Corbin and Mason Clark Student Missionary Endowed Scholarship
Mason Clark, an alumn of Southern 2021, served as a student missionary to the country
of Bolivia following his sophomore year. His Brother, Corbin Clark, a Walla Walla
University alumni of 2018, also served as a student missionary to the country of Cameroon
following his sophomore year. Both brothers returned from their time as student missionaries
and worked in their respective school's student missionary offices for employment
while finishing their degrees. Following graduation, Mason served an additional year
as a student missionary to the country of Jordan.
Because of their commitment to the concept of student missions and acting on their
values, their parents, Dennis and Beth Clark, wish to honor them and create a legacy
that supports student missionaries that follow a similar path.
A tale of two sons
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. Not just a tale of two cities, but an apt description of two student missions experiences. The phrase can also apply to the highs and lows within a single student missionary experience. At least from a father’s perspective, that’s how I would rate the student missionary experience of my sons Corbin and Mason.
In 2015-16, Corbin had the “worst of times” in the country of Cameroon, punctuated often by what could only count as: “the best of times”! He developed patience, adaptability, his writing skills, and learned passable French. His hopes for a medical immersion experience came up short of his expectations, but does anyone’s student missionary year exactly match their expectations? The picture of him receiving his first “care package” illustrates the joy that simple pleasures bring.
Mason followed in his brother’s footsteps in 2018-19, but not to the African continent. His student missionary year was spent at an orphanage/boarding school in the country of Bolivia. He had “the best of times”. So too are “the worst of times”, which found him dealing with backed up sewage, and an emergency flight to the capital city to spend a week in the hospital suffering from a tropical disease at first thought to be Malaria or Dengue fever. The picture of him there was a definite low.
Both men returned to their respective schools to work in their Student Missions/Campus Ministries departments as they completed their undergraduate studies and if you were to ask them to reflect on that year, they would both respond: “It was the best of times!”
