By Dwight A. Moody
Today, I take my text from page 24 of the United States of America Passport which I hold in my hand. On that page there is a visa stamp, dated May 12, 2003, Republic of Chile. May 12th was a Monday. Two days earlier, my own daughter had walked down the aisle in Alumni Gym to receive her Georgetown College diploma. The next day, I boarded a plane in Cincinnati, changed planes in Atlanta for a Delta Airlines jet headed to Santiago. On Tuesday, May 13, I arrived on the far side of the world.
With me on the trip were one professor, Pat Cooper of the Spanish Department, one intern, Derek Ball of Campus Ministry, and one GC alum, Grundy Janes who had spent 29 years of his life as a missionary in Chile. There were also 11 students: Sarah Lyle, Grace Becknell, Sarah Beth Blewitt, Jennifer Bustle, Jonathan Carr, Vanessa Carper, Jennifer Cooper, Jennifer Kennedy, Clark Lester, Ashleigh Killin and Torey Merrick.
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How do I love these students? Let me count the ways: climbing the fortress in the center of Santiago; watching the changing of the guard at the presidential palace; singing, testifying and preaching at the Mapuche church; dipping and double dipping in the hot springs and mountain creek; playing cards past midnight every night; talking, praying, reading, learning, traveling, and most of all laughing.
The trip to Chile was one of the most memorable episodes of my six years here at the College. It reinforced this conviction: some things happen when we travel that cannot happen at home. We grow, learn, explore, imagine; we change; we are transformed by what we see and smell and hear. We meet people, hear stories, visit places, eat food, face danger, read books, and offer prayers that we would never do if we had stayed at home. We cannot be who we are meant to be until we leave the comfort of home to travel to the far side of the world.
Here is the word for today: do not neglect the opportunity to travel to some far corner of the world. Two weeks ago, on Freshman Move-In day, I helped two students unload their cars then went to the plaza outside the Grille. I stood at the hot dog stand and ate lunch. An elderly gentleman started a conversation with me. He is from a local church and was on campus to give our freshman a warm welcome. I do not know his name; to my knowledge, I had never seen him before. He began talking about his own trip this summer. He went with his church to the Mediterranean Island of Malta. After relating to me many wonderful experiences, he said: "I wish I had done this when I was a student, it would have changed my life."
My challenge to you young people today: do not let this be your testimony when you are seventy: "I wish I had gone when I was a student!" What a tragedy to have waited through seven decades of life before venturing to the far side of the world.
Do you have a passport? I am among those who think owning a passport should be required for matriculation as a student at Georgetown College. I also am convinced that every student should have at least one visa stamp in your passport as a condition of graduation. This service of worship is a CEP event; that stands for Curriculum Enrichment Program. The single most effect curriculum enriching experience you can have is a trip to the far side of the world. The very best CEP ticket you can turn in is a passport with a visa stamp!