Becky Kennedy

Transcript

Derek Smith:
Hello, and welcome to Baylor Connections, a conversation series with the people shaping our future. Each week, we go in depth with Baylor leaders, professors and more, discussing important topics in higher education, research and student life. I'm Derek Smith, and today we are talking Baylor Missions. Baylor Missions, Service and Public Life facilitates opportunities for students to connect with the world around them through missions trips around the globe, through service close to home and more. With the semester drawing to a close, hundreds of students will soon be traveling around the globe, and many of those students participated in a special commissioning service late last month.
We're visiting today with Becky Kennedy. Becky serves as assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Missions and is an associate chaplain in Baylor Spiritual Life, and know there's a lot going on this time of year as you get students ready to go where they're going and make sure all the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed, and Becky, really appreciate you taking the time to visit with us today and share with us.

Becky Kennedy:
Absolutely, Derek, I'm glad to be here with you.

Derek Smith:
Well, great to visit and to get a picture of where our students are headed and what that's going to look like. So just to get started, for you, what does this time of year, this specific time of year, mid-May, end of the semester, feel like to you, as these experiences that have long been planned are becoming a reality once again?

Becky Kennedy:
Right, great question. Well, as I was thinking about that, what it feels like is if you've ever done or trained for an endurance event, marathon, half-marathon, triathlon, it feels very much like that. So you have done all the training, you've done everything that you can up to this point, you're both tired, but you're also excited about the event itself. So that's what it feels like for us.

Derek Smith:
That's great. I laugh, but I should clarify, I have not personally trained for a marathon or triathlon, but I can only imagine, and I feel like that's a very good analogy that you just made there for us, you and your team. Mission trips are not limited to the summer months, you have them going on Christmas break, spring break, other times throughout the year, but is this really the prime season, is that fair to say?

Becky Kennedy:
It is fair to say. Before COVID, May was certainly when we sent the largest groups of students and teams out. And then, probably a couple of years after, we started launching our teams again after COVID, spring break was more of the bulk of our trips. But now, since we're five years out, May has now returned back to being the season when the largest amount of our students go.

Derek Smith:
Visiting with Becky Kennedy, and Becky, where are some of the places that our students are headed this month and throughout the summer?

Becky Kennedy:
Sure. We have some of our teams are returning, and that's one of the things that we want to see happen, we want to see our teams returning to the same places to working on long-term projects. So we have Dr. Doug Henry, dean of the Honors College, is taking a group to Greece again, I think this is probably his fourth or fifth time to go. We have a team of pre-vet students returning to Guatemala to work at a huge animal shelter there. We have one of our initiatives working with first generation students, so we work with first abroad fellows, with the Office of the Center for Global Engagement. So it's our first generation students, a lot of times this is their first trip ever out of the country, so that's a great... They go to the Dominican Republic.
And then, we have a couple of new trips this year. I, for one, am leading a trip of students, along with our director of Chapel, Dr. Erin Moniz, we're doing a spiritual pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, so we're really excited about that. There'll be more of that to come in the future, so maybe that'll be a future Baylor Connections we can talk about. We have a trip going to Kenya to an organization called Naomi's Village, which was founded by and run by Baylor graduates, so that is exciting for us. And so, I could go on and on, but that's just a little bit of a snippet of where they're going this year.

Derek Smith:
You paint a picture that we can talk about just by describing those, you see different continents, different disciplines, different approaches, but there's that connective tissue that's a part of these opportunities that ties them all together. So we're going to step away from those a second, but focus on what brings that all together as we come back to them later on. So I'm curious, as we visit with Becky Kennedy from Baylor Spiritual Life, Becky, take us inside Missions, Service and Public Life here at Baylor. How would you describe its mission and the way that I think the traditional missions trips that a lot of us picture are a part of that, but they're not the whole of it?

Becky Kennedy:
That's right, Derek. For us, we do missions in the context of higher education, so it's going to look different than a mission trip from your local church, it's going to look different than a mission trip through a mission sending agency, like Go Now Missions from the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which many of our Baylor students also go on during the summer. Ours is focused on discipline-specific approach to missions, because we feel like that is the best context at Baylor to do that within the field of what they're studying, because our trips are led by faculty and staff in the area of their expertise.

Derek Smith:
So they work with students, and it ties the elements of faith, it ties the elements of calling and vocation together. For the faculty who are part of this, it sounds like some have been going for many years, obviously some are going to be first time, what's that opportunity like for them and how are they prepared to really engage the students on the trips to make the most of however long they're together?

