Carson-Newman students ready to spend spring break in service

Carson-Newman University student Bevan Brown, left, plays with a new friend during last year’s SPOTS mission trip to Guatemala. Since clean water is a challenge in remote areas of the country, several C-N students will be returning during spring break to deliver additional water filters to those in need.

Carson-Newman University students will spend their spring break serving locations ranging from Knoxville and Chattanooga to Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. The break will run throughout the week of March 16.

The annual spring break mission trips, known as SPOTS, offer students the opportunity to serve regionally and even internationally. Service opportunities include ministering to children and teens at Chattanooga’s Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home, a youth outreach backpack ministry in North Carolina, and beach ministry in Florida.

Associate Director of Campus Ministries Chad Morris says that these trips attract anywhere from 120 to 150 students each spring to make a difference regionally and internationally. However, Morris says the service also plays a role in students’ growth.

“These trips are instrumental in the student’s faith development,” he explained. “It becomes less of a one-time service project and more of a catalyst for a lifestyle of service.”

Morris remembers one former student, who was never involved in campus ministry before attending a SPOTS trip. Nearly a decade later, the former student continues to visit the same children’s home for at least one week during the summer.

“It is not just about going and serving someone in need,” Morris said. “It affects those serving as well.”

Campus ministries student praise band, Seed Company, will be involved in music missions in Maryville and Nashville, while Carson-Newman’s premier vocal ensemble, A Cappella Choir, will perform in churches across Tennessee as part of their annual spring break tour and music ministry.

Carson-Newman University is a private, Christian liberal arts institution. Founded in 1851, Carson-Newman is located in Jefferson City, Tenn., among the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. The University has 2,045 students and offers 50 undergraduate majors, as well as bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. The institution’s website is cn.edu