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Lighthouse trips go far beyond the academics of regular study abroad experiences. The J-term Lighthouse program enables students to gain unforgettable, life-changing experiences while learning and serving abroad.
Our students study the cultural, historical, social, and religious aspects of a host country and are equipped to carry out ministry among the local people. They gain experience in cross-cultural outreach, develop their leadership potential, seek justice, grow spiritually, and put their passion for God into action.
And while each Lighthouse service trip is different, from evangelizing in the streets to helping build houses, every team’s goals are the same. We want to enter other cultures as humble servant-leaders, embody the core values in the Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Missions, serve as lights of God’s love and compassion, and become beacons of deeper faith and understanding others who serve in these communities.
Without outside support from Taylor University friends, family, and alumni, Lighthouse trips wouldn’t be possible. The support you provide through praying and giving can go beyond the boundaries of the discipleship we pursue through our trips. If you feel led to support Lighthouse missions financially, you can donate to the Lighthouse program online.
Focus: Elementary Education, Community Development
Partnering with Project Mercy, students will teach elementary-age children to read and write in English, and work in community development projects.
Focus: Children’s and Youth Ministry, construction projects
Partnering with Footsteps Missions, students will will be work with children in the community whose parents are under economic stress. They will also be assisting with the job training skills program for older children in the coffee shop and beauty salon as well as with ongoing construction projects in the community.
Focus: Children’s and Youth Ministry
Partnering with Immanuel Africa Gospel Church, students will co-lead children’s and youth camps as well other church ministry enhancement events such as leadership development.
Focus: Youth Ministry
Taylor students will be working alongside Greater Europe Mission missionaries serving in youth ministry, organizing youth camps in the mountains of Rugova. Students will also be serving at the local church and House of Hope community centers, working with Albanian and Roma communities.
Focus: Island Stays & Faith Sharing
Partnering with the SEA tribes, the Taylor team will be exposed to island stays and will engage in conversation and share their faith and stories with individuals as they live with host families.
Apologetics & Faith Sharing
Taking a class in contemporary Christian beliefs, students will be immersed in apologetics and the practice of persuasion to the natives of the Basque country in Spain.
Focus: Leadership Development
This trip is scheduled for June 2023 and will feature fellowship, leadership development, team building, and missions together with students from Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo (UCBC). This will be a time to live, learn, and serve together with students from UCBC in Uganda.
We are also grateful for the long-term partnerships with our host families, host ministries, and organizations founded or run by Taylor graduates. Several partners have been to campus to share their stories personally with students in chapel and other venues, such as:
Approximately 80-100 Taylor students share in a diverse set of trips each year. Teams have served in areas such as Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Nepal, Czechia, Kosovo, Peru, and Southeast Asia where the dominant worldviews include Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Animism, and Atheism.
Every day was filled with eye-opening experiences, new opportunities to serve, and increased growth among the people and within our team.Luke Rutan, Ethiopia Lighthouse Team
Once you go through the application process and are accepted onto a team, you will be enrolled in a one-credit fall course, which helps prepare you—along with your faculty sponsors and fellow students—for your trip. Students receive three credits during J-term for the on-field service-learning course, which fulfills the general education cross-cultural requirement.
Read student stories from last J-term’s trips on the Lighthouse blog, check out our Taylor World Outreach Facebook page in January for trip updates, or follow Taylor World Outreach on Instagram.
If you have any questions or concerns about Lighthouse missions, please email lighthouse@taylor.edu.