YC Missions Opportunities

From a remote village at the foot of a volcano in South America, to an historic metropolis in Europe, the Gospel message will be shared this summer by teams from York College. 

Two groups of students led by faculty members will heed Jesus’ call to “go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone,” as they travel to Tabacundo, Ecuador, and Korca, Albania. Each group will focus on building relationships between the community and the local church through English lessons and other activities. 

These mission trips were organized by York Campus Ministries, an organization that seeks to minister to students on our campus as well as train students for lives of ministry. 

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York College senior Delaney Woods is a campus ministries intern and is the student leader for the trip to Tabacundo. This will be Woods’ third trip to Ecuador. In 2014 she interned in Quito (just south of Tabacundo) with Let’s Start Talking. “I’m really excited to return to a country that has my heart,” she said.  

Eight students are participating in the trip to Ecuador, accompanied by Dr. Terry Seufferlein, professor of Bible, and Catherine Seufferlein, dean of students. The team will work mostly with children at the public school and in an after-school program provided by the church. They will work with local missionary Jerica Briggs (originally from York) and Josh ’01 and Julie (Stephens ’01) Marcum, who manage Operation Ecuador missions in Quito.

​Woods is eager to work in the public school, as she is an education major at YC with plans to pursue a career in educational ministry abroad.

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The team of seven heading to Korca, Albania are led by York Campus Ministries intern Sarah Shafer and Dr. Michael Case, professor of Bible. The team will spend four weeks teaching English and working with the local church on outreach, including a vacation Bible school program.

Like Woods, Shafer is an education major with plans to teach and minister abroad. Last summer, she worked in Estonia with Let’s Start Talking. Immediately after the trip to Albania, she will travel to Haiti to work with an orphanage. When it comes to missions, Shafer says she is most excited about “Getting to show other people god’s love while getting to know them on a personal level.”

The church in Korca is small and many in the former Soviet nation are atheists. Dr. Case is looking forward to working in a country where the Gospel is relatively unknown. “I’m hoping to see how excited they are about Christ. It might be newer for them than it is for us. It might help us recharge our own batteries to see how precious the Gospel is to them,” he said. 

While the emphasis of the trip is on preaching the Word, Case is also thinking about the function of the trip for the students. “My goal for the team is to see serving Christ in their lives, for the remainder of their lives,” he said. “I want them to gain a greater spiritual perspective.”

Each person on the mission trip teams is tasked with raising $3,500. If you would like to support these mission efforts, you may send your donation to York College, Attn: Campus Ministries, 1125 E 8th St, York, NE, 68467. Please write Albania or Ecuador in the memo line, or the name of a specific student you wish to support. You may also give online at www.york.edu/give.

​(photo below) Albert Cepi, minister of the church in Albania, and Kevin Morrill '02 welcome Hyrmet Zhuleku into the family. Zhuleku went to her reward in heaven in December of 2014, about five months after her baptism.

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