Becky Kennedy:
Sure. I would say that it's truly a partnership with that academic unit, and I'll give you some examples. We have a project that we've just begun in Barcenas, Guatemala, with an organization called One More Child, that is an organization based in Florida that has community centers all over the globe. They focus on women and children ministry mainly, and we work with them in many places, but we've pinpointed a project in Barcenas, which is a rural... It's a town, but it's also very much on the fringes of what resources are available to them.
So we have begun a partnership there, and quickly we realized that we needed some expertise in the area of interior design. So my assistant director, Sarah Nelson, reached out to one of the folks in interior design, one of the faculty members, and next thing we knew, we had three excited and very talented interior design faculty traveling with us to Guatemala back last fall and just becoming so enthusiastic about this project, and while we were there, they were thinking about our students can do this and our students can do that. Well, they came back and for the spring semester, they embedded this project as one of the projects in their studio class. I don't know all the lingo of interior design, so I'm describing it the best way I know how.

Derek Smith:
No, you're doing great, yes, that's not everyone's background, right?

Becky Kennedy:
Exactly, exactly. So our staff got to go in when students were doing the presentation, and what I can tell you about the project is we're doing a renovation of this church compound, if you will, where it's going to provide a feeding program for children in rural areas around this town, educational opportunities for children. So many of the children are raised by a single parent, usually a mother, and so they just have lots of disadvantages. So our staff and students are trying to come alongside this church, this local church called Luz de Vida. They're really the brainchild behind this project, the church, the pastor, his wife and the church members, and so we're coming alongside them and helping them to see their dream come to reality. Now, I could not, as I've just described, go in and help design a space for learning-

Derek Smith:
Same.

Becky Kennedy:
... and feeding and all this kind of thing to occur, so what a blessing and a gift that we have experts readily available and excited and enthusiastic about getting involved and then getting their students involved, and what a learning experience for our students, it's just incredible.

Derek Smith:
Well, that's a great picture that you paint of the work our students and faculty are doing. As we visit with Becky Kennedy here on Baylor Connections, Becky serves as assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Missions and is an associate chaplain in Baylor Spiritual Life. This is a newer trip, but there's a relationship that's being built there, and it sounds like you have some places you've been going and continuing work. What do Baylor's relationships look like that lead to these opportunities? As you talk about mission trips within the context of a student's education, you find these places that really fit that so well, where students can make a difference, what do some of those relationships look like that bring these about?

Becky Kennedy:
I would say first and foremost, when we go somewhere... I don't think I've been anywhere or talked with any partner who hasn't said, "We get people from all over, a lot of people from the US, a lot of church groups, a lot of students, high school students, but when Baylor students come, there's a difference." And they don't really know how to describe what it is, and I don't know that I know how to describe what it is, except that I think I see a hunger for Baylor students to have this experience, not just so that they can put something on their resume, but I think they truly want to make a difference in the world.
They come to us already like that, many of them do, and some of them learn that along the way, whether it's a professor taking them under their wing and really modeling for them what it means to live out your calling through your vocation, or they have an experience with someone in their class or a friend or in a church. But for whatever reason, our students truly are making a difference, and most of it's relational. It just makes me proud to hear that, that our students are so intentional and so invested in building those relationships, even though they may never see these people again, they make quite the impression when they're there.
And I would say on our partner side, so we have been working with many of the same partners for years. So I would say I mentioned one More Child earlier, which is another Christian non-profit based out of Florida, but we have partnerships with churches, with school systems, with other non-governmental organizations around the world, and it really does come down to that relationship, and I think one of the things, Derek, that we do well at Baylor.

Derek Smith:
Well, that's very well said and well shared, as we visit with Becky Kennedy here on Baylor Connections. Becky, it's encouraging but not surprising to hear the impression our students make, and I'm curious on this side of things, what are some of the things you hear from our students who participate in these trips that mean the most to you, that encourage you, or that even lead you and your colleagues to say, "Hey, we've got to make sure we continue to lean into this aspect, or make sure that we double down on this," because you just see the impact it has?

