Inspire, Summer 2008

28 summer 2008 di rector ’s cha i r Before I went to college, the extent of my travels consisted of a few drives across the border into Canada. Somehow, crossing a bridge from Detroit to Ontario didn’t seem very “international.” The city looked familiar, and the people sounded just like me. But a 24-hour flight to Australia with Cedarville’s Missions Involvement Services (MIS) program? Now that was something new and exciting. And that experience opened my eyes to an entirely different world. I have now been to Australia six times and have also led MIS teams to Mexico, Jamaica, and Germany. Each time I journeyed away from America’s borders, my world grew smaller. No longer was Australia a world away; it was just a “quick” plane trip, an aerogram in the mail, or a phone call. Now, e-mail and Facebook put me in touch each week with friends in Australia, Mexico, and South Africa. Those trips abroad showed me the value of seeing the world through someone else’s eyes. On my first visit to Melbourne, for example, it wasn’t long before my American assumptions were challenged — it’s not that they drive on the wrong side of the road, they drive on the other side of the road. Our culture and way of life in the United States are not right, they’re just different. If you want a little taste of heaven, there’s nothing like worshipping with fellow believers around the world — at a church in Jamaica, an Army post chapel in Germany, or a camp in Mexico. These experiences showed me just how diverse the Church really is and what an immense God we serve! When I was a student, international travel was a novelty out of reach for many of us. Now hundreds of Cedarville students participate with MIS each year, and about 100 take advantage of our study abroad program. We have more international students and missionary kids on our campus than ever before. And many alumni live and work abroad. Cedarville has developed an international influence, no doubt. Pastor Harold Green (“P.G.”) used to say that if students traveled with MIS once, they had a 25 percent chance of serving overseas. The probability multiplied each time they went back. That was true for Kari Eaves ’03. She took her first trip as a student in 2001 and then went again as a team leader from 2004 to 2007. Today she works with Janz Team Ministries in Germany. Joe ’02 and Jenna (Caron) Blakey ’02 traveled to Mexico on an MIS trip their senior year. Joe is now the principal of the Christian school where they ministered on that trip. Bobby ’90 and Sara (Sweetland) Hile ’92 started dating on an MIS trip to South Africa as students and were engaged the following year on another MIS trip to South Africa — and today Bobby pastors a church in, of all places, Ballito, South Africa! As you read this issue of Inspire , I hope you are challenged by the ways our grads are serving God around the world. Be inspired to take steps outside your own comfort zone. Consider the world beyond your own borders! Jeff Beste ’87 Director of Alumni Relations “Each time I journeyed away from America’s borders, my world grew smaller. ... Those trips abroad showed me the value of seeing the world through someone else’s eyes.”