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News

Trip will put faith into action

Winter conference, volunteering endeavor will be held in New Orleans

by Gabrielle Lyons
The Daily Cougar

United Campus Ministries and United Methodist Wesley Foundation invite students to participate in a faith-based conference and disaster relief in New Orleans over winter break.

Participants will leave from UH on Dec. 28 and return Jan. 6.

From Dec. 28 to Jan.1, students will attend a Christian International Student Conference event called Celebrate, which represents several Christian denominations including Disciples of Christ, the Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church.

"It happens once every four years, so it's the one opportunity students in college now have to go to this conference," Rev. Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson, director of United Campus Ministries, said. "And it being in New Orleans this year, we got jazz groups and others who are going to come and play as part of the worship and the program for this conference.

"With Celebrate, it is an opportunity to get together with 1,200 students who share your faith coming from places all over the country -- some of them from around the world -- and to celebrate the diversity of people who share the faith and their experiences living that faith out in different parts of the country and different parts of the world."

After the conference, the group will move to a volunteer village and work for four days in disaster relief in New Orleans. Students will be allowed to explore the city after each workday.

"The genius of the trip is to tie into this conference the idea of Christian service," Rev. Stacy Pever Anzick, director of United Methodist Wesley Foundation, said.

Anzick reflected on her own experience with how community service can put one's situation in perspective.

"When I was in high school, my family didn't really have a lot of money, and so I always felt kind of less than my friends who could buy designer jeans and that kind of thing," Anzick said. "But then when I went on trips where people literally had nothing … So there is some sense of, ‘Well, I had a lot more than I thought I did.'"

The trip won't require much of an out-of-pocket expense from participants, Blackwell-Eagleson said.

"I've just been given a scholarship grant so that it won't cost any more than $250, even for students who can afford to pay," Blackwell-Eagleson said. "Students are required to put down a $50 deposit, but if they need a scholarship for the rest of the amount, then we'll find a way to fund it for them. We do not want anyone to not be able to participate because of funding."

Students who only wish to participate in the volunteering part of the trip will have to pay $75 but are still required to put down the $50 deposit. They are also eligible for the scholarship.

The deadline for registration is Nov. 15 and there is room for only 20 students. For more information, e-mail Blackwell-Eagleson at ucmgh@uh.edu.
 

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