Becky Kennedy:
Absolutely. I think that is probably, if you were to ask every one of our staff members that works on our mission side of the house, you would hear them say their favorite part of doing this work is to hear the stories of students when they come back, or even as they post stories on Instagram. And of course, our marketing person, our coordinator, Chad Warner, captures a lot of those stories from students, whether in picture or in word, and posts those on social media, so if you're listening to this, be sure to tune in to some of our social media channels so that you can hear those stories over the summer. But I think that's the favorite part for us, is just to hear how their lives have been touched.

Derek Smith:
Visiting with Becky Kennedy here on Baylor Connections. Becky, as you talk about the students and their experience, there's elements of preparing them for that experience, and this spring has something new and unique and I think really cool. At the end of April, you all were a part of the first student mission commissioning ceremony. Could you tell us how that came about and what transpired there?

Becky Kennedy:
I would love to. That actually came from our president's office. So some of our listeners may know that we have done a camp commissioning for students in the past, and President Livingstone has been part of that. So that would be for students who, we have many of them who are camp counselors who go work at Christian camps all over the country during the summer, and so it had become a tradition to do a commissioning for them as they go out and lead other students and children during the summer months. So it was the president's idea to say, "Hey, we should do a commissioning for our students who are doing mission trips."

Derek Smith:
That's great.

Becky Kennedy:
And so, we sent the word out, the president's staff helped us a lot with the preparations of it, and we had a wonderful commissioning. President Livingstone, the first gent, Brad Livingstone, and even the first nana, I think, which is President Livingstone's mother, all showed up, and we had students, some who had already gone on their mission trip during the year and some who were about to go. We met at the Bobo, and it was just a very special moment for students to share with each other where they were going, why they were doing what they were doing, some of the challenges they thought they would face, but also the things they were excited about.
And of course, President Livingstone delivered a short message of encouragement, and even Brad piped up and made some jokes and made everyone laugh, but shared genuinely his story about sharing with as a student athlete on mission, so it was a special moment. And then, of course, we had a blessing at the end, ascending out, if you will, as a reminder that God calls us wherever we are to share the good news. So it was a good first step, and we look forward to doing it every year.

Derek Smith:
That's wonderful, a great way to come together and prepare students and just share your prayers for their journey, and we appreciate you sharing that. Becky, as we head into the final moments here, you've painted such a great picture of this over the last 20 minutes or so, I'm curious, to summarize here as we close up, what would you share is really the prayer of you and your colleagues and really Baylor University just for our students and faculty as they travel and enjoy these experiences together?

Becky Kennedy:
Thank you, Derek, for asking that question. First, I would say we always pray for safety, so we want to make sure our students are safe and our faculty and staff are safe. Things can get unpredictable, natural disasters can happen, the world is unpredictable, and so we have a great Office of Global Safety and Security who monitors everywhere where Baylor students go, so we have that confidence, but of course, we're always praying for safety.
And then, I would say praying that people would be open to all the new experiences and opportunities that come their way. One of the things that we always share with our students, and we train our faculty and staff to be watchful of our students, for those who step into a place and become immediately uncomfortable. It could be they've never been there before, the food is different, the transportation is different, the culture is different, and it makes all of us uncomfortable. Even me, and I've been traveling for a long time, but I can be inconvenienced at times, and if I let that get to me, then I can shut down. And so, we want our students, in those moments, to really lean into the opportunities and the growth opportunities, I would say, that God has put before them. And so, that is one of our biggest prayers, is that their hearts, their eyes, their ears, all of their senses would be open to what God has for them in that place, in that moment.
And then, I would say to reflect on that, we build in reflection for every trip that goes, so our faculty and staff have a time each day where they will ask questions and have students reflect on that day so that it's just not lost. It's not just one more to-do thing on your to-do list, but it is something that you are going ponder, that you're going to process and then ask the question, and so now what? And that's our final prayer, is that as our students and faculty and staff come back, how has this experience changed you, and now what do you do with that?

Derek Smith:
That's wonderful. Well, Becky, I know we'll join you, and I'm sure many listening will join you, in those prayers for our students and faculty and your team as you embark on these. Appreciate you taking the time to share in this busy time, and we'll be excited to see the fruits of these trips ahead. Thank you so much.

Becky Kennedy:
Thank you, Derek.

Derek Smith:
Becky Kennedy, assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Missions, and an associate chaplain in Baylor Spiritual Life, our guest today on Baylor Connections. I'm Derek Smith. A reminder, you can hear this and other programs online at baylor.edu/connections, and you can subscribe on iTunes. Thanks for joining us here on Baylor Connections.