An International Programs trip to India just over a year ago provided the spark of inspiration for a worldwide Christian service network. Phoenix Eyre and Chelsea Kadovitz both graduated from Pepperdine in 2011 and have started the Global Christian Taskforce (GCT) with the goal of making it easier for missionary activity to get off the ground. “It’s very possible to answer God’s call,” Eyre said.
The GCT’s mission, according to its website, is “to serve the Kingdom of God by helping orphans, widows, the homeless and victims of injustice around the world as a unified Christian family.” The GCT will serve as a network and database with the purpose of partnering people of all different abilities who desire to serve with people who can and want to help them, Kaldovitz said.
On Monday Eyre and Kadovitz held a convocation to present to Pepperdine their ministry network which was started just after their graduation. Eyre and Kadovitz spoke about GCT’s upcoming work in Haiti related to this mission as well as some of the other objectives of the GCT and ways in which students can get involved.
The idea for the project first
came to Eyre while attending an International Program in India over winter break as a senior. While in India, he witnessed children who were orphaned and in desperate need of food. Eyre described one instance where he had given an Odwalla bar to a child who had begged him for food. As the bus was driving away, he watched that kid get beaten up by five other children who then ran off with the food. Eyre said that previously he had spent time praying for some hint of a direction on how best to serve, and he felt that God was telling him, “I’ve shown you what’s out here, now you can figure out the rest.”
The need to facilitate coordinated missionary efforts became a clear goal to him, and with these experiences in mind, the idea for the GCT was born.
The GCT is focusing its efforts in Haiti for the time being. There will be a spring break trip called a Haiti Reconnaissance Mission from Feb. 24 through March 1. This program is already filled, but another, longer ministry initiative is scheduled in Haiti for May 18 through June 2, Eyre said. There are a total of 35 spots for this initiative, and 25 are still open.
While in Haiti, the focus will be on rebuilding houses, cooking food, working in medical facilities and possibly helping to construct a school, Eyre said. This opportunity is not exclusive to Pepperdine students but is open to members of other universities as well.
This is in keeping with the founding idea of the GCT being a network for missionary activity, Eyre said. There are already 23 universities who are part of the contact group with Yale, Princeton, Harvard, LMU, USC, UCLA and Stanford on board, to name a few. Eyre is also looking to get a group of students together from the Los Angeles area to work on projects in the relatively near future.
The GCT has several programs in place already to help facilitate missionary activity. One arm of the GCT is focused on raising funds to help send college-aged students out to do missionary work and also to match up college students with similar callings and passions. The Global Relief Coordination Dept. is intended to connect to those willing to help with nonprofits that deal with disaster relief. If a disaster were to occur, members in this database would receive a text alert about the disaster. Members could then support those people with their prayers and donate to the relief effort through a link, Eyre said.
As the scope of the organization grows larger and larger, Eyre hopes for the GCT to have a positive presence on every continent. He would like the next focus to be helping to stop human trafficking in Portland.
Anyone can sign up to be involved with the GCT through its website at www.thegct.com. People can also sign up there to help with the upcoming Haiti mission. Pepperdine students can contact faculty members Julie Smith and Brian Fisher or current students Greg Pinnizzoto, Seth Bamburg, Jamie Howard, Meredith Nelson or Nadine Jung for more information on how to get involved.
