Student ‘Kingdom Builders’ serve Kentucky residents in need

Many college students head for the beach during spring break, but six students from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken spent their time off in Louisa, Kentucky, serving people in need. The week-long mission trip was organized by the school’s Newman Catholic Campus Ministry, part of the Newman Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark.

“The theme of this year’s trip was becoming ‘Kingdom Builders,’ taken from the line of the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’” said Brooke Pasker, who minsters at the Newman Catholic Campus Ministry at Stevens.

From March 15-21, the group partnered with the Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center, which serves under-resourced people in the local community. They focused on helping with home repairs. Students installed insulation for women displaced by a fire, painted the kitchen of an elderly couple, and built a wheelchair ramp for another couple experiencing medical issues. They also worked at a local food pantry and assisted the mission center with its spring newsletter mailing.

“Each day started with Mass at the local parish,” Pasker told Jersey Catholic. In the evenings, students took turns cooking and discussed their experiences over dinner. They also played games, relaxed on the porch, and attended local events, including a live bluegrass performance with dancing.

A ‘spiritually rejuvenating’ week

“This was my second year going on the mission trip, and going back to Kentucky was an easy decision,” said Joe, an electrical engineering major at Stevens. He said the mission trip was the moment when he felt “closest to God,” not only because the students were serving people in need, but also because they “grew in faith” as a community.

Jenn, who studies mechanical engineering, also returned for a second year of mission work. She said that the Kentucky mission trip is always a “joy,” and described the experience as “amazing and spiritually rejuvenating.”

“It gave me the chance to make meaningful memories while also building on my carpentry skills,” she said. “This year we worked on three different home repair and maintenance projects and learned more deeply what it means to be Kingdom Builders.”

Joe agreed that the key to the mission trip’s appeal is its way of educating students in their faith through practical work.

“I enjoy doing construction, but doing it with a meaning provides so much fulfillment and connection to how God wants us to bring about his kingdom,” he said.

Building God’s kingdom through practical work and relationships

During the week, students learn that building the Kingdom of Heaven can begin with something as humble as painting a wall, and that from such acts of service, stronger and deeper relationships can grow.

Pasker said as a campus minister, she was moved “witnessing the relationships students form with Christ, with the people of Kentucky, and with each other.”

She added that the mission trip is consciously “rooted in relationship with Jesus” through the daily Mass and evening prayers. This helps participants build stronger connections with those they serve and with each other.

“The students converse with the homeowners as we work on the projects and learn about life in Kentucky,” Pasker said. “Through our nightly faith-sharing, students grow in friendship as they discover shared hopes and goals, but also challenges, fears, and worries. Through these deepening connections, we realize that our dignity and worth lie not in what others think of us, or of our circumstances or accomplishments, but in our identities as beloved sons and daughters of God.”

The success of the mission trip is evident in the number of students looking forward to spending their next spring break in Kentucky.

“It’s such a great opportunity to grow in our faith,” Joe said. “I can’t wait for next year’s trip.”

To learn more about the Newman Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Newark, CLICK HERE.

Featured image: Six Stevens Institute of Technology students went on a mission trip to Kentucky March 15-21, sponsored by the school’s Newman Catholic Campus Ministry. (Photos courtesy of Brooke Pasker / Newman Catholic Campus Ministry)