We have 7 commitments to every WRU (Journey School) student
Traditional college has become unaffordable for many families and we believe that Christ Followers deserve more options. We are committed to providing an affordable college education and the opportunity for students to graduate debt free.
Our model focuses on:
- Earning money through student work & apprenticeships
- Fundraising
- Scholarships
- Family contributions
We are Christ-followers who believe a healthy, thriving community builds our faith. Our students and mentors enjoy abundant life together as they walk through discipleship and fellowship together.
While at World Race U, you’ll experience:
- Rich Community
- Adventure Weekends
- Apprenticeship Network
- Ministry alongside local cross cultural mission partners
- Mentoring and Coaching
Studies show we learn more through experience than lecture. Our learning model focuses on a multiplicity of experiences as you travel the world.
We help you customize your learning path by connecting you with a mentor who helps you build a Thrive Path.
We believe that you deserve time and space to figure out what God is saying to you and where he is calling you. Your journey with Journey School begins with your first 4-month semester. If you choose to continue at Journey School you can go on to earn your Associate’s (2 years) or Bachelor’s Degree (3-4 years).
Your Development Plan begins as your coach helps you inventory your assets, interests, and dreams. You and your coach will then work to connect you to your dreams by developing a path composed of specific actions that you’ll take to move toward your dreams.
Each week, you’ll look at it, evaluate the progress you’ve made and then edit your Development Plan, establishing priorities for the week to come.
As followers of Christ, we take his Acts 1:8 command to “reach the uttermost parts of the earth” seriously.
We have a network of more than 1,000 partners around the world who we have sent teams to and served in the past.
We help our students connect to their purpose by connecting them to opportunities and needs where they can grow experientially on mission.
We are experts at creating community. We place students in cohorts where they often make lifelong friends. They do life together and laugh a lot while challenging and encouraging one another.
We equip students to dream with God about how he wants to change the world and then become the change the world needs. To do that, you’ll need skills and connections. We coach students in acquiring life skills.
We connect them to a network of mentors who are committed to Christ’s Great Commission, working on life-changing projects in real time.
The world is changing – at Journey School, we teach you how to change with it.
We have 7 commitments to every Journey School student
Your Journey School mentors will meet you at the airport in Guatemala and escort you and your classmates to our base in Guatemala. You are responsible for your travel costs home from our base in Gainesville, Georgia at the end of your Journey School semester.
- Scheduled ministry
- Adventure Weekends
- debriefs and your return travel from Guatemala to Georgia
are included in your program costs. You are not responsible for these costs.
Specific number of credits per semester may vary with student degree plan choices. Your coach will help you to determine the best path for you. On average a full time course load is $6,000 per semester.
Classes taken from College of Athens are $150 per credit hour when attending as a student enrolled in Journey School.
Journey School is a program by Adventures in Missions, an international Christian Mission non-profit organization. At Journey School we believe in the Great Commandment to go to all the nations and make disciples.
That is why each semester you will go on an international mission trip and you can raise support for your trip. You can raise funds to cover the mission trip portion of your trip which totals $6K per semester.
Our admissions advisors have fundraised for their own mission trips. With their experience and advice from experts, they will help you through the process of fundraising for your own mission trip.
We understand raising money can be intimidating, which is why we pair you with an admissions advisor who will guide you through the support raising process.
If you’re worried about finances, don’t be. Over the years, we’ve learned time and time again that when God calls, He provides.College Classes
Your assigned mentor will help you craft a Personal Development Plan which includes your choice of school. We partner with both Sophia online school and WGU. Cost is dependent on number of classes and choice of school.
Finances
You are responsible for your travel cost to training camp which is located in Gainesville, Ga and your travel from Gainesville, Ga back home at the end of the semester.
- Room & Board
- Travel expenses
- Discipleship
- Community
- One journey/year
Scheduling
While we will be constantly evaluating our processes (remember this is a dynamic, activator-led environment) may be some shifts in how we navigate our schedule. Participants will help us in this process. Initially, we will schedule classes in the mornings with afternoons dedicated to mentoring and community service. Every other weekend classes will shut down for Adventure days.
