Lipscomb holds over 40 mission trips all around the world, but there is only one mission trip created just for women.
For the past two years, Lipscomb ladies have embarked on a journey into the Republic of Moldova over the summer. Moldova is known for its high population of orphans and its sex trafficking epidemic.
“Moldova is a very poor country in between Ukraine and Romania,” said Kelsey Shipman, a senior from Advance, N.C. “It’s a very small country, but despite the broken streets and poverty, it still manages to be beautiful.”
Kelli Blackshear, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla. and two-year veteran of the team, said the goal of this mission trip is “to love on girls that don’t receive enough love or respect where they’re from, and who are in danger of being taken advantage of.”
Lipscomb students have the opportunity to sign up for the Moldova mission trip when Commitment Week comes around Nov. 5-9. This is the week in which the registration process for mission trips begins.
While in Moldova the small team of about 13 women works alongside Justice and Mercy International, an organization that fights sex trafficking and other social injustices throughout the world.
JMI noticed the need for a transitional house for 16-year-old girls who have left the orphanages in Moldova and have nowhere to go. To meet that need, JMI founded The Grace House. By taking these girls in until they are 21, TGH saves many of them from being sex trafficked.
The Lipscomb team partners with TGH to teach these girls practical tasks that will help them provide for themselves when they graduate from TGH’s program.
The Moldova team also visits public schools in the area to foster relationships with the students.
“We share our stories with them so they know America isn’t perfect, because a lot of sex traffickers will approach them with business deals that would supposedly get them to America,” said Alex Shumate, a junior from Nashville, Tenn.
This past year the Lipscomb ladies visited a small, poor Moldovan village to hand out food bags.
“That was one of my favorite days,” Shipman said. “Just the looks on their faces made the whole trip worth it, if it wasn’t already. Something that was so little to us was so big to them.”
Many of the team members agreed with Shipman, noting that day as one that stood out among the rest.
“The amount of gratitude we got back when giving out the food bags was incredible,” Blackshear said. “One of the families gave us really pretty flowers from their garden as a thank you. These families hardly have anything, but they still give.”
Without a doubt, this trip changes hearts and lives. The Lipscomb team not only encourages the women of Moldova, but the women of Moldova encourage the team.
“If you go, expect to see the world from a different perspective and to leave a piece of your heart there,” Shipman said. “Expect to want to go back.”