There is a student organization at Messiah College that has recently been drawing much attention from students and alumni. It’s Messiah’s student alumni council Eyas, an organization that seeks to build school spirit and tradition, unify students and connect the student body with alumni. Eyas was founded in 2006 and has quickly grown in popularity as its members have been creating exciting programming for students and alumni. 

So, where did a council with such unique impact find an equally unusual name? According to Eyas’ website, “An eyas is a falcon in the stage of its development when it learns to fly. This stage occurs right before the falcon leaves its mother to exist on its own. In the same way, Eyas looks to positively impact students during their time at Messiah before they move on to their various future endeavors.” (more…)

Just a few miles south of Messiah College, a 244-year-old farm is the site of an archaeological dig involving Messiah students, young participants in the Oakes Museum Curator Club, and older adults from nearby Messiah Village’s Pathways Institute for Lifelong Learning. The treasures from this effort aren’t simply the artifacts buried beneath the ground.  The great value, according to the dig directors, is in collaboratively exploring regional history, answering real research questions and adopting keen problem solving skills.

David Pettegrew, a professor in the Department of History, and Ken Mark, director of the Oakes Museum of Natural History, are overseeing the dig at the Stouffer Farm, a York County property dating back to 1767. The dig has been underway since fall 2010. (more…)

On Feb. 7, Chad Frey, director of Messiah College’s Agape Center for Service and Learning, and Hope Hess ‘12, student director of outreach, participated alongside Dr. Sybil Knight-Burney, superintendent of the Harrisburg School District, in a round-table discussion facilitated by the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

This is not the first time Messiah has partnered with the Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  This past summer, Messiah joined the White House’s Interfaith Campus Community Challenge, which encourages increased student service in the community.

The round-table discussion focused on the role of faith-based organizations and colleges in helping low performing schools and a possible partnership between those organizations and the White House. Since the discussion, the partnership, entitled “Together for Tomorrow,” has been announced by the Obama administration. (more…)

From left to right, Jason Long, Michael Adams, and Zach Felix. (Student Anthony Spargo and advisor Scott Weaver are missing from this picture.)

As if it’s not impressive enough to solve four challenging computer programming problems in five hours, a Messiah College team—comprised of students Michael Adams `13, Anthony Spargo `13 and Zachary Felix `15—solved the problems correctly and quickly enough to earn them third place in the Mid Atlantic United States Regional Programming Contest of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).

The impressiveness of their accomplishment does not end there however. The team, led by advisors Jason Long `03, ITS employee; Scott Weaver ‘85, computer science professor; and Jonathan Corbin `03, was notified in mid-December that their stellar regional performance earned them a coveted invitation to compete in the ACM World Competition in Warsaw, Poland in May.

Messiah College will be one of only 20 American colleges and universities competing at the international level! (more…)

The Messiah College soccer teams are passionate about finding ways to use their talent to impact the lives around them, reaching beyond the fan section at Shoemaker Field. What started with tutoring at local churches elevated into summer camps with local refugees and eventually led to a new vision for sports ministry at Messiah College.

The call to engage in local outreach began when Aaron Faro, the assistant coach for the men’s soccer team, joined the Messiah community in 2009. Before accepting a coaching position at Messiah, Faro played for the Charlotte Eagles, a professional soccer team that engages in sport ministry. His experiences were testimony to the power of using sport as a form of ministry, and he passed a shared enthusiasm onto his players at Messiah. (more…)

When we roll out of bed each morning a similar routine typically ensues: flip on the lights, take a shower, start the coffee maker, watch the news, pop bread in the toaster, read e-mails, blow dry hair, and open the garage door. What often gets overlooked in this whole process is the amount of electricity we use. Students at Messiah, however, are combating over-use of electricity by encouraging each other to “turn it off.”

Why “Turn it Off?”
The “Turn if Off” campaign, funded by a PA Department of Environmental Protection grant, is a student initiative born out of Earthkeepers, the biology club that educates students about Christian stewardship to God’s creation, and the Restoration House, a community of students living in an off-campus house who commit to limit energy use and reduce waste. The energy reduction campaign they proposed inspired creative and fun competition among students living in campus apartments.

