Johnnies commit to the Benedictine Volunteer Corps

For graduating Johnnies who are looking for a way to give back before they enter the professional world, the Benedictine Volunteer Corps (BVC) is providing meaningful service opportunities around the globe.

The BVC allows SJU graduates to engage in a year-long volunteer trip to support monastic communities. Participants are stationed around the globe at Benedictine Monasteries in locations like Spain, Kenya and Puerto Rico, among others. Founded in 2003 by Br. Paul Richards, the BVC seeks to address the need Richards saw for more engagement with volunteer work within the university. He collaborated with monasteries around the world to identify needs of various communities and how Johnnies could address them through their service. Logan Lintvedt is a 2021 SJU graduate and program manager of the BVC. He spent six months each in Uganda and Kenya during his year of volunteering.

“There is nothing in the world that is like the BVC,” he said. “I never did a study abroad opportunity, so this was a lot more appealing for me to go gain a global perspective.”

Lintvedt was an elementary education major and said his introduction to the BVC was a happy accident.

“I was walking by one of my friend’s rooms, and they were about to hop on to one of the info sessions on Zoom, and I was like ‘what are you guys doing?’” he said. “That led to an interview, and within two weeks I was told that I got placed in Uganda. If I wasn’t in that house on that day, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

Lintvedt said the organization is unique in the way it strives to be completely community-based, and ensures a need is fulfilled when volunteers are sent to their assigned locations.

“You hear of all these two or three week volunteer opportunities where all these people are going into a place they have no knowledge about, and they might be doing more harm than good,” he said. “There’s a site director at these monasteries, and they have work already set up in place. There’s hospitals and schools they can work at; there’s manual labor they can do. They’re not going in with their own ideas or goals in mind.”

Since its creation, the BVC has sent over 300 volunteers to 23 different countries. Participation is not just limited to current SJU seniors, but also alumni that graduated within the last five years. This year, 15 SJU seniors and alumni have committed to volunteering through the BVC, but recruiting is still ongoing. Monks who are faculty residents at SJU play a large part in helping find candidates for the BVC program through their personal contact with Johnnies who want to press the pause button before entering the workforce or those who simply have a strong desire to volunteer. In addition, the BVC holds information sessions throughout the year, like the one that got Lintvedt hooked his senior year.

“A lot of people have a desire to volunteer but just don’t know what program to go to. It’s hard to start, and this is established and it’s known to work. It’s changed people’s lives and careers for the better,” he said.

SJU senior Jervon Sands is among the new class of participants. He will be in Humacao, Puerto Rico, during his year of service with the BVC.

“Puerto Rico was one of my top choices because I wanted to have an opportunity for a language immersion experience,” he said via email. “I also decided to accept the offer of Puerto Rico because it is close to home [The Bahamas], both geographically and culturally.”

SJU senior Sam Rengo, who will be spending his year in Hanga, Tanzania, said he sees himself possibly having a career in politics or public service. For now, he’s excited for the experience and time the BVC will give him to evaluate what his future may look like.

“I’ve always been really drawn to community and public service work, so it’s an opportunity to learn more about community, building in a different culture,” he said. “So afterwards, maybe it sets the foundation for more traveling or coming back to Minnesota to explore what more of that looks like.”

Some BVC members for this coming year don’t have official assignments yet, like SJU senior Matt Anderson, who will be heading to either Kenya or Israel. He expressed excitement either way, as he described the challenges and opportunities that he believes will come with this year of volunteering.

“This will be a whole new experience that will be very challenging, and I don’t think I will know how I will feel until I get to my site,” he said via email. “My main goals are to give myself to those in need and to grow as a person spiritually, emotionally and mentally.”

Anderson went on to encourage current Johnnies to explore their options with the BVC.

“If you are a Johnnie considering this opportunity, please reach out to me or any of the other BVC volunteers in this cohort or previous cohorts,” he said.

Lintvedt also pushed for this promotion and said he hopes the BVC gets more publicity as recruiting throughout the semester continues, since he believes the experience is invaluable and still relevant for graduates today.

“I encourage every Johnnie to at least take a look at it and hop off the treadmill of graduating and going into a job right away,” he said. “Jobs will always be there in the end, but opportunities like this do not come around often.”