In summer 2007, a team of eight students and three others from Northern California traveled to Zimbabwe on a mission trip. Our destination was Africa University, a Methodist university in Old Mutare, not far from Mozambique. While we knew that Zimbabwe had growing instability, we also recognized that we had an important role to play. On the news we read of riots and political unrest, but we maintained the importance of our mission to the people- to meet and build relationships with students on the other side of the world. Our mission was the people; our work was the tasks that the University felt was a priority.

For many of us, this was our first experience of being clearly in the minority. Despite the news that we read before we embarked, nearly everywhere we went we were welcomed with open arms. In rural areas, people opened their homes to us, in the cities, people engaged us in conversation. In all places, people wanted to hear our stories nearly as much as we wanted to hear theirs.

I came home to my fast-paced, consumer-driven life with a distinctly different outlook on what I needed to achieve in life. Spending time at the University, with students who wanted to help rebuild a struggling country, helped me redefine what the common good can mean for myself, and for the wider world.

Taking an emphasis on Social and Ecological Justice this school year, the students from the CA House Progressive Christian Fellowship at UC Davis have taken efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of their regular Wednesday night meals. Realizing the importance of stewardship to our creator’s beautiful planet, the group has set up a cooperative work relationship with the UC Davis Organic Student Farm which is less than a mile, and walking distance, from the house where the group meets for regular fellowships. The students have the opportunity to work in the market garden that grows the food that they prepare for Wednesday night dinners. Seeing the process of food production from seed to table has provided CA House students with a sneak peak into a system very few people have the chance to see or even think about when it comes to the food that they eat. Students have used the time in the market garden to take a spiritual look at the beauty of growth and creation. Many students find the time in the garden meditative and soothing in their busy college schedules. The program is growing, and continues to nourish the CA house both physically and spiritually.