University students to travel to Greece to retrace steps of apostle

Mandi Pascarella, a junior children and youth ministries major, has never left the United States. As someone who is constantly involved in different forms of ministry, Pascarella is always looking for new ways to grow and learn in her faith.

When the opportunity to travel with other Waynesburg students to Greece arose, Pascarella was intrigued at the chance to leave the country for the first time and learn more about her faith. The ability to learn away from a normal classroom is an appealing aspect to Pascarella.

“I’m definitely a hands-on learner, so going somewhere and studying outside the classroom really benefits me,” Pascarella said.

A group of Waynesburg students will be traveling to Greece with an organization called Footsteps Ministries.

Footsteps Ministries was founded by David Sparks, a pastor who married a Grecian woman named Elizabeth, who gave birth to a son named Dave. In 1982, the Sparks family decided that they wanted to travel to Greece to visit Elizabeth’s family.

In order to afford the trip, Sparks offered a tour of Greece to his congregation. Sparks flew with his church to Greece and take them around the country to visit significant places in the ministries of the apostle Paul.

In 1994, after working as a full-time pastor and in full time tour ministry, the Sparks family decided to leave pastoral ministry to pursue Footsteps Ministries full-time.

Sparks, who is now the director of recruiting for the ministry, will also be the tour guide for the Waynesburg students.

“We view this less of taking people on a tour, but as people being our guests,” Sparks said. “We want people to feel like they are a part of our family and we are showing them our favorite places.”

According to the Footstep Ministries website, the Sparks family has a passion for making the Word come alive. The organization hosts different “tours” that lead people through different locations significant to Christianity.

The Greece trip offered by Footsteps Ministries allows participants to follow the footsteps of the apostle Paul, traveling the same vicinity in which he was a missionary in biblical times. Other locations offered by the organization include Israel, Turkey and Italy.

During spring break in March, 22 Waynesburg students will be boarding on a plane and flying to Greece to spend their break with the Sparks family on one of their tours.

Last spring, in the 48 hours following the primary informational meeting, more than 20 students had already made a monetary deposit for this adventure, nearly filling the roster.

Due to the high levels of interest, Josh Sumpter, assistant chaplain and associate professor of Biblical and Ministry Studies, is looking forward to offering similar trips in the future, or potentially hosting a trip to Greece every year or every other year.

“There is enough interest in this year alone that we want to, if possible, offer a trip every year or every other year,” Sumpter said. “Maybe to Greece or maybe to other biblical locations.”

As someone who has participated in this Greece trip in the past, Sumpter looks forward to the growth students will experience on this trip.

“Beyond the Bible this is a trip that shapes your world view,” Sumpter said. “Seeing world history, buildings and structures that have existed for 1,500 years, but also tasting incredible food and seeing some incredible sights. I’m just really excited about opportunities for Waynesburg students to grow in a variety of ways.”

While this trip is focused towards biblical & ministry study majors, there are quite a few students studying other disciplines during their time at Waynesburg. Ian Bish, a senior nursing major, is one of the non-biblical ministry majors attending the trip.

“I like the history behind [the footsteps of Paul] and I like Greece too, it’s a very nice country,” Bish said.

Both participants are also looking forward to learning more about the culture of Greece and eating Greek food while on the trip.

“I’m excited to follow in the footsteps of Paul, seeing how far away he was from where he was writing to,” Pascarella said. “I know we read these things and suddenly he’s here, and now he’s over there, but there’s travel time in there and there’s distance there and it will bring the whole thing to life.”