INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INNOVATIVE MINISTRIES n INN

The name Baptist is synonymous with mission. In spite of the many cultural and theological differences within the global Baptist family, we stand resolutely united in our passion and persistence to serve others.

Whether it is healing the sick or feeding the hungry, educating children or caring for the elderly, ministering in urban centers or in rural communities, to be a Baptist is to put into practice Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself.

Courtesy Mercer University

Mercer on Mission by Craig McMahan

In 1833, Baptist preachers Billington Sanders, Jesse Mercer and Adiel Sherwood, established Mercer Institute to prepare young men to serve the churches and communities scattered across the hard, red clay of rural Georgia. Mercer students were not only required to take a rigorous array of courses including math, science and classical languages, but also to commit three hours per day to manual labor. Why this two-pronged approach? First, learning that did not result in the service to others would be a useless and ill-afforded luxury on the southern frontier. Second, service that was not grounded in understanding would likely be wasteful at best and harmful at worst. The founding vision of Sanders, Mercer and Sherwood was that Mercer graduates would make a difference in the world through an education built on academic excellence and a commitment to service. Today, Mercer University continues to embrace that deeply-

rooted Baptist mission of service to others through one of its signature programs, Mercer On Mission (MOM). In 2006, newly elected Mercer President William Underwood instructed

Above: Mercer on Mission participants working on a water tank in Kenya

Below: A MOM project in Kenya, where the focus is building and installing small water-filtration units appropriate for households, using locally available, relatively cheap materials.

University Minister and Dean of the Chapel Craig McMahan to launch an initiative that would send Mercer students around the world in a program that combined learning and service. The very next year 38 Mercer students and seven faculty members embarked on the first MOM venture that sent teams to Brazil, Guatemala and Kenya. Over the following seven years nearly 800 students have been in 29 of the world’s poorest countries working on high-impact service projects that make a significant difference in impoverished local communities. MOM is a five-week summer school program that integrates

learning and service. Students who participate must take two three-hour courses that are required for their particular program. These courses are carefully designed to prepare students to serve effectively by teaching them about the cultural context in which they will be working and by researching best-practice approaches to the problem their project will address. For example, a MOM team will return to Kenya in 2015 to continue working on a project that is bringing clean water to the village of Sisit. Participating students will take EGR 491: Water, Sanitation, Energy and Appropriate Development in Sub-Saharan Africa, and AFR 300: Kutana: Traditional Societies and Contemporary Issues in the Kenyan Context. This combination of courses will expose them to cutting edge research in hydrology and to cultural complexities of the community where they will work. Schooled in technical competence and cultural sensitivity, Mercer students will effectively and thoughtfully serve the people of Sisit. Unlike many church mission trips, MOM is able to bring the

full intellectual resources of the university to bear on some of the most pressing humanitarian crises in a way that truly makes a difference. Consequently, MOM service projects take on some extremely challenging problems. Since 2009, MOM has provided

Courtesy Mercer University JANUARY/MARCH 2015

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