Students on the trip to Rome toured the Pantheon, the Coliseum, and the Vatican.
During spring break, students traveled internationally on the university’s newly designed “flagship” trips to Tokyo, Rome, and Israel, as well as a two-part trip to Paris and London.
The trips, organized through LU Send, the university’s new centralized office for all student travel, gave students an opportunity to earn academic credit while being immersed in a new culture. Students also engaged with local community members through various service opportunities.
It was the first time many students had traveled overseas.
“I had never been out of the country and experienced another culture before,” said Callie Lehner, a junior studying psychology, who went to Rome.
Lehner and her group visited the Pantheon, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, and the Vatican. On their service day, they engaged with students at a local university.
She called the trip “the best of both worlds.”
“I not only wanted to see all the sights and be a tourist, but I also wanted to get to know the people of Rome,” Lehner said. “The flagship trips are unique, because they are not just meant for academic purposes; they are also meant for spiritual growth. It is amazing to see the ways God uses us when we willingly let Him move through us.”
Dr. Ben Gutierrez, vice provost for academic administration and a professor of divinity, teaches students on the southern staircase of the Temple in Israel.
The Israel trip included visits to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa, the Empty Tomb, the Mount of Beatitudes, and the Southern Temple staircase. Students also had the opportunity to be baptized in the Jordan River.
“We were intentional about allowing time for students to contemplate what the Scriptures tell us occurred in these areas as well as to pray and ask God for His empowerment to obey what Jesus taught there,” said Dr. Ben Gutierrez, vice provost for academic administration and a leader on the trip.
Students also spent a day working at a local children’s home.
In Tokyo, students visited popular tourist sites and witnessed traditional Japanese ceremonies. Adriane Guy, a senior education student, said the trip taught her to keep her focus on Christ.
“We had fun on the trip and got to do a lot of tourist activities, but we were also constantly reminded to pray over the people we were meeting and to take everything in through the filter of showing Christ in our actions.”
Opportunities for traveling abroad and interacting with new cultures abound at Liberty. In addition to the flagship trips, other student groups represented the university around the world during spring break: students from the Rawlings School of Divinity studied in England and Scotland, the Department of Global Studies sent students to work with a tribe in Ecuador, nursing students provided medical care in Haiti, and students from the Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies ministered to sex trafficking victims in Baltimore.
The trips included athletics teams as well; players and coaches of Liberty’s Division I men’s hockey team spent 10 days in East Asia, where they competed against international teams.
Students also have other opportunities for travel throughout the year. Most recently, the Department of Studio & Digital Arts traveled to London and Paris; the School of Business traveled to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy; the Center for Judaic Studies traveled to Israel; the Department of Theological Studies traveled to Romania; the Department of Global Studies traveled to France; and the Helms School of Government traveled to Guatemala.
- For more information on Liberty’s trips, contact the LU Send office at (434) 592-6455.
