Thirty students chose to sleep less and serve Hillsdale and the surrounding communities during InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s mission trip this spring break.

Hillsdale students cooked food, volunteered for children’s programs at local churches, painted houses, refurbished basements, and gave their time and energy in other ways.

Senior Evan Anthopoulos said this was his first time going on a mission trip. He decided to sign up for the trip because he wanted a chance to give back to the Hillsdale community.

“We are called to be servants. Jesus was a servant,” Anthopoulos said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to serve and to learn from others how to properly do that and to also build community with other Christians.” 

Carly Boerema ’23 led this year’s trip, despite being her first time going on a mission trip.

“It was something that I didn’t necessarily feel qualified for, but it was something that I felt very called to do,” Boerema said. “The Lord provided in a lot of ways.” 

Students visited the Hillsdale County Jail and spoke with inmates.

“We were talking to a young man who was in jail, we were sharing the gospel with him, and we were praying with him,” Boerema said. “He couldn’t believe that we would choose to enter a jail and sit with him on our spring break.” 

Boerema said ministering to neighbors doesn’t have to be complicated. 

“It can be something as simple as giving our neighbor the time of day and treating them as a fellow human being and as an image-bearer of Christ,” Boerema said.

Shelby Tone ’22, correspondence manager for the President’s Office, said she has been serving on Hillsdale mission trips for four years. Tone led a small group on this year’s trip.

“Out of all the mission trips that I’ve participated in, this trip was the one where I had the most focus on other people and was not thinking about myself as much,” Tone said.

Tone said the mission trip pushed her out of her comfort zone.

“I think a lot of the point of the mission trip is to destabilize people so that they have to rely on God,” Tone said. “Relinquishing control is really important, especially for Hillsdale students who tend to like to know everything.”

Boerema said there was nothing fancy about the mission trip.

“God wanted to use what meager resources I had and multiply those,” Boerema said. “The Lord provided so abundantly in every single situation. He just wants us to be willing to put ourselves out there and say ‘yes,’ and he does the rest.”

Anthopoulos said he saw the generational curse of parents making mistakes and kids having to deal with the negative consequences in the Hillsdale community.

“Even though I’m a senior, there are a lot of things I didn’t know about Hillsdale, and it was a really good opportunity to just explore the area and be connected with people who are doing good work,” Anthopoulos said.

Sophomore Joy Li said she was thankful for the opportunity to see evangelism and ministry in action.

“We also saw how these cycles of brokenness can be broken by God,” Li said.

Sophomore Rebekah Preston shared similar views.

“The cycle of brokenness won’t stop until the gospel gets in there,” Preston said.

Boerema said it’s important to continue living with a servant mindset.

“The mission trip wasn’t designed for people to put on a special hat and serve during the week and then come back to campus and take that hat off and go back to ‘normal life,’” Boerema said. “It’s really a heart posture that we can carry into every single day and every interaction that we have with this person.”

Boerema said she encourages Hillsdale students to take time for the important things in life, like getting to know other people’s stories and sharing the gospel with them. 

“We think that there’ll be a more convenient time to love our neighbor, but the mission trip demonstrated that we really just need to be willing to engage with each opportunity that comes along,” Boerema said. “It can be something really, really simple like sharing a meal with someone.”

Li said students should go on next year’s mission trip.

“It’s a really good opportunity to be doers and not just hearers of God’s word. There are opportunities to serve God and to carry out his ministry at Hillsdale,” Li said. “The trip is an excellent way to get involved in ministry for the first time and see how it works and to get comfortable with it.”