Serving Through Collaboration

With several ministry groups on Point Loma Nazarene University’s campus, choosing one to get plugged into can be overwhelming. Sometimes, meeting times can conflict with one another. Collaborations between ministry groups can be a solution to these issues that students looking to serve may face, and ministries like Delight are exploring this option.

This past Monday, Delight and Community Ministries worked together to co-host a ministry event, and their partnership fostered an atmosphere where students on PLNU’s campus could work together to serve the community of San Diego. 

Delight is a women’s group that began earlier this year. Jazmyn Collins, a second-year Christian studies major, is Delight’s Outreach Coordinator and was present at the event where Delight collaborated with Community Ministries to decorate and put together bags of goods for the homeless and orphaned populations in the San Diego area. 

Collins said that Delight’s Service Project Coordinator reached out to Dana Hojsack, the director of PLNU’s Community Ministries, and Hojsack was able to come up with a project for the two groups to do together. 

“I think it’s really important to partner with other ministries because it can get easy to get stuck in ‘this is what I do’ and lose sight of what other people are doing on campus. There are different ways of serving to be aware of. It keeps ministries healthy when they’re able to partner with other ministries,” Collins said. 

Collins and Hojsack believe that these partnerships allow them to understand what they believe is God’s calling of service to others. 

Collins said that these collaborations show her a different side of the importance of living out an active faith as Christians by “being able to partner with community ministries that are more focused on outreach and service and seeing Christ’s heart through the community we’re creating.”

Bridget Morgan, first-year nursing major, has been attending Delight since the chapter began meeting on PLNU’s campus. She said that this partnership was a unique experience for her.

“Delight is more like being filled and having a teaching and then discussing it and talking about our personal lives, whereas the collaboration was more service-oriented where we were able to do things for the community,” Morgan said.

Morgan explained that Delight helps her deepen her faith, and being able to serve with these types of events helps her live it in an outward expression.

Hojsack has been serving as PLNU Community Ministries’ director for 11 years, and she says that the foundational work that volunteers are able to do—like the bag-decorating and packing that was done at this event—is crucial for the outreach work that she aims to lead. 

“The energy of working together and being able to work toward a common goal is super helpful,” Hojsack said. “The behind-the-scenes work is so important, because it allows for us to have more time out to come alongside our neighbors.”

Hojsack also believes that participating in these collaborative ministry events is a way for the Body of Christ to be seen both with its uniquely important parts and with its healthy function as a whole. 

“Everybody has something to give. Not everyone feels comfortable doing in-front-of-the-scenes work—for example, offering a meal downtown—but they could feel comfortable making a card or putting together a meal beforehand. We need all parts of the body to serve, so it’s important work all around,” Hojsack said. 

Hojsack says she is always looking for ways to get clubs and various groups around campus involved in any way they feel comfortable. Sometimes, this looks like getting people together to organize a clothing or food drive, and other times, it simply looks like inviting members of other on-campus ministries to work alongside Community Ministries during their outreaches. 

“We are always finding different ways to be connected and together and to work together for the common goal of loving our neighbors,” Hojsack said. She and Collins look forward to having more opportunities to gather students to serve with each other to carry out the work of Christ.

Written By: Malia Carrasco