UCO Agape Mission Trips / aka "alternative spring break" (ASB)
Part of the call of Christ and our mission as UCO is to serve the underprivileged, the poor, the naked, and the hungry, wherever we find them. Organized and run by the UCO Agape team , our spring break mission trips are great opportunities to do so alongside fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
Mexico
Last year we ran our first trip ever to Agua Prieta and Naco, Mexico - two very poor towns just south of the US border. We did construction work on a new house for a family, we played soccer with orphans, we painted at a school, we climbed a mountain, we enjoyed each others company. For many it was the highlight of the schoolyear. Click here to see some pictures from last year.
This year we hope to run a very similar trip. the deadline for this trip has passed! See below for information about Detroit.
“God blessed us and worked through us in many ways on that trip. We were able to build two rooms of a house for a poor family, paint two classrooms at a school and hand out clothes and basic supplies to families. We were also able to help out at two orphanages and played with the orphans for hours nearly every day. We learned and saw things that really put things in perspective and made us appreciate the life that God has given us. It was an experience that I will never forget and I am blessed to have had the opportunity to go.”
– Charlie,
EMU, Sophomore
"The mission trip to Mexico was a life-changing experience for me, not only did I get a greater and more clear example of my brothers and sisters in need, but I also experienced a glimpse of what God has required of those He has given much to. Getting to serve and provide for these wonderful people showed me what a difference one person can make in another person's life, I will always remember that trip to Mexico as a turning point in my prayer life and in the way I related to the things I've been given. God bless the poor in body and spirit!"
– Rachel Benjamin, UCO alum
“Working in Mexico was a time of faith and affirmation. Faith because it required going beyond what I was comfortable with in some ways: not knowing spanish or how to build anything, let alone a house! And affirmation because God blessed the work there, despite, or perhaps because of our individual weaknesses. The love of God was made clear through submission. And by being willing to be weak, our energy under his direction was useable, and paradoxically more powerful. I was priviledged to be part of a group of people who allowed themselves to be used for a purpose so much bigger than their resources that the only explanation for any success at all was that God met us there and was present in our work.”
– Amy, U of M Junior
Detroit - 'Urban Encounter'
It's easy to get caught up in the apparenty glamour of going to far-away places to do mission trip work, but we can't forget that we have an opportunity to serve in a very poor, oftentimes very desperate environment just east of Ann Arbor. Detroit is a city in crisis and with profound need in many areas. And we believe the Lord calls us to enter into that brokenness to serve and be Christ to the people there.
For the past number of years we've been working with a partner group called Youthworks Detroit to put on these
spring break trips, called 'Urban Encounters'. This year we will most likely run another trip, provided we have people to go serve. If you ask anyone who has spent any amount of time serving in detroit, they will recommend that you go.
More information on this year's trip is forthcoming, but stay posted! Talk to Colin Miranda (colseanm@umich.edu) if you have questions about the trip.
"This trip
was amazing becauase it opened my eyes to see how much need there is in the
world and we can help without even going that far!"
– Elise, U of M Sophomore
"The best part about Detroit was the witness of those who live
in and suffer with the City in their effort to make all things new in
Christ."
– Jason, U of M Senior
"One of the events that really touched me was when we delivered lunches to homeless people and every one of them would say "God Bless you" before you could say anything. It was amazing to see how strong these people's faith are even though they technically have "nothing." The main reason I went down there was to help people in Detroit and evangelize to them, but I didn't really expect them to evangelize to me. After the trip I was taken aback at the many ways the Lord works through people's lives and that anybody can evangelize and be evangelized.”
– Janet,
U of M Sophomore
-Colin, U of M Grad Student
“My favorite part was seeing--and being a part of--love in action. We handed out bagged lunches to the hungry. We witnessed men, by the grace of God, rebuilding their lives after years of imprisonment and alcoholsim. We helped renovate the house of a family striving to radically answer God's call to be a light in a darkened city. We experienced God at work in Detroit.”
-Chris, U of M Senior
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