E1 College Ministry
Find your place in the Great Commission.
E1 College Ministry exists to empower college students for a lifetime of participating in God’s global mission as they walk with Christ.
God is moving in the nations. He is making his name known in places where the gospel has never gone before and bringing people to himself. At Empower One, our role in God’s mission is to empower leaders in the hard places of Africa to send out church planters among the unreached. We want to invite you to join us.
Go on a trip.
Discover what God is doing in Northeast Africa: partner with our team of local leaders, share the gospel alongside African seminary students, encourage local church plants, and watch God move in incredible ways.
Go deeper.
Two more ways in, one through the school year and one through the summer. No trip required first.
Great Commission Cohort
A six-session online cohort exploring what God is doing among the unreached in Northeast Africa, and your place in it. You’ll learn from men and women deeply invested in God’s mission and wrestle with your next step alongside other students. The first cohort launches this fall.
Join the cohort interest listSummer Internship
Spend your summer with our team: a ministry project built around your gifts, the summer mission trip to South Sudan, and mentorship the whole way through. Applications for 2027 are open now and close February 1.
Explore the internshipLifelong gospel impact
It doesn’t stop there.
Whichever path you take, you’ll have the opportunity to explore where God is calling you.
College students are the leaders of the next generation. When you graduate, you’ll be empowered to take bigger steps of faith and live on mission wherever God leads.
I want to learn moreLeading a campus ministry? Email Susannah at susannah@empower-one.org.
College trip FAQs
Questions students ask us.
Q.What if I can’t afford a mission trip?
Don’t let cost be the thing that stops you. Most trip participants support raise the full cost, and we can connect you with missions scholarships as well. We’ll provide training to get you started fundraising and help along the way. Few of us could pay for a trip like this out of pocket, but God is more than able to provide. Often the first big step of faith, the first place you see God move, is the support raising itself. That happens before you ever board a plane.
Q.I’ve never been overseas. Do I need more experience first?
Susannah, our US college director, fields this one: “My first time overseas, and the second time I ever got on a plane, was my first Empower One trip to South Sudan. It was a big step, but there was something special about jumping in headfirst, trusting God, and seeing him move.” We run multiple training sessions so you’re prepared, and our African churches are incredibly welcoming. God is all about using people who feel under-prepared, because it shows his power that much more. Moses, Jeremiah, and Peter would agree.
Q.What does a typical day look like? Will we do construction?
Every day is a little different. We stay flexible and help our African leaders with whatever they need, but most days start with outreach at a church plant alongside the leaders there, and by mid-afternoon we’re back at the flagship church for fellowship or a training led by local leaders.
We rarely do construction. Our African friends are usually better certified for that work, and it gives them jobs and skills to provide for their families. What helps most is sharing the gospel and encouraging one another. If you have skills or passions you want to use on mission, tell us. We’d love to talk about where they fit. When we empower African leaders, we ask what they need first and let them host us.
Q.How can I prepare?
We hold four pre-trip training sessions before each trip covering everything you’ll do on the ground: support raising, packing lists, sharing the gospel, ministering in another culture. If you want to prepare on your own, When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert is a favorite of our US staff.
Q.I’m not in college. Can I still go?
If you’re college-aged, you’re welcome on a college trip no matter what path you’re on. And if college is behind you, Empower One has a place for you too. Fill out the interest form and we’ll help you find a trip that fits.
Q.How can my college ministry get involved?
Ministries partner with us through short-term trips, prayer, giving, and discipleship opportunities. We’d love to talk about what fits your ministry best. Email Susannah at susannah@empower-one.org to get started.
Not only did it impact my life, but it impacted others around me… It’s the willingness to pray through this and say, ‘Lord, send me.’
May, E1 College Trip participant
Go on a college trip.
College trips are announced each fall. Get on the interest list and you’ll be the first to hear.