For Peyton Dickinson, a senior nursing major, Bethel University’s Summer 2026 Nursing Task Force trip to Ecuador provided an opportunity to put her nursing education into practice while serving others through Christ-centered care.
Dickinson joined the team as they partnered with local healthcare providers and missionaries to serve communities through medical clinics and outreach. Working alongside translators, students assessed patients, administered medications and gained firsthand experience caring for people in a different cultural setting.
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- Senior nursing major Peyton Dickinson works with a patient and translator during a medical clinic in Ecuador.
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- Dickinson provides hands-on care during a medical clinic, putting her Bethel nursing education into practice while serving patients in Ecuador.
The experience taught Dickinson that compassion and connection transcend language and geography.
“People are people no matter where you are,” Dickinson says. “Medicine is medicine.”
While serving in clinics, Dickinson helped take vital signs, listened to patients’ concerns and assisted healthcare providers as they delivered care. The experience strengthened her confidence as a future nurse and showed her that meaningful care often begins with simply listening.
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- Bethel Nursing Task Force students prepare medications for patients served through medical clinics in Ecuador.
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- Dickinson helps organize medications and medical supplies used to serve patients during a Nursing Task Force clinic.
Beyond the clinics, the team visited local churches, a refugee shelter and an orphanage, learning from missionaries who faithfully serve their communities year-round. Through each interaction, Dickinson saw how healthcare, service and faith can work together to make a lasting impact.
“It is cool to see and hear everyone’s stories,” she says. “I feel like Bethel prepared me to make a difference there … but I can also make a difference here in my backyard.”
Experiences like Nursing Task Force provide Bethel students with opportunities to serve globally, grow professionally and live out their faith in practical ways. Through these summer ministry opportunities, students are equipped to make a difference wherever God calls them.
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- Bethel Nursing Task Force members and local partners gather for a photo overlooking Quito during the Summer 2026 trip.
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- Bethel University Nursing Task Force members gather in Quito, Ecuador, during their Summer 2026 service trip focused on healthcare, ministry and cross-cultural learning.
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- Ecuador’s mountainous landscape provided the backdrop for the Nursing Task Force team’s opportunities to serve, learn and experience a different culture.
Top featured image: Bethel Nursing Task Force members gather outside one of the medical clinics where they partnered with local healthcare providers and missionaries.