Serving God and Neighbor in Aliquippa, PA

by Emily Walker '20

In addition to catching up on sleep and home-cooked meals this winter break, many students are looking forward to an early January Geneva Quest Trip to Aliquippa, PA, a city 12 miles south of the Beaver Falls campus. Geneva’s Center for Student Engagement (CSE) organizes this winter Quest Trip, a time of learning what it means to serve within a community. The Aliquippa trip has been an annual destination for the past decade or so.

Kristen Slebodnik of Geneva’s CSE says, “The point of the trip is listening and learning, but we also want to serve our hosts in ways that can be actually helpful for them, to be a cup of cool water to those who are in the daily grind of ministry.”

Leading this year alongside advisors Becca and John Bryant are juniors Erika Kauffman and Noah Ross. Living alongside those who serve the broken communities of Aliquippa gives students a deeper understanding of the struggles, both economic and spiritual, facing the city and also a hope in what God is doing to redeem people and places.

Slebodnik says, “I think one of the biggest needs that Aliquippa has is for the perception of the city to change, especially from the outside looking in.”

The Quest Trip is partnering with Uncommon Grounds Café and Aliquippa Impact. Uncommon Grounds Café, located on the main avenue, is a ministry of Church Army USA and is run by Herb Bailey and his team. With a “come as you are” approach, it is a welcoming space for “the least, the last and the lost,” where the staff are trained well in what it means to really hear people. Students will join them as they spend time in their day just allowing people to talk about whatever is on their minds while leading Bible studies and a variety of service ministries. The Café has been heavily involved with community outreach projects and is excited to share their experiences living and working in their home city.

"We also want to serve our hosts in ways that can be actually helpful for them, to be a cup of cool water to those who are in the daily grind of ministry."
-Kristen Slebodnik, Geneva CSE

Aliquippa Impact, a Christian non-profit and after-school organization, will meet with Geneva students to share what they do in the community. Aliquippa Impact inspires youth, encouraging them through the gospel to reach their future goals. They focus on compassionate presence, claiming that “90% of what they do is just show up,” whether visiting the children in their homes, in their schools, or at their sports events. They strive to serve by inspiring hope and building confidence, knowing the importance of encouraging God’s young people living right next door. Their mentorship program pairs an adult mentor with a small group of kids starting in elementary school and keeps the relationship with them until they graduate high school.

Slebodnik cites Aliquippa Impact as "an outstanding example of commitment and stability that you just don’t always see in other organizations." This mission commitment is a lesson reinforced to students during the trip. She says, “[The mission organizations] help us remember why it is important to invest in a place you are no matter how long you plan to be there.”  

Students participating in this trip will stay with the Community of Celebration, an intentional Christian community planted on Franklin Avenue in Aliquippa several decades ago. Quest Trip participants will have the opportunity to stay with this group in one of their row houses, pray with them each morning and enjoy chapel in the evenings.  

“I think what everyone took away from last year was just how interconnected [Aliquippa’s] ministries are,” shares Kauffman, who joined last year’s trip. The connections students experience on the Quest Trip will inspire them to dig deep into their surrounding community, regardless of where God leads them after graduation. Service opportunities can complement students’ Christ-centered educational experience and instill a realization of the importance of making one’s life a ministry to others.

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