Live, Serve, Learn
Live...
"Surrounded by a genuine and supportive team of people, I had the opportunity to know and share life with many beautiful people who come from hard places. Through these relationships as well as through our DUS classes, I gained invaluable insight and perspective that will forever shape how I choose to see and to love those who Jesus cherishes.
Author Shane Claiborne writes, 'it isn't that people don't care about the poor, it's that they don't know the poor.' The gift of this summer will continue to give of itself for years to come. "
— Jenny Ackerson, Colorado State University
Serve...
"Working with the refugees at the African Community Center was awesome and very challenging, which became very rewarding. I hope to be as courageous, broken and joyful as the refuges I served. I am just a different kind of refugee..."
— Erin Michalowski, Hope College
Learn...
"I walked into the summer trying to hide the broken pieces of my life. I was exhausted, sick of being criticized, and tired of spiritual to-do lists. Greg (Director of DUS) taught a class called "Leading from Within". He enabled us to take care of our souls, so we could serve and not get burned out. I learned how to become a human-being again instead of a busy, impatient human-doer. I interned at Treasure House, a transitional housing facility for single moms. I rubbed shoulders with women who were heroine addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, homeless, mentally ill, and suffering from nasty relationships. As I heard the stories of these broken women, my heart cried out for them. Yet as they heard my story, they hurt for me also. As I was serving, I was being served."
— Hannah Watters, Northwestern College in Iowa
Mission
Provide an opportunity for college students to consider challenges from the “margins of society” and give space to reflect upon God’s direction for their lives.
"When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd."
- Jesus, as recorded by Matthew
Values
• learning from the poor
• servant leadership
• spiritual formation
• academic excellence
• cultural competency
• holistic worldview
