2001
The Voice: Summer 2001
Notes from the alumni office
Dordt trips offer a way for alums to connect
How many of you have had the experience of discovering a Dordt alum in a new community, on
a trip, or at work and even though you didn't know each other as students felt like you'd found a
new friend? No doubt you compared notes on professors, dorm life, classmates, and other aspects
of Dordt. Finding someone who had similar experiences in their formative years-experiences that
shaped them and their life views-created a bond that age and distance overcame.
That's what happened on a larger scale during the tours we sponsored for Dordt alumni
last year. Twenty-nine individuals-some who had never met before, some who had been at Dordt
at the same time, but had not seen each other since-came together to spend two weeks touring
Europe together. Within hours of their first meeting in Amsterdam, they “clicked.” The group
included recent and not so recent graduates and a few non-alumni spouses. But the things they had in common-love for the Lord and a desire (nurtured by
Dordt) to see his kingdom flourish-quickly overcame any differences. The tone was set for a
time in which people delighted in getting to know each other and God's good creation.
It happened again this spring when alumni and friends from Minnesota, British Columbia,
California, and New York traveled to Merida, Mexico, with Dallas Apol on a Service And
Learning Trip (SALT). Fifteen strangers came together for a week of learning, working, and
playing and left as friends. Not just friends, but fast friends committed to continuing the
friendships and returning to Merida at another time.
Was it just the right mix of personalities that made these two trips so successful and such
memorable events for the participants? Perhaps. But more likely they bear out the biblical truth
that in Christ believers are one. Spirit-filled folks with a desire to serve the Lord can set aside
differences and personal preferences for the good of the kingdom. The result, as almost every
SALT participant testifies, is a blessing, not only for themselves, but for the kingdom, too. One
by one they tell the same story of meeting and making great friends and having their vision
enlarged. And isn't that really just a continuation of the Dordt experience? For many of us, the
lasting impact of our Dordt years is the friends we made and our coming to see the universal
scope of God's plans and purposes. We hope those are life-long benefits, and that you'll take
advantage of the opportunities we offer to expand them.
Because of the positive response to both trips, we're repeating the European tour next
summer. Professor Case Boot and his wife, Aly, will host a fifteen-day tour of the heart of
Europe on June 27-July 11, 2002. The tour begins in Amsterdam and continues through the
Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. Besides the opportunity
to connect with alumni and friends, traveling Europe with one of Dordt's well-traveled
professors, who also happens to have an uncanny ability to recall every humorous incident and
re-tell it with great detail (and a little embellishment), is sure to be an unforgettable experience.
If you want a bit more adventure, the Boots will also host an optional five-day tour of the
Netherlands by bike and barge. This tour leaves the United States on June 22, 2002, and travels
through the “Green Heart” of the Netherlands before joining the Heart of Europe tour on June 28.
We're pleased to offer these opportunities to reconnect with Dordt and continue to enlarge your
vision of the world.
