From Oct. 30 to Nov. 4, Union College celebrated Missions Emphasis Week.
Throughout the week, students were encouraged to participate in different get-togethers and learn more about what student missionaries and task force workers from Union do while abroad.
Candace Tyler, a senior elementary education major who served in Bolivia, described the importance of the events, “A lot of people may have just gotten to Union this year and they may haven’t heard of the program and don’t know that it’s an option. Through Missions Emphasis Week, they can hear the stories of people who’ve gone and maybe they can start thinking if they’re interested. It raises awareness.”
On Wednesday evening, a worship talk was given by two former SMs who spoke of their experiences. There were also gift card giveaways at the end of the worship. Later in the week, Family Worship and Afterglow were hosted by Student Missions and former missionaries again spoke of their life-changing experiences.
Ivy Arreguin, a junior elementary education major who served on the island of Chuuk, explains, “It gave a chance for some of our Union students to question our SMs and taskforce workers to maybe decide if they want to go.” Kimberly Palit, junior psychology major, who served in Majuro, Marshall Islands, added, “At Afterglow, it was nice hearing that people were interested, having them ask questions and getting to pray with them.”
The week closed off with a final worship hosted by Student Missions where a group of former missionaries put on comedic sketches about their experiences. They compared their expectations to reality on topics such as food, time and language.
Junior business administration major, Austin Burke, who served in Honduras, explained, “You can’t expect anything because the expectations you have will be destroyed the second you land wherever you’re going.”
While there are a lot of things these missionaries didn’t expect when they signed up to follow God’s calling, there were many things that made a difference in their lives during their year-long experiences.
Jimmy Gilley, junior business administration major and Pohnpei missionary, reflects, “Pohnpei was really fun. I knew I wanted to go to an island ever since I was in high school. It always appealed to me. I loved my kids so much and that’s what made the experience for me. If it weren’t for my kids, it wouldn’t have been half the experience I had. I definitely recommend it to anyone that feels called and feels that they can do it. It’ll be a really life-changing experience for them.”
If interested in becoming a student missionary, Angenita Pierre-Louis, junior business administration major, who served in the Dominican Republic states, “Just know that you’ll grow and just be so much of a better person, but just do it, don’t question it!”
It’s important to understand that, as Caleb Haakenson, sophomore business administration major and Pohnpei missionary, says, “Adaptability, adaptability, adaptability! That is truly the key to being a student missionary for sure and doing any student missions because whatever your goals are aren’t always God’s goals and things are always going to swap and change. As long as you can adapt to that, then you’ll be successful.”
For more information or to learn more about what student missionaries do, visit the Campus Ministries office on the first floor of the Dick Building or email uc.missions@gmail.com.

From Oct. 30 to Nov. 4, Union College celebrated Missions Emphasis Week. Throughout the week, students were encouraged to participate in different get-togethers and learn more about what student missionaries and task force workers from Union do while abroad. Candace Tyler, a senior elementary education major who served in Bolivia, described the importance of the events, “A lot of people may have just gotten to Union this year and they may haven’t heard of the program and don’t know that it’s an option. Through Missions Emphasis Week, they can hear the stories of people who’ve gone and maybe they can start thinking if they’re interested. It raises awareness.”

On Wednesday evening, a worship talk was given by two former SMs who spoke of their experiences. There were also gift card giveaways at the end of the worship. Later in the week, Family Worship and Afterglow were hosted by Student Missions and former missionaries again spoke of their life-changing experiences. Ivy Arreguin, a junior elementary education major, who served on the island of Chuuk explains, “It gave a chance for some of our Union students to question our SMs and taskforce workers to maybe decide if they want to go.” Kimberly Palit, junior psychology major, who served in Majuro, Marshall Islands added, “At Afterglow, it was nice hearing that people were interested and having them ask questions and getting to pray with them was pretty cool.”

The week closed off with a final worship hosted by Student Missions where a group of former missionaries put on comedic sketches about their experiences. They compared their expectations to reality on topics such as food, time and language. Junior business administration major, Austin Burke, who served in Honduras, explained, “You can’t expect anything because the expectations you have will be destroyed the second you land wherever you’re going.”

While there are a lot of things these missionaries didn’t expect when they signed up to follow God’s calling, there were many things that made a difference in their lives during their experiences. James Gilley, junior business administration major and Pohnpei missionary, reflects, “Pohnpei was really fun. I knew I wanted to go to an island since I was in high school. It always appealed to me. I loved my kids so much and that’s what made the experience for me. If it weren’t for my kids, it wouldn’t have been half the experience I had. I definitely recommend it to anyone that feels called and feels that they can do it. It’ll be a really life-changing experience for them.”

If interested in becoming a student missionary, Angenita Pierre-Louis, junior business administration major, who served in the Dominican Republic states, “Just know that you’ll grow and just be so much of a better person, but just do it, don’t question it!” It’s important to understand that, as Caleb Haakenson, sophomore business administration major and Pohnpei missionary, says, “Adaptability, adaptability, adaptability! That is truly the key to being a student missionary for sure and doing any student missions because whatever your goals are aren’t always God’s goals and things are always going to swap and change. As long as you can adapt to that, then you’ll be successful.”

For more information or even just to learn more about what student missionaries do, visit the Campus Ministries office on the first floor of the Dick Building or email uc.missions@gmail.com.

Kayla Miller is a junior studying nursing.

Closing a Week of Mission Emphasis

Questions or comments?