Despite the challenges brought by the pandemic, many Northwestern students will still have the opportunity to participate in Spring Service Partnerships and travel around the country to work with a variety of ministries.
This year, approximately 125 students will be traveling to nine different domestic ministry sites. These student teams will be led by 19 different student leaders and accompanied by staff and faculty advisors.
The team of leaders for these SSPs have spent many hours training not only to lead their team effectively, but to tackle any challenges that arise when serving during a pandemic.
“I think COVID will be an obvious challenge,” Hannah Allen said, who will lead the Waco, Texas trip. “However, I think if we go into it with a mindset of being respectful of the people we are serving, we will not only be safely serving others but showing God’s love as well.”
Having such dedicated site partners willing to host the SSPs also made the planning process easier. These sites include places like Opelousas, Louisiana; Denver, Colorado; Mescalero, New Mexico; and more. At these sites, students will be working with a variety of ministries, each with a different focus such as hurricane relief, aid for populations in poverty, American Indian reservations and low-income schools.
Typically, NW sends a higher number of students to more ministry sites, however some sites had to cancel their SSP because of the pandemic. For instance, Shonna Ritz, leader of the Orange County, TX SSP was originally slated to be the leader of the Compton, California SSP. Despite some changes like this, the SSP student leaders are still eager to serve at the sites available.
Perhaps the biggest challenge faced when planning this year’s SSPs has been all the unknowns that COVID-19 brings. Though we’re no stranger to uncertainties and adaptations, planning spring break trips and coordinating with ministries has proved more difficult for SSP coordinators Ben Henker and Nate Tjernagel.
“We were preparing to send students in nearer states like Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, and South Dakota, so they were closer to campus,” Henker said, “but many of the sites we have had in the past were excited that we were still doing SSPs this year.”
Opelousas leader Colin Kaemingk said, “I think we all have expectations, but COVID can easily throw hitches into our plans, so flexibility will have to be a must.”
Other potential challenges teams may face this year include quarantined members, ministry partners unknowingly sending the virus back to campus and even cancelled trips. Because of these challenges, there are a few changes to procedure, including wearing masks in the vans, getting tested three days before departure, isolating during the trip if symptoms develop and being conscious of others’ level of comfort with safety precaution.
Another key aspect of the SSPs affected by the pandemic is the socialization and relationship aspects of the trips.
“I think it will be difficult to refrain from the typical social aspects of the SSP for COVID safety reasons,” Ritz said, “but I look forward to developing stronger relationships with each of the people going on the team.”
Both Allen and Kaemingk share this excitement for team bonding: “I’m really excited to get to know my team!”
No matter the challenges the SSP participants or leaders face this spring break, they will still be able to serve people across the country and share the love of Christ wherever they go.
