A University alumnus and a graduate student will take the better part of the year to practice their passion for ministry work in Haiti. Social work graduate student April Blackburn and University alumnus Seth Blackburn will travel to 11 countries as part of the World Race program, and the second stop will be Haiti.The Blackburns heard about the Christian mission last August but didn’t know they’d be visiting Haiti until a day before the Jan. 12 earthquake wrecked the country.”I was thinking about the devastation and what people are going through, and then I remembered we’d be going there,” Seth Blackburn said. “I was scared because I didn’t know what to expect going to a place with that kind of destruction.”April Blackburn said 60 to 70 participants will travel with the group, and they will be assigned to places all across Haiti, not just Port-au-Prince.She said rebuilding will be the most important help they provide in Haiti.”They’ll still be desperately needing help in many months,” April Blackburn said. “I’m happy to get there and continue the work that is happening.”But during the 11 months away, the Blackburns will also be giving up the everyday amenities found in the U.S. “We will leave our comfortable situation and help them rebuild their country out of love and service,” Seth Blackburn said. “That says a lot about what’s going on in that person’s heart.”Besides rebuilding plans, April said she hopes to do work with orphanages and care for children.The group will depart in July and visit other countries in need, including the Dominican Republic, Turkey and China. The group will go through culture training in May to learn the customs of the countries that they are visiting.April Blackburn said she expects to come back a different person because of the experience.”I am excited overall seeing what God’s going to do over there through us,” Seth Blackburn said. “I’m anxious that the devastation will be so great that it might seem overwhelming, but I’m confident God has called us there for a purpose.”—————Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]