Overall St. Olaf tied 56th among 200 colleges and universities tracked by the Peace Corps. Thus far 16 St. Olaf students have applied for Peace Corps admission in 1997, putting the college on track for another number one ranking, according to David Belina, Minneapolis regional Peace Corps manager. The strong showing prompted The Wall Street Journal last month to cite St. Olaf as the leader of an apparent national trend toward more Peace Corps applicants. The newspaper pointed out that St. Olaf saw a 15 percent increase in Peace Corps inquires by seniors in 1997. The resource contains Bible studies, hunger awareness activities, worship and mediational prayer journeys, service projects and advocacy ideas, statistics and facts about hunger.
Hunger involves more than food.
Participants engaged in Bible study, shared information about international ministry, compared work styles and told stories. All missionaries are part of a larger community. Missionaries discussed involvment in local politics, adopting a modest lifestyle, language, culture and Christian faith and practice. ELCA missionaries currently serve in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. This means the percentage of salary that congregations contribute toward members' pension, medical, survivor and disability plans will stay the same as 1997.