It opens your mind to people who live in other cultures and other countries,” Kinzer said.“I think there’s a deepening of spirituality because you are so focused for the week.
“Anytime you get outside of your comfort zone and focus intently for a week or two on what God is doing, it changes your life forever.”
Going from the classroom to the leader of so many trips, this Bible professor loses the stigma of just being another professor. Aside from the mission work, Kinzer has built relationships with students that have turned into personal relationships, which is what he values most about the trips.
“By not being the professor and just being the guy on the trip with them, I have made a lot of lifelong friends,” Kinzer said.
While Kinzer acts as a leader, friend and mentor for so many, he has also performed weddings for the friends he made on these trips. Included is the wedding of two former students, who got engaged in Haiti and are now the directors of an orphanage in the country.
Kinzer will be taking a group to the orphanage this month.
Kelli Blackshear, a current student in Kinzer’s Disciplines of Christian Living class, feels very strongly about the impact that this professor has on people – especially his students.
“Kinzer is genuine man of God,” Blackshear said. “When he speaks to his class, tells stories of his experiences or prays, you know he isn’t putting on a show.
“I can see the depth in his relationships with God, and I’m confident that it’s legitimate. And I can see that through the way he loves his students.”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb.edu