PUC Continues Its Mission To Serve With Love

For years, PUC has dedicated time during the school year and summer break to serve communities in other countries. Faculty and students have previously traveled to Kenya, Fiji, and Brazil while also taking medical mission trips to Indonesia, Cambodia, Tanzania, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.

Most recently, PUC's nursing and health science department sponsored an annual mission trip to Mana Island, Fiji. From March 21-April 2, 17 students joined Nursing Professor Sandy Ringer to earn public health hours and provide non-acute care to locals in Fiji. With five hundred people living on the remote island, many lack healthcare. This year, Ringer and her team also brought along dentists to provide oral care and support for physical health needs.

In 2023, PUC took two mission trips—the first to Fiji from March 24-April 4 and the second to Kenya from June 19-28.

Under the leadership of former PUC Missions Director Fabio Maia and co-directors Biology Professor Floyd Hayes and Ringer, they took a group of students and Nicolette Piaubert, a PUC nursing professor, to provide health care services in Fiji. In Kenya, PUC students and faculty provided education and care to Masai girls who were forced into child marriages by their families. PUC also painted school buildings and provided supplies.

Dr. Hayes has been on 11 international mission trips with PUC students in Kenya, Fiji, and Brazil, including four he organized. Not only does he assist with community development, but Dr. Hayes has also taught the lab portion of a tropical biology course during each trip.

PUC Biology Professor Dr. Backil Sung and his organization, All to Heaven, are assembling a summer medical mission trip to Falakata, India, from July 10-21. All to Heaven (ATH) is a registered non-profit organization that follows God's command to spread His love to the world.

At the GATE campus missionary training center, medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, and other allied health professionals provide medical exams and treat patients with prescription medicine. They will offer dental exams and extractions, teeth cleaning and restoration, and palliative treatment. Apart from medical services, they will organize Vacation Bible School, evangelical meetings, and an ESL program.

The number of volunteers was planned at 60, but even more people are participating in this mission trip. Adult and student volunteers will work together in clinical, evangelical, and community services. ATH will provide medicine and supplies for patients, food, and local transportation for the members and volunteers.

"For the Nepal mission trip in the past summer, we were blessed with more than $50,000 donated by 'angels' with no wings," shared Dr. Sung. "Let's learn a lesson that our God is alive to provide everything we need to help people in the mission field."

Dr. Sung has been part of PUC's medical mission trips, which developed from a single-person journey to groups of 50 people—with physicians, surgeons, dentists, and other allied health professionals.

PUC's biology department is also helping organize the mission trip, with approximately 10 students from their department and others who have already committed to serving in India. Dr. Hayes will also lead a field trip to see wildlife during their time abroad.

These mission trips have an immense impact on PUC students. Their professors witness firsthand how these trips guide students to serve with love, lead outside the classroom, and transform through these life experiences. PUC takes the mission to serve with love authentically, both on campus and beyond its borders.