Staff Profile: Barb Osburn
Director of Outreach, Campus Ministries

As director of outreach in campus ministry at Hope, Barb Osburn enjoys what she considers to be a privileged position: the chance to connect students with service and ministry opportunities around the country and even abroad, helping to meet others’ needs and helping students to grow at the same time.

“I serve Hope students by providing opportunities during spring break, and other times, to participate in trips that allow them to learn and grow in their faith and to participate in what God is doing through various ministries in a variety of locations,” she says.

Hundreds of students participate in spring break mission trips each year, engaging in activities ranging from interacting with children, to engaging in construction projects to assisting medical professionals as they serve populations in need. Crucially, Osburn feels, the program enables students to begin to see how their gifts and talents can be used for the benefit of others and the glory of God.

“The spring break mission trip program creates an environment and opportunity for our students to learn from and participate in what God is doing through the ministry of many people in different locations and situations,” she says. “I believe that these experiences are used to change the students’ lives and, in various ways, put them on a path for the future.”

“Spring break trips are special because they are used by God in so many ways in students’ lives. Some students go on trips specifically with a desire to serve, some with a desire to learn, while others have a desire to meet some new people,” she says. “I am in amazement every year of the outcome of the trips and I am only able to see the tip of the iceberg.”

As a Hope graduate, Osburn has experienced life at Hope both as a student and as an administrator, and knows that people at Hope sincerely care for one another. “I have seen God at work during the years that I’ve been working here as students are surrounded by quality people, in an environment that is prayed for regularly.”

Even as she has appreciated the caring environment that the college provides, she has been impressed with the way that students in turn contribute to it, committed to giving of themselves and learning how best to do so.

“Students serve in so many ways on and off campus,” she says. “Many are making career and vocational choices based on their desire to serve and make a difference in people’s lives.”

This profile was written by Christopher M. Lewis, a 2009 Hope College graduate from Troy, Mich., for the 2009-2010 Hope College Catalog.

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