Students Prepare for Thanksgiving in Calcutta

On a picturesque Thanksgiving Day, the family is gathered downstairs watching the annual football game. The smell of turkey and side dishes fills the room. It's a time to focus on gratitude. However, twelve students will fight against the norm as they give up their Thanksgiving break to go on a mission in Calcutta, India."I'm excited for the opportunity to go to India," says Adam Tarver, a sophomore going on the trip. "I've never been somewhere this intense. It's once in a lifetime."

Tarver is one of the students in a religion course, Discovering the Mission of God, which is allowing the students to travel for the trip as part of its curriculum. It is a three-week intensive course from November 2 to November 17, ending with the trip to Calcutta from November 19 to November 29. The course, taught by Dr. Geoff Pound, is designed to help discern a person's gifts, passions, background, and personalities that shape their call for God's mission.

Dr. Geoff Pound was born and raised in New Zealand. He was a Baptist pastor there for fifteen years before he became the president of Whitley College in Australia, a combined Baptist seminary and one of the colleges of the University of Melbourne. After fourteen years, he concluded his chapter in Australia after receiving a job teaching English to Arab men in the United Arab Emirates. He has begun freelance seminary teaching in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, the UAE, and India. Dr. Pound is also a published author.

The students will be meeting Dr. Pound in India. They will be working with an orphanage and potentially working with Mother Teresa's foundation. The students will also be having frequent Bible studies with women who, in order to avoid selling themselves, make fair trade items.

"Being on this trip will allow me to learn about myself and the things I'm grateful for," said Tarver. "Being away from my family on Thanksgiving, looking at America from the outside in will be a humbling experience. Most people can tell you what they are doing on Thanksgiving; I couldn't tell you exactly what I'm doing."

This trip will challenge the students to step out into the unknown. It will be a vigorous sense of growth for their personal call to mission. It will develop skills not only culturally, but in an overall experience of life as well. The journey may seem frightening, but to the students it is worth it.

Sophomore Ryan Carter believes his passion for missions must overflow from Sunday mornings and a one-time trip. "Missions is not a trip, it's a lifestyle," Carter said.