SEND Service/Immersion Mission Trips

Assumption University

SEND Service/Immersion Mission Trips

Sign Up for SEND: An Assumption Tradition of Service, Immersion and Mission!

SEND is Assumption’s primary opportunity for service/immersion travel. These trips, which take place during various University breaks, include domestic and international destinations. Students participating in the trips bond with classmates prior to the trip in preparatory meetings that use materials from Catholic Relief Services, and opportunities for reflection and faith-sharing during the trip invite students to consider how the experiences of the trip call them to grow and to live out the implications of their faith.

December 10-17 (Christmas Break):
El Paso, Texas

Deadline to sign up is soon!

In El Paso, we are hosted by El Otro Lado, a program which introduces groups from U.S. schools to many of the issues related to migration at the U.S./Mexico border. We visit with the U.S. Border Patrol, legal aid workers who assist migrants with the asylum process, a community center that supports agricultural day laborers, a coop for migrant artists and craftspeople, and various church groups that host migrants who are in transit between detention with ICE and living with family or friends in the U.S. while awaiting their asylum hearing. We spend a day with the Assumptionists who staff a parish next to one of the bridges connecting El Paso with Juarez, Mexico. On another day, we visit the Religious of the Assumption Sisters who minister to migrants in nearby Chaparral, New Mexico, and then spend several hours hiking and sliding on the white gypsum sand dunes of White Sands National Park.

February 25-March 4 (Spring Break):
Camden, New Jersey

Just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia is Camden, New Jersey, one of the poorest urban areas in the U.S. Hosted by the Romero Center, we spend the days in direct service at schools and community centers across the city. Each night, we gather as a group to process and reflect on the experiences of the day. In one particularly memorable and poignant exercise, we purchase and prepare our food using only the average amount of money that a person in poverty would have for their daily food.

May 8-16 (week after Commencement):
Duran, Ecuador

During our international SEND trip, we are hosted by Rostro de Cristo and live with a small faith-based community of recent college graduates who are devoting a year to volunteer service among the poor on the outskirts of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second largest city. During the week, we visit various partner organizations including Fundacion Nuevo Mundo, a bilingual school for the disadvantaged of Durán and Guayaquil, and Hogar de Cristo, an international Jesuit organization that provides affordable housing and social services to the poor. We also accompany the post-graduate volunteers to their service sites at various after-school programs. Familiarity with Spanish is a plus, but not a requirement, for this trip.

The Time to Apply is Now!

All trips are accompanied by a student leader and a campus minister. The cost of the trips varies depending on the location and the airfare to that location. An initial, non-refundable deposit is due after submitting an application and having an initial interview. The balance of the cost is payable in two installments. Some financial aid is available.

Whether you are interested in traveling during Christmas Break, during Spring Break or after Commencement, the time to sign up is NOW!

Click here to complete the application.

For more information, contact Dr. Jonathan Bezdegian in Campus Ministry.