The real objective of the “Turn if Off” campaign goes much farther than friendly competition; it serves a dual purpose of preparing students to receive and understand real utility bills and also to track their energy use in campus apartments. Students residing in apartments receive monthly electric bills, showing them the amount of kilowatt hours they consumed, how much their apartment’s electric costs and the overall use of each apartment building. By sending students mock bills, the College hopes to bring awareness to lifestyle choices, promote responsible living as stewards of God’s creation and lower overall electricity consumption at Messiah. (more…)

An immigrant from South Africa and fluent in four languages, senior biology major Bianca Basch nurtured her passion for international development last year by living, studying and interning in Thailand. Basch traveled abroad after receiving a prestigious award, the Boren Scholarship, given to U.S. students looking to study in a country of national security interest.

The scholarship administered by the Institute of International Education is designed to promote linguistic and cultural immersion, providing students with the “resources and encouragement they need to acquire skills and experiences in areas of the world critical to the future security of our nation.” In exchange, students agree to seek at least a year’s worth of work in a position of national security for the federal government.

Prior to applying, Basch spent a semester in Thailand in 2009 with GoEd, a study abroad program that partners with Messiah, and she adopted a strong connection to the country’s culture and language. Basch returned to Thailand after receiving the esteemed scholarship for a year-long study focusing on sustainable development.  “Thailand is a very colorful nation,” she explained. “The people are friendly, the lifestyle is inexpensive and the food is delicious. There is also a strong emphasis on human rights with issues such as sex-trafficking, and that really interest me.”

Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand, welcomed Basch for the first four months of her experience. She took major-related courses at this respected international college, learning and interacting with students from across the globe.

Basch then dove into hands-on projects in Chaingmai for her final six months in Thailand. Living and working on a vocational Bible school compound, Basch enhanced her qualitative research skills through a sustainable agriculture internship. “We executed four pilot projects,” explained Basch. “Each project was centered around three overall goals: financial sustainability, food sustainability and education in agricultural vocation.”

“My favorite project was soap-making,” Basch shared. She also participated in a project on vermicomposting, a form of aerobic composting that involves the use of worms to help break down organic waste materials in soil. Her experience inspired the creation of her seniors honor project: Messiah’s first vermicompost sustainability endeavor on campus. Basch said that she hopes “to get a lot of people involved. I want it to be a big student interest. I’m partnering with some professors, but I want it to be a student-managed project.”

Looking back on her experiences, Basch encourages other students to study internationally. “Students should study with a program that really cares where they are and what they are doing,” she advises. At the same time, don’t take Messiah for granted. “I think a lot of people are too harsh on Messiah,” Basch explained. “They don’t realize how rare it is to have this kind of Christian community. From chapel to class to everyday conversations, students at Messiah have the opportunity to engage in constant dialogue about faith or difficult issues.”

Basch is still open to what the future holds for her after graduation. While her interests in international sustainable development may eventually take her to graduate school, Basch hopes to acquire more hands-on experience first. “A master’s degree in sustainable agriculture doesn’t say much unless you get your hands dirty first,” Basch explained.

Basch also shared her interest in helping immigrant populations. “This was a constant reality as I lived in Thailand and met refugees who escaped Burma or Laos,” she said. “When I came to the U.S. as an eight-year-old, I remember trying to learn to be different yet still retain my South African culture.” Basch is excited to help others and for whatever the future may have in store, but for now, she is happy to be back in the Messiah community for her final year.

Story by Mary-Grace MacNeil `13

On any Monday night during fall or spring semester, all of her friends know where to find Hope Mead – in the Uptown neighborhood of Harrisburg. Each week, she leads a group of students to serve 20 to 30 inner-city children at Abba’s Place.

