Students stretch their boundaries through work with Oak Life School of Orphan Care, Love in Action Children’s Home.
COLUMBIA, KY. (06/04/2025) For a group of Lindsey Wilson College students, a week of service in Mexico was a life-changing experience.
Four Lindsey Wilson Bonner Scholars and two staff members spent seven days in May in Chapala, Mexico, where they worked with an orphanage that serves the city of about 50,000 in the state of Jalisco.
The trip was part of the students’ preparation for their senior year as Bonner Scholars, a Lindsey Wilson group dedicated to service learning. While in western Mexico, the group worked with Oak Life School of Orphan Care and Love in Action Center for Children, where they helped organize and renovate a bazaar that supports the mission efforts. It was the second consecutive year the Lindsey Wilson Bonner Scholars have worked with the mission groups.
“Through our trip, I learned to reflect on communities out of my own,” said Shaye Anthony ’26, a biology and psychophysiology major from Somerset, Kentucky. “Culture in Chapala is beautiful and rich. The people there are so very genuine, and the girls I met at Love in Action will forever follow me in my life. In the end, I felt more open to people, despite my introverted self, and my passion for serving people has never felt stronger.”
Stretching students
Encouraging a passion for service is a big reason for the international service trip, according to Lindsey Wilson Director of Civic Engagement, Student Leadership and the Bonner Scholar Program Kisha Burton.
“The Bonner model is developmental, which means that by the time a student gets to their senior year they have been stretched and developed in such a way that they are ready to be challenged, which is to experience a different culture,” said Burton. “This trip is the culmination of their time in the program, which is why we put it between their junior and senior years.”
To prepare for the trip, the Lindsey Wilson students met several times for about seven weeks to learn about the region’s culture, customs and language.
Some of the work performed in Mexico by the Lindsey Wilson students and staff members was fairly routine, such as sorting and organizing clothes at the bazaar, along with painting one of the rooms. But the Lindsey Wilson group also had “lots of heartwarming interactions” with the girls who live at the orphanage, according to Lindsey Wilson Bonner Assistant Director Yayi Sonnabend.
Sonnabend, who is bilingual in Spanish, helped translate some of the conversations, whose topics ranged from discussing favorite colors, hobbies, sports and the Lindsey Wilson campus.
“The girls had such a willingness and desire to get to know one another,” she said.
But there were interactions that transcended language, such as gathering to play and to enjoy meals.
“There is one lasting impact that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my school year and after,” said Elizabeth Pirtle ’26, a human services and counseling major from Fulton, Kentucky. “That is seeing all of the girls’ faces light up when we would play games with them, and us cooking and serving them dinner on our last night there. Just seeing all the joy and love inside of their hearts really impacted me. This was truly an amazing experience, and I don’t think this could have happened if it wasn’t for the Bonner Program and their amazing commitment to helping and serving others.”
Realizing the impact of service
One way the Lindsey Wilson group was stretched was when they were asked to pass out handbills to people walking on a pier on Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest freshwater lake, to advertise the bazaar.
“We were given a list of words at the beginning of the week, along with a few Spanish phrases to practice,” said Burton. “It was definitely a challenge. It was a challenge for the students, it was a challenge for me as well. To see our students rise to that occasion made me very proud of them.”
Abigail Girdler ’26 said the opportunity to interact with the girls at Love in Action Center for Children also deeply affected her.
“It was truly an incredible experience,” said Girdler, a business administration major from Somerset, Kentucky. “Being able to see what the previous Bonner group was able to help with, along with the progress we made, allowed me to fully realize the impact of the service that I and my fellow Bonners make. Being able to immerse myself in a new culture made this trip even better, especially interacting with the girls in the orphanage, including making them a traditional Mexican dinner and gifting them with friendship bracelets.”
And while the Lindsey Wilson group returned from western Mexico a bit tired and worn, they said the trip was more than worth the effort.
“I walked away with a sore body and blisters on my hands,” said Cassidy Harrison ’26, a psychophysiology major from Park City, Kentucky. “However, I am extremely pleased with our results; we did amazing work together. I will take away from this trip memories and experiences that will shape me for the better, and I will carry them with me for a lifetime.”
Four Lindsey Wilson College Bonner Scholars and two staff members spent seven days in May serving at Oak Life School of Orphan Care and Love in Action Center for Children, where they helped organize and renovate a bazaar whose sales support the mission efforts. From left: Bonner Assistant Director Yayi Sonnabend; Abby Girdler ’26 of Somerset, Kentucky; Cassidy Harrison ’26 of Park City, Kentucky; Elizabeth Pirtle ’26 of Fulton, Kentucky; Shaye Anthony ’26 of Somerset; and Director of Civic Engagement, Student Leadership and the Bonner Scholar Program Kisha Burton.
Lindsey Wilson College students Abby Girdler ’26, left, and Shaye Anthony ’26, both of Somerset, Kentucky, paint a bazaar used to support the Oak Life School of Orphan Care in Chapala, Mexico.
Lindsey Wilson College is a vibrant liberal arts college in Columbia, Kentucky. Founded in 1903 and affiliated with The United Methodist Church, the mission of Lindsey Wilson is to serve the educational needs of students by providing a living-learning environment within an atmosphere of active caring and Christian concern where every student, every day, learns and grows and feels like a real human being. Lindsey Wilson — which will become Lindsey Wilson University on July 1 — has an enrollment of more than 4,000 students, and the college offers 28 undergraduate majors, five graduate programs and a doctoral program. The college’s 28 intercollegiate varsity athletic teams have won more than 120 team and individual national championships.
(Duane Bonifer – Lindsey Wilson College)