STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — More than 300 students at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio will use their spring break to serve Christ by serving the poor at locations across the United States and in five other countries.

“Perseverance, sacrifice, responsibility, prayer, charity, hope and faith are an integral part of each mission-trip experience,” said Rhett Young, director of missionary outreach at the university, on March 8.

“It is Christ in the people they encounter and the personal growth that happens while on mission that leaves a lasting impression.”

The students have spent six months in preparation for the service trips, including both training and fundraising.

The domestic locations for the mission trips are the Bronx, Chicago, North Dakota, San Diego, Florida and Gallup, N.M.

The students traveling to Gallup will work with the Little Sisters of the Poor at their Villa Guadalupe nursing home and with the Missionaries of Charity at their homeless shelter. They will minister to the Navajo, or Diné, people, as well as to others in the area. Students will also help out at Gallup Catholic School.

Other students will travel from Steubenville to Belize, Ecuador and Honduras. Those participating in a semester-abroad program in Austria will travel to a Romanian orphanage or to Lourdes, France, to help the sick.

Other activities include working at an AIDS hospice, doing evangelization, bringing medical care and performing jail ministry.

The students attending the various mission trips, reflected Young, “desire to give of themselves and to grow spiritually, emotionally and humanly.”