Missions
Cedarville University engineering students and faculty continue to seek ways to apply their professional training to missions-related activities. To foster relationships with missionaries and to explore opportunities to serve, the department created the organization Society of Engineers Aiding Missions (SEAM). As a group, SEAM meets regularly to pray for missionaries, correspond with them, and even invite them in when available for special talks.
Since 2001 computer science professor Dr. Gallagher has led a team during the summer to Romania. The team focuses on teaching basic computer skills in a class setting. Each team member has the opportunity to teach a lesson they have prepared. Teaching about computers is not the only focus during the class. These classes are hosted by local churches in the villages and towns and give the church an open door to the students who might not normally attend a church service.
In 2006 engineering professors Drs. Zavodney and Thompson made an exploratory site visit to the ELWA campus in Liberia to look map out opportunities for service. ELWA is a ministry run by Liberian nationals and situated on a campus that includes a Christian radio station, hospital, and school. Since the initial visit, Cedarville engineering students have returned to Liberia to help restore the ELWA campus from damage sustained from many years of civil unrest. The projects have ranged in scope from site surveying to design and construction.
Opportunities to serve are not limited to areas directly related to a student's major. Many engineering students participate in other short-term missions projects organized through the Christian ministries division of Cedarville University. These projects literally span the globe and provide a world of opportunities. Several of our engineering graduates have even spent time in China teaching.