Engineering students minister in North Africa

Union engineering professor Randy Schwindt watches as a school girl colors a packet about renewable energy.

JACKSON, Tenn. – March 30, 2006– From the edge of the Sahara Desert to the heights of the snowy Atlas Mountains, North Africa’s terrain reflects the same diversity as its many peoples.

“I think that it struck me that I was no longer in West Tennessee when we were surrounded by North Africans in the first place that we ate and blessed our food with our eyes open as if we were talking with one another,” said Jon Brasher, an engineering major from Union University.

Brasher and five others from Union University experienced many culture shocks as they spent spring break in North Africa on a mission trip. It was just one of 11 Global Opportunities teams Union sent out worldwide over spring break to such places as France, Romania, Honduras, Guatemala, Canada, Boston, New York and Chicago.

The purpose of the trips is to broaden students’ worldviews and to give them a chance to serve across cultures. Three engineering majors, two French majors and an engineering professor made up the North African team.

The students used their strengths to work together for a common goal. They taught children in elementary schools about renewable energy and discussed the possibilities for an artesian well with university students.

The goal was to build relationships and maximize the usage of the region’s resources in order for some missionaries who live in the area to have a platform for their ministry.

“Seeing the missionaries in action was encouraging,” said Andy Robinette, a junior engineering major. “We knew that they were working under a platform that indeed served people, but that their motivation in being there was to share the gospel with people.”

The engineering students and professor worked on the technical aspects of the project beforehand and inquired about scientific details when in North Africa. The French majors provided cultural insight and translated for the group.

“It was amazing how the Lord used our passion for the French language to communicate with people in a useful way,” said French major Kristin Schaefer. “It shocks me to think that before I even decided to pursue French in high school, the Lord had already planned to use this gift for His work in North Africa.”

The team experienced many parts of North African culture. They ate the traditional couscous and tajine meals, haggled with vendors in the medina, spoke a little Arabic and slept in a Berber household in the mountains.

“As I sat down with a native in his home, I realized how he was starving for unity of believers,” Robinette said. “The burdensome thought for him and me is that the nearest Christians are three hours away by car, and he doesn’t even have one.”

The poverty of the region caught the attention of team members. With little lighting and no heating, the children in the schools bundled themselves in their coats to study each morning. Some had to walk miles to school in the snow. After eating in an elaborately-decorated house next to one poverty-stricken school, the team saw the misplaced priorities in this land.

“The eagerness of the rural children to be taught was profound,” Robinette said. “To know that most all of them will not receive much more education — leaving their intelligence untapped — was a saddening thought.”

Commenting on another aspect of the culture, Schaefer said, “The women are so young when they get married, subjected usually to a husband not of their choice, and they live the rest of their lives in the same monotony. Rarely leaving the house, they cook and clean and have no hope or excitement.”

Schaefer spent one night in a mud house without running water, much electricity or an inside oven. She further said that even without these luxuries, which most Americans would deem necessities, the people were generous and friendly. The family made a huge meal for the guests. Later, the young Berber women tied scarves around Schaefer and her friend and taught them how to dance.

“We experienced grace after grace,” said team leader Randy Schwindt, an engineering professor at Union. “We had a wonderful time working and building relationships with the missionaries, the school children, the university students and the university professors.”

By Katie Beth Kelley (’08)