Abba’s Place is a 14-year-old ministry that started at New Heritage Christian Church when Messiah College students attending the church noticed the need for more adults to serve the children’s ministry. Since its inception, this weekly Bible School ministry has been led by Messiah students and sustained through alumni involvement under the direction of the church’s pastor, Scott Barkley.

According to Barkley, “Abba’s Place, from where we stand, serves as a line of defense in terms of deterring children from a life of drugs, crime, teenage pregnancy, poverty and other negative life paths.” Through the program, Messiah students have influenced children to complete high school and go to college.

Student leadership
An art education major graduating in 2012, Mead began serving at Abba’s Place during her first year at Messiah.  She kept coming back because she grew to love the kids she serves. “Seeing each one of their smiling faces every week was so encouraging and a wonderful break from the intensity of classes and homework.”

By Mead’s sophomore year, she was ready to step into a leadership role which includes organizing and recruiting student volunteers for Abba’s Place. She has identified a large number of benefits for Messiah students who volunteer with the ministry. “They get an opportunity to focus on someone other than themselves, to learn about another culture, to be encouraged by the love, the joy and the energy of the kids.” Messiah students also benefit from an upfront look at the needs of the local community.                    

Abba’s Place would not run without Messiah students. They are the playground supervisors, the worship leaders, the planners, the teachers, and the friends of the children.

Alumni involvement
When Abba’s Place started it had a mascot, Duct Tape Man. Fourteen years later, Duct Tape Man or Chad Swartzentruber ’00 is still serving the ministry—albeit without a duct tape mask or cape. Affectionately known to the group as “Mr. Chad,” he works in the church’s daycare and has become a cornerstone in children’s lives in the community. 

Throughout the years, students have become attached to the community and the children and find themselves still involved with Abba’s Place years after graduation. According to Swartzentruber, “Alumni give continuity to the program. They help teach the new volunteers what to do. They help the children adjust to new people.”

Barkley understands that Messiah students and alumni are receiving as well as giving through their involvement with Abba’s Place. “I have stated for years to new students that while you are coming into the ‘hood’ to give of yourselves, I promise that you will take back to the campus more than what you left with in terms of the experience. The alumni, if they hang around, are able to see firsthand a ‘return on their investment’ – far exceeding any investment on Wall Street.” 

Abba’s Place serves children ages pre-kindergarten to fourth grade on Monday nights and children ages fifth grade through high school on Wednesday nights during the school year.

If you are interested in learning more about Abba’s Place and how you can be involved, contact the Agape Center for Service and Learning at 717-796-1800, ext. 7255.
Story by Rachel Crownover `09, a member of the College’s Alumni Council and volunteer at Abba’s Place since 2006.

What started as childhood affection for historical fiction—particularly Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House”—has grown into a passion for American history that now finds senior Katie Garland immersed in early American life as a member of the prestigious Historic Deerfield Summer Fellowship Program.

Love of stories
“Part of my love for history comes from a love for stories,” Garland says. “It is fascinating to see how the world today came to be.”

This summer, Garland is finding out plenty about the Americans that lived in Deerfield, Mass. between 1600-1850. Garland was chosen from among 350 applicants to study material culture and decorative arts with seven other history or art history majors in the historic town of Deerfield, known for its public collections of art and antiques from early New England. (more…)

Junior Roxanne Benedict traveled to Kenya during a May 2010 cross-cultural course, and returned to campus inspired and motivated to positively impact the lives of Kenyan children affected by poverty and AIDS.

Together with Dawn Gearhart, instructor of family and consumer sciences, Benedict, a family and consumer sciences major, devised a plan to sew book bags; fill them with school supplies, hygiene products, books and notes of encouragement; and deliver them to Kenyan children.

Benedict, through participation in the Pennsylvania Family and Consumer Sciences Conference in Gilbertsville, Pa., in October of 2010 was able to secure additional assistance from family and consumer science majors across the state. Soon the project was embraced by dozens of like-minded students and professors.

“I just felt God’s hand was behind it all,” said Benedict. Students spent class time sewing the bags from materials provided by teachers and parents. (more…)