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Nine BC students prepare for a spring break mission trip to NY

Alicia McCoy

February 23, 2012

Nine Bluefield college students will take a mission trip to the Bronx in New York City on March 4-9.

“This is my first mission trip so I'm nervous and excited all at the same time, but I'm excited to see what God has in store,” said Casey Palmer, a senior communications major who will be making the trip. “We'll be working with a ministry called Graffiti 2 in the Bronx, with children and teens in an after-school program. I think I'm most excited about the relationships we'll develop with the children and the chance we'll have to impact their lives in a positive way by just loving them the way Christ loves us.”

	Three of the BC students attending the mission trip: Casey Palmer, Grant Thomas and Kristen Slade

In addition to the BC students, the trip will include two Tazewell County students; two BC staff members; David Taylor, vice president for student development; and Taylor’s wife, Lisa Taylor. The group will spend five days working with children in a youth program and mentoring in an after-school program.

This will be Bluefield College’s second mission trip to New York and Taylor’s third.

Taylor said the purpose of the mission is in three parts: to strengthen the work and ministry of Graffiti 2, to expose students to culture in parts of the United States they perhaps have never traveled to, and to see what God is doing in other places.

The cost of the trip is $800 per person. Taylor said mission trips usually cost about $2,000, when the group flies out of the United States. The next mission trip is scheduled to be to Cape Town, Africa, next year during spring break.

“It is important for us to develop a greater appreciation for people who are not like us in places that are not our home,” Taylor said. 

Taylor said he hopes they’ll learn how to depend more on God for every need in their life.

Taylor said the group will need about 60 toiletry kits to take on the trip, with each kit including a toothbrush, travel-sized toothpaste, lotion, dental floss, Germ-x, Chap Stick and nice toy. Contact Taylor at if interested in contributing items.

“Even if you’re not traveling on this trip you will still be a part of the trip.” Taylor said. 

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