When I think of service, I can't help but consider Mother Teresa. Lovingly dubbed the "Slum Sister," Mother Teresa founded a community called the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 in the worst part of Calcutta, India. She began this organization with a group of 12 nuns to help the poor. Today, the organization includes more than 4,000 nuns running orphanages, AIDS hospices, and other charity centers around the world.

Whenever I talk or write about Mother Teresa and present her as a model for Christian service to students, I always get this stare back from them. It's the "yeah right" look! Without saying a word, they have just let me know that they could never make significant contributions through service. Why? Who can measure up to Mother Teresa?

Well, the point isn't to measure up to her; the point is to be inspired by her. When you look at her life, it's a lot like ours. She was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu on August 26, 1910 in Skopje, Yugoslavia, which is now part of Macedonia. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was a grocer. Her upbringing was nothing spectacular.

At 18, she joined a community of Irish nuns and later spent 17 years teaching and serving as principal at St. Mary's High School in Calcutta. After a serious illness, she felt God call her to work with the poorest of the poor in India. She was released from her assignment at St. Mary's to begin this work that led to the establishment of the Missionaries of Charity.

In 1979, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. When she was awarded the prize, she wore the same $1 white sari she had adopted at the beginning of her work with the 12 nuns in India in 1950 to identify herself with the poor. When she accepted the prize, she told the crowd that she was receiving it in the "name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of the crippled, of the blind, of the lepers, of all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."

Although Mother Teresa has become a poster child for service, she clearly wasn't some larger-than-life personality that stole the show and drew attention to herself in flamboyant ways. Her intentions were to live in humility, away from the public's admiration. Instead, what drove her was a philosophy that was captured in an interview near the end of her life. When asked why she had served the way she had, she said, "I see God in every human being. When I wash the leper's wounds, I feel I am nursing the Lord himself. Is it not a beautiful experience?"

The great thing about having the opportunity to serve in similar ways is that we can have these beautiful experiences as well when our gifts meet the needs in our community. Although we haven't achieved Mother Teresa status, God has equipped us with special gifts that he wants us to share with those around us. Through our structured service-learning program here at Lee, we have a myriad of opportunities to serve. Whether we are visiting an elderly person during Deke Day, serving food to a homeless man in Atlanta, shipping a shoebox with Christmas toys around the world, or raking leaves, we are expressing our gifts in ways that serve Christ, help others, and shape ourselves.

So, why do we have service-learning at Lee University? That's a great question. The service-learning program is directed by the Leonard Center. The purpose of the center is to prepare students for citizenship as Christians in the world through reflective community interactions and teach commitment to ideals of service, benevolence, civic virtue, and social justice. The goals of the program are to ensure that students engaged in Christian service at Lee University should:

• Understand the biblical mandate for service.
• Recognize that service to others is part of God's purpose for them and that it flows from His design of their uniqueness.
• Have insight into appropriate service - its source, its meaning, and its impact on both the performer and the recipient.
• Understand how they can use their vocation to serve God and others.

Through the program, students serve in a variety of settings and organizations, meeting needs of the community. See the appendix to this chapter for more information on available projects and program requirements.

Though the purpose and goals spell out the expected outcomes of the program, we need to articulate why service-learning is mandated on campus. In other words, why is the program in place, and why is it required? To help us understand the philosophy of the program, we need to address certain issues. There are several ideas at the core of our commitment to service-learning. Most of the ideas can be summed up in four core values. We do service because:

• We're supposed to as Christ-followers.
• We can use it as a spiritual discipline to deepen our walks with Christ.
• It helps us learn beyond what we normally learn in the classroom.
• It provides us with opportunities to express our uniqueness and gifts to help others.

Now, let's take on each of these points.

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