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Developing students to become Global Christians is not an easy task. Though often knowledge is gained inside the classroom, it is not until the point of praxis that students understand its full importance in their lives and to the world around them. That is why mobilizing our learning community to go beyond the classroom is key to becoming a progressive community that is identified by our faith-driven investment in the global community – World Outreach and Missions charter.
 Last fall, under the direction of the Office of Student Development, the college created an office to help facilitate short-term mission trips and ongoing Greenville ministry opportunities. While Greenville College has been sending students and faculty to international destinations for decades, it is only now that a centralized office has been established.
As director of World Outreach and Missions, Elizabeth Hehman works to build strategic partnerships with sending organizations, mobilizes faculty, staff and students for acts of service world wide, and brings awareness to the community about global issues and the role of the church in addressing these issues. She also coordinates local outreach opportunities at the Simple Room and oversees Urban Plunge, a weekend experience in inner-city St. Louis that introduces students to the unique ministry opportunities and needs of an urban setting.
Hehman recently planned and coordinated Global Impact Week. Ten sending organizations came to the college to inform students of ministry opportunities and let them know what God is doing in the world.
“Global Impact Week is a special emphasis week for the college community to focus on needs and problems around the world and ways we can get involved to make an impact. We hope that it will inspire the students to consider how they can apply their discipline of study to these problems and think about using their future to make a difference globally,” said Hehman.
Jodi Hogue, a senior Urban Cross Cultural Ministry major, believes this week had a positive influence on the students who got involved. “There’s so much more to the world than what we know,” Hogue stated. “I think by having the different missions organizations here [students will] see how they can use their major, and that you don’t have to be a ministry major. They’ll just be more aware of the possibilities they have after graduation.”
The sending organizations that participated thanked the college for their openness to world missions. “The feedback we received from them indicated that, while our understanding of missions and global issues is in initial stages of development, we are on track to mature quickly, largely due to the faculty’s heartfelt desire to see students use their disciplines to engage global issues,” said Hehman.
The office is also planning an interterm trip and spring break trips. The interterm group will travel to Rwanda where students, under the direction of Dr. Dunkley and in partnership with Dr. Jackson, will implement a water purification system and renovate a medical clinic.
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