The recent media coverage of the drug wars and swine flu in Mexico did not deter a group of 51 Pepperdine students and staff members from attending Campus Ministry’s annual fall service trip to San Felipe from Oct. 2 through Oct. 4.
Students said the trip provided a way to put their faith into action serving Christ through serving others. Katie Gilliam a sophomore made her first trip to San Felipe this weekend.
“It’s such a fun thing to be able to share your faith in such a direct way Gilliam said. It’s not like we are going around just saying ‘We love you; Jesus loves you we go and build a house because Jesus loves you.”
Students say that the experience improved their lives as well.
“I think it’s a very special thing for both the people that are receiving and the people that are giving Gilliam said.
The University Church of Christ has been connected with the church in San Felipe since the 1970s.
Pepperdine’s Campus Ministry leads trips to San Felipe three times each year, building houses during fall and spring breaks and bringing gifts during Christmas break for an event called Santa Run.
In addition to building a house for a family in the San Felipe community, students also threw a party for the children from the church there and handed out food to underprivileged families.
Gilliam said one family was so grateful for the food that they had been given that they invited some students inside their home and offered them watermelon.
Although there were a large number of first-timers on the San Felipe trip, there were also a few returners.
Campus Minister Linda Truschke traveled to San Felipe for the first time in 1985 while she was a student at Pepperdine. She now oversees the planning of the trip, working with interns Sarah Thompson and Natalie Smith, both seniors, to make sure everything runs smoothly.
They are so thankful and excited for that house Truschke said. I’m so proud of our students and the way that they give. It’s very inspiring.”
Doug Free senior student services advisor at OneStop along with Casey Gillam campus recreation coordinator make arrangements to prepare for the trip. They went to Home Depot to purchase the supplies and then led students in the construction of the house in San Felipe.
“I enjoy teaching people said Free. I am certain that people go on that trip who have never done anything like that before.”
Truschke Free and Gillam all said they have been to San Felipe so many times that they have lost count yet frequency doesn’t take a way from the cause.
Students said one of the most rewarding parts of the trips is seeing the completed work a finished house from a past trip that has become a home for a family who would not otherwise have one.
A family which had previously received a house built by members of the Pepperdine community invited a group over to their home.
Junior Steve Anthony who worked on that house in October of 2008 also enjoyed seeing the family and what they had done with the house.
“It felt really good to see it Anthony said. I could feel the impact. If it wasn’t for us they wouldn’t be where they are.”
While the students have returned to their lives of midterms and extra-curricular commitments Anthony said still appreciates the effect he and others can have in the world.
“I am glad that we were able to come together to do that. It was just two days of work for us but it really changed their lives he said.