So I’m sitting here in my lovely apartment after a whirlwind of a weekend. I most definitely didn’t get as much homework as I wanted to get done done… but I had fun, watched four movies (which for me… is ridiculous) but I’m using the excuse that I’m sick. Anyway, I was sitting here, doing a little bit of looking forward and thinking about possible plans for next summer. I’m planning on going to Israel this summer with the School of Theology to study the geographical and historical setting of the bible and take part in an archaeological dig. No big deal.
Wait. What? Rewind. That’s right. Going. to. Israel. To. Do. Summer. School. What?! The thought of it blows my mind. I doubt that the reality of it is even going to hit until I board the plane in June with the group of students and professors.
But I’m also throwing around the possibility of going on a summer missions trip this year, with may term and all, I figured out that I can actually do both. So there is a possibility that about 5 days after May Finals, I get on a plane, fly to Africa, serve there for about 5-6 weeks, come back, debrief for like 4 days, and then take off to Israel. For someone who is an adventure and experience junkie… the thought of this thrills my mind. Then, I’d be returning from Israel mid-July, taking some time off to decompress, packing my trunk, and heading off to Oxford for the fall semester of my junior year. Now I don’t want my reader to get the idea that this is some posh and lavish thing only people with a whole lot of money and their parents paying the whole way can do (because I’m certainly not in that camp).
For missions, you raise the money with your team. For Israel, you work and save and look ahead and say that if this is important enough for you to experience, it is worth taking the hit in finances. For Oxford, you pay the SAME amount for the semester as you would on the normal APU campus, and your scholarships are factored in.
APU has sooooo many possibilities! And those possibilities aren’t just for those fortunate enough to be able to not worry about the expenses. These are real possibilities for every student who comes here. To study abroad and do missions and even maybe get to do summer school in a foreign land (my roommate is thinking about doing summer school in Lithuania this summer). When APU says: GO AWAY! They mean it (in a loving manner of course). This school is about going out, living life in the fullest of the experience and the challenges and encountering God on a daily basis, whether it be here in Azusa, or in Isreal, or Utah, or Mexico, or Africa, or England, or China. Tomorrow is the Focus International Missions Chapel and I’m so excited! One of the main reasons I came to this school is the emphasis that this education, this life, these gifts and stories God has given us aren’t just for us. And that there is a whole wide world out there to explore and serve and get to know and fall in love with and hurt for.
APU understands that adventure and a broadening of horizons and experiencing God and new cultures is essential to the spiritual growth of Christian who are in this world, but not of it, and that’s something I absolutely, 100% love about this school.
So Go away! And See and serve the World!
