Global Engagement | Spring Break 2026 Recap
When most people picture a mission trip, they imagine a passport, a long flight, and a culture half a world away. This spring, a team of Life Pacific University students discovered that some of the most meaningful mission fields are much closer than expected.
LPU’s Global Engagement program partnered with LPU Alumni Noah and Rachele Coombs and their organization, Urban Exchange, in San Francisco, CA, for a weekend of hands-on ministry in one of the country’s most spiritually complex cities. Through neighborhood prayer walks, unhoused outreach, food service, and Sunday worship at Anchor Church, students stepped into the city’s daily rhythms and into stories they won’t soon forget.
Watch as LPU students share firsthand how God moved through their time serving, stretching, and transforming lives in San Francisco:
Sent Before They Served
Before students ever stepped into San Francisco’s streets, they were first sent through prayer.
During a special Spring Break commissioning chapel, LPU students, faculty, and staff gathered around the San Francisco and Puerto Rico teams to pray over them, asking God for boldness, protection, humility, and divine purpose. Director of Career and Global Engagement, Kristina Stover pointed students to Isaiah 6:8, calling them to the same posture: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”
That moment set the tone for the week ahead. Before they served block by block, they were covered by community and sent with purpose.
LPU students, faculty, and staff gather in prayer during Spring Break commissioning chapel, sending the San Francisco and Puerto Rico teams out with encouragement, purpose, and spiritual covering
Showing Up
San Francisco doesn’t need a program. It needs presence. That conviction shaped the team’s experience throughout the week.
Students walked block by block through neighborhoods like the Tenderloin and the Mission, praying for residents and engaging in conversations with people many travelers pass by. They served meals to neighbors experiencing homelessness, prayed with women in crisis, and went house to house with encouragement and the love of Jesus.
“SF had so many outreach opportunities,” said LPU student Lexy Jones. “We were able to do unhoused outreach where we got to serve food to those who needed food and shelter, and we were able to reach women in crisis situations by praying and providing resources.”
“We supported the community by praying and sharing love house to house, and it was very powerful,” said LPU student Trinity Gipson.
What the Students Carried Home
Anyone who has led a short-term trip knows the real fruit often shows up in the way students talk about people afterward. By the end of the week, conversations had shifted.
“I have grown in my confidence in speaking with people and being open about my faith with anyone,” said Margaret Moriarty.
“It was an opportunity to serve and minister to others,” said Esther Park. “However, through that, I was ministered to in ways I could not have imagined.”
That theme of being changed by the very people they came to bless echoed throughout nearly every student debrief.
When students returned to campus, many described a deeper awareness of both calling and daily obedience.
“There’s so much power in saying yes, even if you don’t fully know what you’re saying yes to yet,” Jones said.
“My prayer life has been elevated,” said Kanye Stephens. “I’m more mindful now… to pray for the needs that I see around me.”
For many students, San Francisco did more than challenge comfort zones. It reshaped how they saw people, prayer, and purpose.
A Partnership Worth Honoring
Leaders on the team expressed gratitude for the opportunity to walk alongside students as they experienced ministry in a new context. LPU trip lead and Executive Assistant to the Provost, Tannise Collymore, together with Noah Coombs and Rachele Coombs, supported and led students throughout the week with care, wisdom, and intentionality. Noah and Rachele, both LPU alumni, serve as Foursquare pastors at Anchor Church and are the founders of Urban Exchange in San Francisco.
“Because of our partnership with Urban Exchange, we did so much that greatly impacted the community,” said LPU student Alyssa Rodela. “We went and reminded people that they have a purpose and that their life is valued.”
For Alyssa, even getting to San Francisco was its own testimony. After initially feeling no clear inclination to join, she stepped out in faith and watched God fully fund her trip in just two days, reinforcing a lesson many students carried home: when God calls, He provides.
LPU’s heart for San Francisco isn’t new. The city has long been a place where students discover that ministry doesn’t require another language or another continent. It requires a willingness to be uncomfortable, available, and present.
“SF needs to be a yearly trip,” Jones said. “It pushes you out of your comfort zone, but it is so rewarding if you’re willing to press in.”
(L to R: Noah Coombs; Rachele Coombs; Rachele Coombs, LPU students, and members of First Covenant Church gather together during their shared outreach efforts in San Francisco)
Get Involved
If this story stirred something in you, join us in faith-raising for our next trips!
- Apply for an upcoming Global Engagement trip through the Global Engagement page at Life Pacific University.
- Support a future student traveler through the Global Engagement Scholarship Fund.
- Pray for the city of San Francisco year-round, not just during Spring Break.
