Each spring, Impact Your World week offers students opportunities to engage in community service and inspire spiritual growth.
This year’s featured guest speaker is Shane Claiborne, an activist and author who emphasizes a ministry of nonviolence and service to the poor. Claiborne is the founder of Simply Way in Philadelphia, which is part of the New Monastic movement.
Campus Pastor Tamara Shelton is responsible for organizing Impact Your World week and booking speakers like Claiborne.
“I anticipate that students, as well as faculty and staff, will be challenged by Shane’s way of life, worldview and activism,” says Shelton.
This year’s focus on involvement includes a shift from chapel services to service projects through Community Builders, which is a campus ministry that seeks to get students off campus and into the city of Anderson to help others.
“One of the ways that we impact our world is to serve those around us,” says Shelton. “Not only does serving together help meet some of the needs of the community, but it also draws us together as a community.”
Community Builders, formerly known as Operation Foundation, is currently coordinated by senior Dave Bailey.
While this year’s spiritual life theme, “Flourish,” is not explicitly tied into Impact Your World week, Shelton stressed the connection between positive influence and the concept of flourishing.
“We have come to discover this year that flourishing involves growth and transformation,” says Shelton. “Impact Your World week is another opportunity for us to grow together.”
The Thursday convocation, titled Impact Anderson, is a platform for local ministries and organizations to reach out to AU students and spread their message. This year will bring in Dr. Kimberly Majeski, former campus pastor who is currently teaching Biblical studies, and her ministry Stripped Love.
The organization, founded in 2010, supports and advocates for victims of sex trafficking, and aims to love and minister to women in the sex trade. The Polaris Project, a private organization committed to combating and preventing human trafficking, has classified the I-69 corridor from Indianapolis to Muncie and the Highway 31 corridor between Indianapolis to Kokomo as “red zones” for trafficking.
Shelton has a passion for organizing Impact Your World week and encouraging students to engage in community service and spiritual growth.
“These weeks provide a time for us to intentionally engage with our spiritual journey, individually and as a community, in unique ways,” she said. “It is exciting to put various opportunities in place and then sit back and see what God does.”
Monday, Feb. 18
6 p.m. service with Shane Claiborne
Tuesday, Feb. 19
11 a.m. chapel with Shane Claiborne
12 p.m. lunch with Shane Claiborne
Thursday, Feb. 20
11 a.m. chapel with Dr. Kimberly Majeski (Stripped Love)
Saturday, Feb. 22
9 a.m. service project with Community Builders