The construction of a permanent-structure Seventh-day Adventist church for the Masai people of Masai Mara, Kenya, Africa, began during spring break in March. The project was a collaboration between the North Carolina Conference missions department, which sponsored and paid for the project; Andrew and Debrah Aho, who ran a Mara West short term missions camp; Loma Linda Academy; and La Sierra University.

The 20 LLA students and sponsors spent six days constructing and completing the brick walls of the church, and then the LSU student group joined the project and began constructing the roof, which they completed in five workdays. The church was scheduled to begin services in April.

"This is the first year that LSU has offered multiple short-term mission trips simultaneously," says Natan Vigna, assistant to the VP for student life and trip sponsor. "LSU hopes to do more of these trips in the future. This year LSU's mission projects included building a church in Kenya, renovating a summer camp in Puerto Rico, providing Katrina relief in Louisiana, building houses in Mexico, and organizing community service organizations in Riverside, Calif. Short-term missions is another way for all of our students, believers and non-believers, to experience the self-sharing love of Christ."

"The students wanted to continue the mission work on a broader scale," said Tim Gillespie, LLA campus pastor and trip coordinator. "So [when they returned] they asked the rest of the school to join their mission by asking for an offering for Ma'a Bibles. The school raised $1,000, which will purchase about 200 Bibles. The offering is about double what is usually collected per student."

Brian Barnhart, a junior at LLA, said the most rewarding part of working on the church is "knowing that aside from actually building a church, you are being an example for what Christ would be doing for these people."