For some, spirituality is a bumper sticker. For others, it is attendance two or three times a year at services on holidays. Some make regular attendance of religious services a priority. However, some have to put their faith where the need is, even if the need is halfway around the world.

“I didn’t really want to go at first,” said Sydney Nicholls, junior in dietetics and member of Cornerstone Church, of the day three years ago when her youth pastor at her hometown church asked for volunteers to work with children on an American Indian reservation in South Dakota.

Nicholls eventually changed her mind. She traveled with members of her youth group to the Rosebud Indian Reservation. The group set up a two-week Bible school in a poor community of about 75 residents.

At the school, which was dubbed the “Kids’ Club,” group members ministered to children on the reservation by sharing their faith and affection. Nicholls admits she didn’t know a lot about the reservation on her first visit, but she knew there was an opportunity to do good.

“As soon as I heard [the children] weren’t being loved, I knew I had to do it,” she said.

Nicholls’ experiences that first summer have kept her coming back to Rosebud each year. She said seeing the way of life on the reservation has given her perspective.

“I learned I can’t take anything for granted,” she said. “We saw you can get by without a lot of things.”

Josh Beck, junior in pre-business, coordinates student volunteer activities for the ISU Christian community The Salt Company. He said he believes gaining a broadened world view is one of the most common and important lessons students learn by volunteering.

“It’s hard for us – in the place we live in – to imagine the needs of the rest of the world,” Beck said. “Experiencing it in the flesh is a really profound experience.”

Witnessing the profound difference personal attention can make in children’s lives has also helped Nicholls make an important personal decision.

“It showed me I really want to adopt, because there are so many kids who don’t get the love they deserve,” she said.

Marcus Fey, senior in finance and member of Cornerstone Church, went even further to do his part. Fey spent the fall 2005 semester in Thailand rebuilding homes and communities devastated in the 2004 tsunami. His duties consisted of everything from digging in septic systems to cement work and putting up siding. Fey said his decision to help out was a simple application of his beliefs.

“What motivated me to go is I am a Christian. Jesus said, ‘Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, so you did for me,'” he said. “I am blessed with resources and I have a duty to help out when people are hurting in the world.”

In the case of the Thailand tsunami, Fey decided he could offer more than a few dollars in the collection plate.

“I was following the situation on TV. They said there was more of a need for labor than for money, because there was all kinds of money aid being offered,” he said.

Fey said he has many poignant memories of his time in Thailand, including falling through a roof onto a precariously thin piece of suspended plywood.

However, his most memorable experience was building a playground for the children of a devastated village.

“We put it up and immediately there were kids there all the time,” he said. “It was fun to play with them and see them having a good time.”

Although faith played a prime role in his experience, Fey said he concentrated more on being an example of Christian values than personally trying to minister to the people he encountered.

“What I wanted was just to love them and show them someone cared,” he said.

Beck agrees, but said although spreading faith is an important part of any missionary experience, direct preaching is only one part of the effort.

“We don’t consider [preaching and social work] as distinguishable,” he said. “The message comes out in many ways and only part of that is through words.”

Despite the language barrier, which prevented direct conversation between locals and volunteers, Fey said the Thai people were at no loss for ways to communicate their appreciation.

“They would bring us food and just do everything they could to show they were thankful,” he said.

Nicholls said her group received similar recognition on their most recent visit to the reservation. Her group arranged a cookout that attracted many of the village’s adults, who were usually more shy.

“We had about 30 parents come. That showed that we were making a difference,” she said. “They said their kids would count the days until we came back.”

Opportunities to help out are not limited to the especially religious. Beck recommends volunteer work to everyone, regardless of their level or type of beliefs.

“Outside of my faith in Christ, I would tell anyone to be a servant to others. [Volunteers] find that their joy in life is considerably expanded,” he said.

Fey and Nicholls agree that their time spent helping others outside of their own comfort zone was a faith-affirming experience not soon to be forgotten. Both plan to return to continue making a difference and continue allowing their experiences to make a difference in them.

“You go to touch them and they end up touching you,” Nicholls said.