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WASHINGTON CONFERENCE NEWS
Before departing on a
16-day mission trip
in April, students and staff
of Mission Creek Christian
Education Center spent
time spiritually preparing
themselves to serve others in
Iquitos, Peru.
The outreach school in
Willapa Harbor, Wash.,
sponsors mission activities to
promote a culture of service
whether abroad or at home.
This marks the seventh trip
in eight years to meet the
spiritual and physical needs
of the people in Peru.
“It’s obvious in the title
[Mission Creek] that we are
always out on a mission serving
the Lord daily in everything
we do,” says Destiny
Representatives from
Washington International
Student Experience (WISE) recently
returned from a student
recruiting trip to Korea.
WISE began in 2011 to help
connect international students
with Seventh-day Adventist
partner schools in the U.S. and
to place Adventist teachers in
schools in Korea.
During this trip from March
28 to April 10, WISE representatives
attended the International
Education Expo in Seoul to
represent Northwest Christian
School (Puyallup), Cypress
Adventist School (Lynnwood),
Lewis County Adventist School
(Chehalis), Skagit Adventist
Academy (Burlington), Auburn
26 GLEANER • June 2013
Mission Creek Fosters
Attitude of Service
Boyes, 13, who attended her
first mission trip.
In Peru, students delivered
more than $2,000 worth of
beans and rice to families in
need, preached for evangelistic
meetings, visited with teen
mothers and their children,
and ministered to incarcerated
inmates.
These annual acts of
compassion are in partnership
with the People of Peru
Project (peopleofperu.org),
a mission outpost based in
Iquitos, whose work reaches
out to everyone from hungry,
inner-city children in Iquitos
to those in need of medical
care in remote villages along
the Amazon River.
“I am encouraged by the
response that I get from
those I serve and the fact
that I did something for
someone other than myself,”
says Tyler Boyes, 18, who has
participated in three Peru
mission trips.
WISE Makes Connections
to Grow International Student Recruiting Program
To help grow the international student recruitment program,
WISE plans trips abroad to visit with government officials,
educators, recruiting agents and parents. WISE joined
representatives from Auburn’s Sister City Program during this
most recent trip.
Adventist Academy, Blue
Mountain Academy (Hamburg,
Penn.), Highland Academy
(Portland, Tenn.) and Shenandoah
Valley Academy (New
Market, Vir.).
“During the two days, we had
Mission Creek students and staff team up with children from
POPPY’s (People of Peru Project Youth Services) Place shelter
for abused teen moms to distribute food to those in need in a
little town outside of Iquitos, Peru.
GINA HUBIN
more than 40 individuals come
shopping for schools in which
to study in America,” says Lon
Gruesbeck, WISE director.
“Our agents in Korea are following
up with each contact.”
WISE leaders met up with
See mission trip photos and
updates at mcoutreach.org.
Charity Stone, Mission Creek
teacher
Peter Lewis, Auburn mayor, and
his traveling companions with
the Sister City Program. They
visited Pyeongchang, the site
of the 2018 Winter Olympics,
formally met with mayors from
Pyeongchang and Gyeongsan
City, shared WISE information
with a superintendent of education,
and checked on three
WISE teachers.
“We see a lot of potential in
each visit for growing the WISE
program,” says Gruesbeck.
“This whole process is about
building relationships and
contacts over time.”
Heidi Baumgartner, Washington
Conference communication
director