For a group of students from the University of Missouri, a week at Joppa Mountain offered an opportunity to put their faith into action. Through Glenmary’s Volunteer Program, the students spent their days serving local residents, assisting at a food bank, and joining the community for Daily Mass. In the reflection below, one of the students shares how the experience went beyond hands-on service, offering a deeper encounter with faith, community, and the people Glenmary serves.
During our time with the Glenmary Home Missioners, our group split into teams each day to carry out various acts of service. While one team worked on building and repairing a deck for a local resident, the other assisted at a food bank, packaging meals and helping community members carry supplies to their vehicles. These tasks allowed us to provide tangible support to the area, but the experience went much deeper than the manual labor itself.
The true highlight of the trip was the opportunity to make genuine, loving connections with the people Glenmary serves. We were welcomed with incredible hospitality everywhere we went, from our service sites to the local churches where we joined the community for Daily Mass. I truly felt the Lord’s presence not just in our work, but in the communication and fellowship we shared with those we met. It was a powerful experience of holy growth and an amazing reminder of the importance of community and care.
—Grant Kingery, University of Missouri
