Spring Break is arguably the favorite week of the spring semester, and rightly so. For one week, and one week only, everyone on campus spreads out all over the world. Some people go to the beach and some go skiing, and many others go home and sleep. This year, several Ouachita students had exciting stories to share when they got back last week.
One of those students was Austin Sowerbutts, freshman Christian studies and philosophy double major from Hot Springs, Ark. Sowerbutts traveled out west with his family for a week of beautiful sight-seeing.
A few of the places he visited were The Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, and Sedona, Ariz.
Because there were some glitches along the way, like the car breaking down, accidentally taking the wrong bike route and sleeping past the first view of The Grand Canyon, Sowerbutts’s trip was memorable for more than just the beauty of nature.
Sowerbutts, a lover of adventure and photography, had never been to The Grand Canyon before.
“My jaw has never dropped like it did this time,” Sowerbutts said.
However, it was Antelope Canyon that captured his attention the most. He described it as, “probably the prettiest thing I’ve seen in nature.”
“Anyone who likes to be outdoors should go on this trip. It was definitely more oriented to nature than it was to, like, a mission trip that is more people-oriented,” Sowerbutts said.
People-oriented mission trips are exactly what other Ouachita students, like Katlin Dixon, junior business major from Conway, Ark. did.
Dixon, along with a college group from her home church in Conway, Woodland Heights Baptist Church, traveled across the world to share the gospel in Southeast Asia. The team visited a college and spent time building relationships and getting local people connected to the church, as well as hosting events like a barbecue to draw crowds.
The college students at the school they visited, although most were Buddhist, were very open and excited to talk to Americans about Christianity, simply to become more knowledgeable.
“A lot of these people have literally never seen Americans or white people, so they were very interested in talking to you and getting to know you,” Dixon said.
This mission trip was unique for Dixon because it was unlike many other mission trips she has been on. Instead of playing with kids or doing construction work, they had immediate and intentional conversations with strangers every day.
“If I had five different conversations in a day, I would be explaining the Gospel five different times which was really special to me. I don’t know, it’s powerful. It had a big impact on me too, just, thinking about what Christ did for me, that many times,” Dixon said.
Dixon was also very impacted by the devotedness of different religions. It was an eye-opener for her to see other people be so dedicated to their, when she sees Christians serve the one true God with not nearly as much devotion.
“The first time we went to a Mosque, it was so overwhelming, just because, all these people are just so dedicated to the Islam religion. It’s just sad to see that. Just being there you could feel the darkness,” Dixon said.
While Sowerbutts was taking pictures of beautiful scenery and Dixon was sharing the Gospel, other students, like Brenton Butcher, freshman Christian studies major from Flippin, Ark., were hitting the slopes.
Butcher visited Crested Butte, Colo., and went skiing for the first time.
“On my first trip, my dad took me to the top of the mountain and told me I would know how to ski when I got down. I fell at least ten times, but by the end of the week, I could ski double blacks with my dad,” Butcher said.
Whether spring break was spent with family, at the beach, in the mountains, or across the world, students agree that Spring Break travels are always memorable.
“One of the big reasons I travel is to inspire people to do the same,” said Sowerbutts.
By Katie Jo Henley
