Are you interested in investing in young adult leaders in the Springfield and wider community? This is your chance to directly support the growth of interfaith leadership at Missouri State University, in Springfield, and beyond as students head out into the world to make a difference.
Bears Better Together (MSU's only interfaith-based student organization!) and Ekklesia Campus Ministry are sponsoring our yearly trip to Interfaith America's Interfaith Leadership Summit (ILS) for college students, in Chicago, IL. The conference is from August 4-6th, and we will be leaving on the 3rd.
We are taking 10 students of many different faith backgrounds, who are involved with groups that include Ekklesia, Bears Better Together, the Muslim Students' Association, and the Springfield MO YSA Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many of them are attending this conference for the first time, and will come back with new skills that they can bring into their student leadership!
The ILS is an amazing opportunity to learn about interfaith engagement, grow leadership and community building skills that can be taken back to students' communities to make a real difference, and form bonds that will carry over into creating a more engaged, unified local community; starting with these students and spreading outward to have a ripple effect.
We are fundraising to help cover costs that are not fully covered by our student organization funds, including travel, lodging, and a couple of the students' registrations. This will help make it possible to take so many students and make sure they have a good experience.
Consider any donations a direct investment into the growth of these young adults, and to the benefit of the community. We need more young adults who are engaged and able to serve others, build strong connections across differences, and become integrated into their communities through leadership. If you believe this, I truly believe supporting this trip is a meaningful opportunity for you.
We appreciate the support of our faith communities, interfaith leaders, families and loved ones, and anyone else who will decide to be a part of this.
Thank you so much!
Elliot Barber (Bears Better Together President)
