Christ for the City International hosted a service trip called the Urban Plunge to Omaha that was co-sponsored by Spiritual Life and Student Move.

The goal of the trip was to help students overcome fear of approaching people in different circumstances, expose them to urban poverty, and demonstrate that those they met are worthy of care and have their own insights to offer.

Ivy Story, assistant director of CASE, gave her insight into the goal of the trip, highlighting its importance.

“We’re going in and working with people who already have a good relationship and helping them kind of further their efforts and reach their goals. But also, that helps us reach our goals of, you know, helping the community around us,”  Story said.

On Feb. 27, Melanie Hauser, Ivy Story, and six student participants drove to Omaha, Neb., and settled in, which included volunteering at a soup kitchen. On Saturday, they visited three or four city locations to examine Omaha’s history, what goes on around the city, urban dynamics, and causes of concentrated poverty. On Sunday morning, the team attended a large church service before returning from the trip.

Blessing bags have been put together to give to people that contain snacks and hygiene items. Additionally, personalized Bibles with highlighted scriptures and notes were put together by spiritual life students to give to people. 

Melanie Hauser, university chaplain, believes in the importance of these personalized Bibles and explained why she believes these gifts alone will make an impact.

“And it’s that, like, somebody’s thinking about them and praying for them, too, and it’s personalized,” said Hauser. 

The cost of the trip, including housing and food, was $235 per person, which was covered by Spiritual Life. Several people have donated money to Spiritual Life over the years to pay for volunteer opportunities and mission trips because they believe in the importance of making someone else’s life better through these funds.