Violent political conflict in Jos, Nigeria has led the interterm mission team to postpone their trip until the summer. The eight remaining teams have raised their minimum funds and will be leaving as scheduled, said senior Adam Payton, president of SMU.
Over Thanksgiving break, serious riots broke out in Jos as the community reacted to a local election. The mobs rallied following the failure of electoral workers to post the results in proper time, according to CNN.com.
Jos has a record of community violence spurred by elections. It is positioned between a Muslim area in the north, a predominantly Christian area in the south and serves as commingling ground for many other ethnic groups. Other violent incidents occurred in 2001 and 2003, leaving hundreds dead.
In this particular episode, more Muslims were killed than Christians, an unusual outcome for these conflicts, Payton said. He added that the conflict is essentially political, but leaders are masking it in religion. This factor heightens the danger for Biola Christian students to place themselves in that area, he said.
Typically, the teams are advised by both a selected mentor and the Missions Assessment and Review Committee, a team of Biola faculty who assess several aspects of the trip’s liability. Team Nigeria’s mentor, John Ojeisekhoba, deputy chief of Campus Safety, has family near Jos and was able to access information about the situation. He advised the team to postpone the trip, but ultimately it was the students’ decision, Payton said.
Team Nigeria will travel to Nigeria in the summer, but may go to a different area depending on the situation. The team was taking a record 17 people on the trip, according to the SMU Web site. Payton said they will spend the next semester gathering funds, since they were running short.
All the other teams are set to go, Payton said. There are eight teams going to different locations: Rwanda, Mexico, Hungary, Morocco, El Salvador, Romania, South Africa, and Kosovo. Though two weeks ago several teams were unsure if they would have sufficient funds, all of them have met their goals. Teams that are still waiting for donations to be mailed may receive loans from SMU.
Fundraising is particularly difficult over the fall semester because, once teams are established, students only have six weeks to gather the necessary funds. Each team member is responsible for raising his or her part of the money individually, Payton said. In the spring, teams are able to prepare beforehand and start fundraising as soon as the semester begins.
Leaders got particularly creative this semester in thinking of ways to get students aware of and involved in funding for these trips. Fundraisers for the teams included events off and on campus, such as benefit concerts, movie nights, shirt sales, car washes, and bake sales.
The leaders and members of each team are entirely responsible not only for the funding, but also for the trips themselves. A fundamental characteristic of all the trips is the independence of the teams.
“We always try to work with teams, giving them opportunities to lead the trips,” he said.
No trips are established by SMU, but the staff will help teams establish contacts in the desired ministry areas if needed, Payton said.
