How we pulled off a mission trip during a pandemic
Featured image: Students on an autumn hiking trip last year. (Photo courtesy of Stevens Newman Catholic)
In March 2020, the world came to a standstill. The COVID-19 pandemic swept through the nation, and the world was suffering. Loved ones were lost, businesses closed, and we all had to remain in our homes as much as possible for the sake of safety. This shift of culture permeated into the schools as well, bringing students out of the classrooms and into their homes behind a screen for virtual learning. At Stevens Institute of Technology, this safety directive meant cancelled in-person networking events, student activities, and even religious gatherings on campus. As a campus minister, I had to adapt to these changing times and bring a Catholic community to the students looking for one as they were stuck in their rooms. The virtual gatherings we put together became Stevens Newman Catholic’s “new normal.”
Weeks led to months, and it was strange not being able to connect with each other in the ministry. The heartfelt conversations lost their intimacy as we looked at our friends through a computer screen. Planning events was hard still. There was so much uncertainty as to what the future would look like on campus as we were unsure even month-to-month if we would be able to gather in person. All we knew for certain was that God our Father was still very much present in these challenging times. That was enough to keep pressing on, for we knew that it was faith that would unite us against despair and fear.
In December of 2020, three months before the one-year anniversary of the start of the pandemic, our ministry saw an opportunity where we could safely gather and serve our Lord by means of a mission trip. An announcement circulated to the Stevens community of the Spring 2021 semester plans. The campus would be optionally open to freshmen and graduating seniors to finish off their last college semester in person. To accommodate for this, the winter break would be extended for two weeks for those students desiring to return to campus could quarantine prior to the start of classes, and the March Spring break would also be canceled.
In previous years during March spring break, our Newman Catholic ministry would go on a mission trip to Kentucky to help poor communities rebuild their homes. The year prior, at the start of the outbreak, our trip was canceled, and this year we felt especially called to come together and help the Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center, which was struggling during the pandemic. We asked them if it would be possible to safely make this mission trip at the end of January this year, and they graciously accepted our help with the proper precautions.
The safety precautions were as follows: each student was required to quarantine for 10 days before the trip and give a negative COVID-19 test result prior to leaving. The work that we would do in Kentucky would be isolated from the community, which meant that we would not be able to interact with the people themselves as we normally do. Our assignment was to replace the floors and repair ceiling damage of a trailer owned by the mission center. It turned out to be an indirect way of helping the people of the community, but it was help, nonetheless. This was our small way to contribute, and we knew that God would take this little offering and multiply it.
It was a surreal feeling of meeting each other the morning of the departure, the faces we had not seen in a year now sitting next to each other on a 10-hour road trip. But it reminded us of what connection and communion were like. There was an apostleship we felt as we set forward to do God’s work in an unfamiliar world. But we knew that God was with us, and it gave us courage to face the risks to help others. We arrived at what would be our home for the next week, quarantined from the rest of Kentucky’s Lawrence County but still there to help them without seeing their faces.
A lesson that our ministry pulled from the pandemic was to make the best out of the things that were given. The restrictions placed on us could not stop us from praying together or from growing our relationships with each other. It did not stop us from learning how to measure out a room and putting in new floors. It did not stop us from working together to replace the ceiling that a tree fell through. It did not stop us from growing in trust in each other as a team and in trust in God’s will for us. All these small, beautiful moments were revealed to us to help us see God’s goodness and faithfulness.
At the end of every day, we would meet in the living room of our trailer for a reflection led by myself or one of the students. The collection of talks was meant to help us learn that we have a God who loves us, and that is where our identity is. In being children of God, we can then come to know what our mission and calling in life are. This is exemplified perfectly by Jesus Christ himself. As the Son of God, he followed our Father’s will perfectly, going through even death itself to bring Him glory and to redeem us. Our callings are reflections of Jesus’ mission. And this mission trip that we have found ourselves on was that reminder.
No matter how the world changes around us or what situations come our way, our relationship with God will guide our actions. There is always good that can be found even during a pandemic. It takes prayer and reflection to find it at times, but God’s voice is speaking to us constantly. He is telling us where to move and how to serve. The way that we participate in His will for us is to trust Him wholly and completely. For us in Newman Catholic, we were grateful for the opportunity He gave us to do that. We could have easily given in to fear and complacency, but God’s goodness cannot be found there. It is found in responding to his calling.
Our drive home was filled with gratitude. We were grateful for the laughter and the tears we experienced over the trip. We were grateful for the frustrations and the breakthroughs with the construction projects. But mostly, we were grateful to God for each other. It was the relationships we built with each other that we will remember the most. May God continue to guide us as we venture forth in the mission of our daily lives.
The author, Lawrence Laurente served as a campus minister for the Archdiocese of Newark. To learn more about Campus Ministry in the Archdiocese of Newark, click here.
