Jill Bourgeois
Class: Sophomore
Major: Humanities and Bible with emphasis in missions


The typical college Spring Break consists of exotic vacations, relaxing days sunning at the beach with close friends, and a delicious break from cafeteria food. Throw in exceptionally unique pictures capturing moments of the incredible trip, and it seems Spring Break cannot get any better for the ordinary college student. However, for a rare group of students from Milligan College , their 2008 Spring Break tells a far different story.

Jill Bourgeois, along with seven close friends, organized and led their own Spring Break mission trip to Indianapolis . Jill Bourgeois is a bright and promising young woman who dares to use her talents and passions to change the world for God in any way she possibly can.

Jill and her close friend, Tracy Taylor, chose to do a small mission trip in Indianapolis during their Spring Break week of 2007, and had such a positive experience that they longed to bring a small group back in 2008 to continue their work.

After prayerful consideration, Jill and Tracy invited six friends to help on the mission trip in Indianapolis . Erin Aulls, Abby Carter, Lianna Etcheson, Joel Perry, Bryan Upshaw, and Kris Cunigan joined Jill and Tracy on their remarkable trip.

“We wanted the group to really get along together and understand and appreciate the goal of the trip; to serve and focus on others and their needs” Jill said.

The exceptional factor of the mission trip is that it was entirely student led. Jill did not have organizations or missions from Indianapolis contact her to petition for the group's services. Jill and Tracy worked alone in contacting organizations, requesting to come to their site in Indianapolis and provide in any way they possibly could. Eventually, Jill and Tracy arranged for their group to visit a different organization each day.

The group of eight Milligan students spent Monday, the first day of their mission trip in Indianapolis , serving at Wheeler Missions. Wheeler Mission Ministries is a non-denominational, Christian, social services organization, which provides desperately needed goods and services to the homeless and poor of central Indiana . The group served lunch to over one hundred homeless men, serving food and simply lending a listening ear. They spent the rest of the afternoon working at a local thrift store owned by Wheeler Missions, sorting through clothes and cleaning the store.

On Tuesday the group worked with Daystar Daycare, a center that provides childcare for homeless families and their young children, in order to provide a safe haven for the children and an opportunity for their parents to find work during the day. The group from Milligan played with the children, painted a bathroom, and did vigorous cleaning for the center.

Wednesday consisted of the group serving at Urban Christian Church, a church that reaches out to prostitutes, drug addicts, and people recently released from prison. Jill and her friends provided manual labor around the church and also interacted with the individuals who were seeking help from the Urban Christian Church ministry.

On Thursday the group helped at Outreach Incorporation, a Christian ministry in Indianapolis reaching out to homeless and at-risk young adults with the compassion of Jesus Christ. They also served at Neighborhood Fellowship School , a school providing education for children falling between the cracks. Once again, the Milligan team completed manual labor projects for Outreach and Neighborhood Fellowship. While manual labor was not always fun for the group, it was desperately needed by the organizations.

“We only saw a small glimpse of the work that needs to be done in God's name, and while the whole week was filled with work and projects, it was incredibly fulfilling and uplifting.”

The group sent Friday morning once again playing with children at Daystar Daycare. They spent the afternoon in silence, contemplating on the trip and what they had learned and experienced. It was a time of reflection and prayer for all they had witnessed and for the desperate need of the hurting in this world.

“We spent time in silence to simply sit in God's presence and thank Him for the trip and what we accomplished.”

To make the mission trip even more unique, Jill and Tracy did not tell their fellow group members what organizations they would be serving each day until the group was on route to the site.

“We did not want everyone saying they liked this day or that day, or they did not want to do manual labor versus childcare. We wanted each one of us to be fully devoted to the mission work for that particular day.”

Jill and each one of her friends are unique college students who chose to focus on others instead of using their break to refresh themselves.

“College is so me-centered,” said Jill. “It's what major I want, what a professor can do to help me, where do I want to eat. Everything is me, me, and me. It was so refreshing to take a break, humble myself, and serve others in need.”

The entire group said the mission trip was more than well worth it and that it was amazing to see how God provided for the whole trip, financially, spiritually, and emotionally.

“We got along great and that is a total God thing. It is hard for eight college students to spend day and night together, but our group fit together perfectly, and God put us together with His plan to do His Glory.”

Jill and Tracy hope to continue their Spring Break tradition and return to Indianapolis with even more Milligan students in the following years.

The mission trip was made possible through the Institute for Servant Leadership, a spiritual program at Milligan which helps students to discover their call in servant leadership and to help them discern their own vocation path through faith, service, and leadership.