Taylor will head to Hungary for the second time this January 2027.
The trip will fulfill Taylor’s CAC 340 intercultural communication course, a public speaking credit and a cross-cultural credit, Julie Borkin, associate professor of communication, said. Borkin co-led the trip with Clifton Davis, director of chapel music, staff accompanist and adjunct professor of music, in J-term 2025.
As an academic and Taylor World Outreach (TWO) trip, the hike to Hungary mixes musical ministry and intercultural communication aspects through the projects and assignments it involves, Davis said.
Students will stay in Budapest, partnering with One Mission Society (OMS). Integrating ministry and academics results in a wide variety of activities, Davis said. These may feel random, but the diverse programming will involve either intercultural communication, music or ministry.
For example, the J-term 2025 group taught English as a second language (ESL) to students, partnering with several Budapest schools. However, they also ran a Christian worship-leading seminar, homeless ministry and musical ministry; evangelized on the streets; worked and prayed with local churches; partnered with several choirs and served in a young adult ministry. They even ran a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) coffee house in downtown Budapest for a night by mixing drinks, talking to guests and playing music, Davis said.
Many components of J-term 2025’s trip will stay the same J-term 2027. Opportunities to engage in musical ministry and cross-cultural communication, partnerships with schools and local churches, credits the class fulfills and weekday activities will remain the same, Borkin said.
However, several modifications will be made to the J-term 2027 trip.
Davis will lead the trip alone. Borkin is thrilled to see him thrive, she said. The group size will shrink too – about 16 students maximum.
The trip will shift to a songwriting focus while still fulfilling the intercultural communication piece, Borkin said.
A prayerful vision fuels this second trip: as Davis prepares, the phrase “God at work” continually comes to his mind. He hopes the students come listening for God’s voice so they can join in the work he’s already doing in the European nation.
“God is already ‘at work’ in Budapest, right? We don't need to bring Jesus to Budapest. Jesus is already there, right?” he said. “And so what I hope is that we have open hands and that we hear from the Holy Spirit and we join where God is already at work.”
The group will also leave for Hungary later on in the term. Last year, the group immediately left for Europe and completed coursework in Budapest. This year the group will spend several days at Taylor addressing the academic piece of the trip, then depart for Budapest, she said.
This will allow for deeper reflection and cultural immersion throughout the trip, instead of heavier class sessions.
Once in Hungary, remaining “academic work” will resemble last year’s: simply exploring and experiencing another culture and using academic language to reflect on the experience, Davis said.
“Rather than being like, ‘Imagine you're in a coffee shop where people don't speak English,’ we went to the coffee shop where people don't speak English, and then, you know, had to figure things out,” he said.
Through essays, students will reflect on their cultural identity, when helping hurts, what helpful outreach looks like and Hungary’s cultural distinctives, Borkin said.
For the trip’s ministry piece, Davis hopes to emulate last year’s opportunities to both minister to others and contemplate personal callings, Davis said. J-term 2025, the group heard ministry workers share their call to ministry.
“It was really a lovely part of our experience, and it helped students who were going on the trip consider God’s call on their life,” he said.
A memorable adventure for Davis was singing and sharing testimonies in a subway station. It wasn’t just fulfilling a public speaking credit; it was an impactful experience. At one point, a Roma family’s three-year-old son chatted and drove his Hot Wheels car through the musicians, making driver noises while they sang.
“When I see that night, what I see is that little boy, crouched down,” Davis said.
Kendall Beck, a senior multimedia journalism major who attended the trip, often reflects on her time in Hungary and prays for the nation, she said.
The trip was fun and formative. The group enjoyed traveling the subway, visiting the opera house, forming relationships and hanging out, Beck said.
“A lot of times we'd be like, ‘Let’s all go get coffee and work from a coffee shop,’ because it's very, like, ‘coffee culture’ there,” she said. So we really enjoyed doing that and being, like, students in another country.”
Beck appreciated that their work wasn’t a random project led by foreigners. It contributed to a continual Hungarian ministry spearheaded by locals. She trusted their work was helpful because she trusted their hosts, as locals, recognized community needs and could direct students where they could be useful.
Some project-based missions that aren’t part of a continual effort fail to address community demands, she said.
“I like that we are supporting them in their ongoing ministry, rather than going to fulfill a specific purpose,” she said. “I'm happy that another group is going back, because I think that helps establish the relationship further and build upon the work that God is doing.”
To prepare for J-term 2027, accepted students will complete a one-credit course fall 2026, Borkin said. The class includes a retreat, planning, fundraising, packing advice, answering questions and team building. By the time they arrive on campus J-term 2027, they’ll be equipped to go.
All students are welcome to apply, especially students with hearts for language, music, hospitality and connection: servant-minded students with Taylor’s “towel posture,” Borkin said.
“We're looking to help you find the best fit,” she said, “and we will certainly try to privilege all the comm majors that we can.”
Trip applications closed Friday, May 11. For questions, students can reach out to Davis at cldavis@taylor.edu.
