Empowering Minds, Changing Lives

From classrooms to villages: Bridging business education with community impact

For the first time in school history, Shorter University’s College of Business was able to take a group study abroad trip, which molded into a short-term missions trip in March 2024.

This unique trip provided an experiential learning opportunity to first-hand relate applicable concepts from our students’ academic content to real-life situations. The purpose of this Global Experience Trip opportunity is to create a setting for students to raise their awareness of our interconnected and interdependent world. Understanding this, Global Servants helped make this trip and purpose come true. During our trip, we were able to pour into the business community, interact with people of the villages, go on an African safari, visit various tourist spots, and truly be immersed into the Ghanaian culture.

Throughout the trip with Global Servants in Ghana, my students were able to provide several micro-grants to small businesses as well as educate business owners/community leaders about fundamental business principles. We believe that through education, communities can feel empowered, initiate personal growth, and work to fight poverty. Some of the business principles embedded within our curriculum included the purpose of marketing, utilizing digital marketing, content creation, the value of networking, implementing ethical/legal considerations, and financial planning. Each of the students was able to take the knowledge obtained from their education at Shorter to help apply it to the distinctive Ghanaian businesses present for the teachings. While most of our training started small with about twenty-five business owners and leaders, word spread to the village, and the training ended with over seventy-five leaders present.

Beyond the pieces of training, my college of business students had the chance to interact with the Ghanaian people throughout 14 different villages. Each village contained its own unique culture and seeing the application of adaptability by the college students demonstrated true cultural consciousness when working with others from diverse backgrounds. Specifically, in the village of Kukua, our group was invited to meet with their Chief. This invitation was an honor, allowing us to visit his palace and hear how pleased he is with Global Servants’ work in his village. My Shorter students were able to connect a more significant impact that reaches beyond the trim work done through our short-term mission trip. Another memorable moment for our group was the opportunity to visit several educational institutions. Seeing that some schools are held in a clay hut with a dirt floor or under a tree was an eye-opening experience for my students. By experiencing this true sense of poverty, the level of gratefulness and thankfulness began to accrue for the situations in which my students came from. At that moment, each student started comprehending the meaning of American privilege.

While the training and community interactions serve as the purpose of the Global Experience Trip, our group had the chance to partake in several tourist attractions. These attractions included an African safari through Mole National Park, a tour of the Asantehene Manylia Palace Museum, House of Grace-Ghana, Trinity Foundation School, and a tour of the Cape Coast Castle. While each of these activities has a distinct purpose, some of them have a more significant impact than others. One of the most exciting activities for my students was the safari through Mole National Park. Being able to see the animals in their natural habitat was a surreal opportunity that each will remember forever. Another activity that made an impact on the students was the opportunity to walk through the Door of No Return in the Cape Coast Castle. To see where such an evil time of history took place and to stand where others stood before us was an imperative and heavy moment for us to experience and fully comprehend the weight of history. This tourist attraction changed the perspective of my students and influenced them to work towards a life of unity.

Lastly, the groups’ favorite parts were the Trinity Foundation School and House of Grace-Ghana. Each one of us on the Shorter team felt at home on the compound and enjoyed seeing all the joy on the faces of the House of Grace girls. To see all of the hard work over the years in person provided insight into how the Ghana sector runs and how God is doing great work in the lives of the West African community. Trinity Foundation School touched our hearts by being able to meet the school’s leadership, teachers, staff, and students. Since being back in the States, our group has started a book drive to provide more educational resources and additional reading materials for the students and leadership of the school.

Establishing this Global Experience Trip provided a cross-cultural opportunity where my students gained a competitive edge in the job market by developing the soft skills of cultural consciousness, communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork, responsibility, and servant leadership. The Ghana team was incredibly hospitable, welcoming us into their lives, and I know we now have a family in Ghana for the rest of our lives. I am tremendously thankful for the opportunity to partner with such an outstanding organization as Global Servants. Currently, we are planning the following year’s trip, and I know that this future partnership will provide a life-changing experience for my students.

About Amanda Gentry, Ph.D.

Amanda Gentry, Ph.D., is the Assistant Professor of Business Administration, COB Global Experience Director, and the Sigma Beta Delta Faculty Advisor for the College of Business at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia. Amanda holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership with a Human Resource Development Concentration from Regent University, a Master of Business Administration with a Management Concentration from Tennessee Wesleyan University, and a Bachelor of Human Development with a Business minor from Lee University. Amanda has served on several nonprofit boards and advisory councils and has an immense love for her community. She has published several articles in the Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership and the Faith Perspectives in Leadership and Business Book Series. Amanda has been married to her husband, Clay, since 2017, and they reside in Cartersville, GA. Currently, they have no children “yet” but are in the middle of adopting a little boy from Ghana.