Azusa Pacific University’s Office of Service and Discipleship offers many opportunities for students to express their passion for service through Global Engagement trips. For a month over the summer, the Department of Kinesiology encouraged their students to serve the Lord while gaining practical experience in their field of study on a Global Engagement trip to Uganda.
After previous positive experiences with Global Engagement trips, kinesiology major Malia Acosta ’25 decided to use this opportunity to use the gifts she’s cultivated through her studies to help others. “My family does a lot of service trips, so I’ve always found it valuable to connect with people with different cultures and experiences,” Acosta said. “When I went to Panama with other APU students last year, I’d never experienced a culture like that and wanted to expand my experiences even more. When I heard about the kinesiology trip, I knew I could use what I’m passionate about in a different part of the world.”
During the trip, students were split into two teams. Some days the teams went to a private Christian school to teach physical education to kids of all grades from preschool to high school. APU students focused on teaching the children fundamental skills such as throwing, catching, and running. “We also aimed to pour into them spiritually, sharing God’s love and kindness,” Acosta said.
Other days were spent working with their host, Kabale Christian Care. APU students traveled to different villages to help those who needed physical treatment. Some patients needed medicine, while others needed exercise routines to help with their pain and limited mobility. Acosta said working at the clinics provided different challenges than working at the school. “The children were still growing and learning, but we were working with adults who have never been able to move certain ways and are limited in what they can do physically.”
Acosta said that her anatomy and kinesiology classes prepared her for the fundamental aspects of the trip.They also prepared the team to effectively identify the patients’ limiting factors and whether they needed exercises that strengthened or stretched their muscles. “It’s amazing to see what we’ve been learning applied to real life situations and see progress in our patients.” Watching this progress made the challenging task of communicating with a language barrier more rewarding. “Teaching basic movements and remedies was challenging when we couldn’t easily get across what we needed to explain. We learned to use many techniques to help patients understand us.”
Part of the team’s successful Global Engagement trip came from them learning to work together to help others. The APU students combined their knowledge and skills to help patients at the clinic. “On the clinical outreach days, patients would come from all over to receive help,” she said. “Our job was to program exercises for each individual. It was such a cool experience to problem solve with the team because that’s what we do in our major all the time, but we got to put it into practice outside of the classroom. Processing with each other and seeing what the kinesiology program could look like if we collaborated more was one of my favorite memories from the trip.”
While Acosta knew a few of her teammates going into the trip, there were others who she didn’t have previous connections with. Before leaving for Uganda, the whole team met once a week to bond and pray over their trip.
Connecting with her teammates enhanced her experience, but Acosta found that the joy that connected her to the people she was serving was extremely fulfilling and inspirational. “Everyone we served was so grateful,” she said. “Even if they were in pain or facing challenges, it was noticeable just how much joy they had in their lives. It taught me the importance of not trying to get through each day, but rather seeking the Lord’s presence at every opportunity.” Acosta hopes to carry the gratefulness, joy, and love that she was shown in Uganda back to APU with her.
Acosta also learned that with joy and kindness came intentionality. “When I was speaking with people from Uganda, they asked so many questions about our lives and were very intentional with our conversation,” she said. “I realized that I can also be more aware of my actions and words and the value that they hold. Life is so fast paced that we feel the need to rush a conversation, meal, or church session to move on to the next thing. Coming back, I grew more patient and wanted to spend time with things and people that I value.” Since returning to APU, Acosta has grown closer to her friends by practicing intentionality. She believes that she is now a better friend, daughter, and sister since learning the importance of slowing down to value relationships.
Acosta hopes APU students will take the leap of faith to sign up for Global Engagement trips and lean into the unknown aspects of serving in new places. “If you have any interest in serving people of different cultures, places, and languages, the Lord will provide and carry you on your journey,” she said. “You’ll find that you’re capable of things you didn’t know you were before, and you will get to use your strengths in situations that glorify Him.”