By using real world settings and challenges, we can help enhance your learning experience and involve you in the bigger picture of what God is doing around the world.
We believe that God wants young people to see what he’s doing and how they can join him and make a difference.
Housing
Yes – at the Gainesville AIM base and the Guatemala AIM base.
Yes, depending upon the housing option there may be certain rules and covenants. You will receive a copy of those after we determine your housing option.
Because community is a key value at the Journey School, interacting as a cohort is an important component of the program.
This includes living in a community environment.
In some cases, there may be teachers living in housing.
Yes, we will have a Journey School mentor for all of your practical needs.
Additionally, we have a Journey School class director or mentor on-premise and an offsite partnership for professional counseling (for a very reduced fee).
Certification/Accreditation/Classes
Yes, Journey School courses are accredited through College of Athens by TRACS.
- Marcia Wilbur
- and more..
Adventures in Missions Staff:
- Seth Barnes
- Chris Carlson
- Dave Carlson
- and more…
Guatemala Faculty Adventures in Missions Staff:
- Seth Barnes
- Bill Swan
- Katie Swan
- Kevin Applegate
- Marielle Moguel
- Gabe Sanchez
The following is a list of the courses we are currently in design with – this list will be honed. We encourage you to give us your input on what you think are the most intriguing courses, the ones that you would like to see offered in the charter class.
- Community Living
- Kingdom Living
- Local Ministry
- Independent/Interactive Study
- Finding Your Call
Cohort-led/Independent Studies – ELECTIVES
- Business as Missions
- Intro to Mobilization & Advocacy
- Intro to Management
- Jesus Lifestyle – COREActs Survey – CORE
- Leadership Training: Leadership 101
- Disciple Making
- Leading Teams
- Development 101
- Healing
- Cross Cultural Ministry
- Missiology
- Support Raising
- Learning as Teaching
- Pastoral Counseling
- Worship/Prayer
What certification is available for students?
Everyone who successfully completes a course will receive a Certificate of Completion.
Top leaders and activators internally and externally will invest in participants both in and out of the classroom. The ethos of the Journey School will be community-centric, relationally driven, with an emphasis on development and activation.
Letter to future world changers
I remember what it was like to leave my home and go off to college. My father wanted me to be a doctor like him. That seemed crazy to me. I didn’t know who I was or what I was good at, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be in the medical profession!
My parents expected me to go to college, so I went. The prospect of sitting in classrooms and taking notes seemed tedious, but I knew there was going to be a world full of possibilities beyond the campus.
When Thanksgiving break rolled around, my friend said, “Let’s drive to Acapulco!” Only problem? We were in Chicago! But we got in his VW and away we went, driving nonstop until we arrived at the beach two days later. When, as a senior, I learned about the genocide in Cambodia, I found my way on a plane to a refugee camp. Within a week, I was helping refugees get back on their feet. I couldn’t see it, but I was becoming the change the world needed.
What I learned is that life doesn’t have to look like somebody else’s boring script. God has given us each passions and the ability to make a difference. In fact, he says in the Bible that true religion is not found in buildings, but “helping widows and orphans in their distress.”
I believe that you have the seeds of greatness in you, and I’ve committed my life to helping reveal it. I’ve learned so much, both in raising my own kids, and in digging into how Jesus helped his disciples to grow. I believe that his methods are God-breathed and still work. They aren’t outmoded, they’re just hard!
Journey School isn’t for everyone. But it is for those who believe that Jesus is worth following with total abandon. It’s for those who believe that life should be lived to the full and are prepared to press in and live it!
If you’re up for doing the work, I invite you to apply to Journey School. If we accept you, I will personally take an interest in you and, together with our team of coaches and mentors, will invest in you. I believe you’re worth it. The world needs changing and God is looking for those young people who are committed to becoming the change! He may well be calling you. I pray you hear his voice.
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