A Missional Mission.

The Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing is deeply committed to LEARN. LEAD. SERVE. and that is incredibly evident in the plan for our Zambia mission.  Our trip is designed to fulfill all three aspects of this profound mission and calling.

The opportunities to LEARN. seem to lie boundlessly before us as we begin our journey together.  We will experience the riches, beauty, history, and diversity of three different countries as we travel:  from the lavish sites of Dubai to the solemnity of Johannesburg, South Africa with the beauty and rawness of Zambia sandwiched in-between.  There will be much to process from seeing all of which humankind is capable ranging from the highest achievements of architectural, artistic, and financial success to the manner in which we can deprive and subjugate one another to great injustices.  Not only will we see great structures of steel and a man-made island, but we will also see suffering and the impact of injustice on a nation.  We will witness wealth and poverty; health and illness; peace and conflict.  From it all we shall seek to learn how to be better citizens of our world; how to be the hands and feet of Jesus in places where that is most needed; and how to be better caretakers of those who cross our paths.


Each of us shall LEAD. this trip.  Dr. Lori Spies and I are conducting a leadership research project as part of this mission and each member of the team is an active and vital contributor to the project.  In addition, Karly Kodzis and Hailey Halgren are serving as Research Assistants.  All of the students have been leading as we prepare and now that we are a world away, their jobs begin to take shape.  They will learn to be transformative in the way that they lead and will hone their leadership strengths through each aspect of the trip, the people whom they encounter, and from one another.

SERVE.  It is the reason that we are on this trip and our purpose for committing ourselves to this missional endeavor.  We have each been uniquely called and prepared to serve the people of Zambia at this time.  Please join us in praying for our service that it might sacrificial and that those who are in most need of what we can offer will find their way to us in the days to come.



Baylor’s Nursing School shares wholeheartedly in the University’s mission to prepare men and women for worldwide leadership and service.  The upcoming days will demonstrate to each of us that the world indeed is wide and the needs are deep.  May we be prepared to do all that is asked of us to the glory of God.


By way of update…we are in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).  Travel and logistics to this point have been quite smooth.  We are incredibly tired from the 14-hour flight, nine hour time difference, and 111 degree heat!  Each of us in need of a solid night of sleep before an early return to the airport and our flights to our final destination of Ndola, Zambia.  Thank you for the prayers that have already been offered and those that will continue to come.  We are grateful to all who are supporting and encouraging us in their own unique ways.

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