by Lacy Pack | Jun 16, 2011 | News Slider
Sometimes it is the smallest decisions that can change your life forever. For Camille Santos and Rainey Lankford, choosing to spend two weeks in Ghana, West Africa has done just that. Camille Santos, a senior nursing major from Memphis, Tenn. says that Lipscomb’s summer mission trip to Ghana has opened her eyes in many ways. “This might sound sad, but I’ve been on mission trips before and I feel like I never actually got anything from it,” Santos said. “But even on the first day there I felt completely compelled… you do change as a person. I feel 100 percent myself when I’m there. No makeup. No shower. It doesn’t matter because the kids are the focus.” Santos is one of the students that returned from Ghana last week. Lipscomb works with an orphanage called the Village of Hope, which is home to around 200 children. The children are brought to the orphanage from off the streets, abusive or dangerous living conditions and even rescued from child slavery. Santos explained that the children live in homes overseen by couples who devote their lives to raising these children as their own. The orphanage consists of a medical clinic, dental clinic, Hope Christian Academy (a school of 600-700 students), the Village of Hope Church of Christ, staff houses and guest houses. Santos reminisced with a smile about the confusion she caused at the beginning of the trip. Santos is biracial and has several piercings. In Ghanaian culture, people are either white or black and facial piercings are not common. She gained the nickname,“The Black American,” but Santos wasn’t the only one...
by Emily Snell | Jan 28, 2011 | News Slider
Mackenzie Johnson has chosen an unfamiliar continent as the location of her upcoming summer adventure. Johnson, a junior double major in nutrition and Spanish, plans to spend a month doing mission work in Africa with an organization called Lifebread. Johnson and four other college interns will be going to Togo, a small country in West Africa, and will join Lifebread’s newest baking projects, providing food to needy people while sharing the message of the Bible. Johnson, originally from Indianapolis, said she was interested in the trip not because of the destination, but because it provides an opportunity to implement her education during the month-long internship. “The location wasn’t such a big deal,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t as big of a deal as what the ministry did. It really, really fits my major. Each of the interns has their own component; my component is nutrition education. If that’s what I’m going to do forever, this will be helpful.” As part of its baking projects, Lifebread builds ovens in villages in Africa and also teaches food safety and cooking classes to the locals. Johnson will be in Togo from May 15 to June 13 and then will spend 6 weeks traveling around the U.S., promoting Lifebread and talking about the efforts in Africa. Johnson commended Lifebread, saying that the organization has a very noble purpose. “I think it’s a good organization,” Johnson said, “I’m excited to be a part of the internship this summer.” Over the last few years, Johnson has been on numerous mission trips, mostly to Honduras. Because of her prior knowledge of Spanish, Johnson said this will be...
by Julie Shrewsbury | Jan 24, 2011 | News Slider
Good singers, hilarious dance moves and raw talent came together and made for a great and side-splitting show last Friday and Saturday nights in Collins Alumni Auditorium. The Anteaters’ Ball is far from your typical experience. With styles ranging from Christian hymns and Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles,” to Spanish songs such as “Looking for Paradise” and a saxophone solo, each performance left the audience in stitches or in awe, excited to see what was coming next. As if the name Anteaters’ Ball doesn’t give way to the uniqueness of the performance, upon entering the double doors you realize this is a show like no other. A $5 donation was suggested, serving as the entry fee, with proceeds going to help raise awareness and prevent the spread of Malaria in Africa. The two service clubs partnered with a non-profit organization called Global Health Innovations for this year’s production. This organization designs, implements and manages medical programs focused on providing solutions to save lives one village at a time. Brad Gautney, president and medical director of Global Health Innovations and an Abilene Christian University graduate, spoke to the crowd during intermission. “In areas such as Kenya, Malawi and Haiti, where we do the majority of our work, we see so many children and adults dying needlessly from Malaria,” Gautney said. “This disease can not only be prevented, but also cured after someone is infected. We have a heart for these children and their families, and from that stems our hard work to raise awareness and beat this awful disease.” Right before intermission they showed a video that allowed the audience...
by Brandon Brown | Nov 24, 2010 | Uncategorized
The game of basketball may be just another sport to most people, but for junior Jordan Burgason it’s a passion driving his future. Burgason, a member of the Lipscomb University basketball team, has been playing basketball since he was 6. It wasn’t until he was 18 that he realized the game of basketball was more than just a sport, but his calling in life. In March of 2008 Burgason set out to Uganda, Africa to coach a basketball team. “It was my senior year (in high school), and I remember my parents sitting me down and telling me they were going to send me somewhere I could soak up a different culture,” Burgason said. Being that he was in the middle of his final high school year Burgason was not thrilled about leaving. “I didn’t want to miss my senior year, and all the memories that came with that,” Burgason said. “After a few days I thought about it and realized that this experience in Africa would be better than any experience I would have during my senior year.” Once he arrived in Uganda he soon realized that things were totally different than they were back in Ames, Iowa. “My first memory of being over there was being on a bus with about 90 people on it– the bus was only made to fit 30,” Burgason said. “That was a very new experience. It was then that I prayed to God and told him that I knew he would be with me throughout this whole experience to watch over me.” While in Uganda, Burgason coached a basketball team and also worked in an orphanage for...
by Heather Stewart | Aug 3, 2010 | News Slider
Every morning at the Village of Hope begins with God and ends with God. While the sun is creeping in through the netting and thin curtains on the windows, from across the yard you can hear the children singing. Each day they wake up at 5 am praising God, then doing chores before school. While the kids are at school the Lipscomb team goes wherever they feel called to help around the orphanage that day. Some of the team would go help teach in the schools, some would go assist in the clinic and other various projects such as painting the houses of some of the staff would occur throughout the two weeks. We also went to three different villages and had VBS activities in the second week. After school we got to spend time with the children playing soccer, basketball, talking on benches under the trees or helping fetch water. At 5 o clock the children go get their water from the well and carry it to take a bath, then we all have dinner and another devotional at each house at 6 o clock. The prayers of these children are so heartfelt and precious. Different children pray for different aspects of our lives such as those who are sick, those who are travelling, those who are lost, our parents, our families, and our every day struggles. When you take the time to recognize how blessed you really are it’s amazing to discover that you wont forget to pray for all the needs of others. The children at the Village of Hope have gone through so much heartache...
