A life worth serving
Small-town boy becomes man of the world
By Mari Olson

Last year, Derik Fossum packed his bags and set off for what anyone might deem an adventure. What he wasn’t counting on was that his experiences would reshape the person he is and influence the man he will become.

Fossum participated in a DWU mission trip to Peru last spring, and he was chosen as the only DWU student to go to Kenya as the first George McGovern Humanitarian Intern with the Center for the Church and Global AIDS. He traveled with former DWU President Don Messer, who is the chairman of the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund, and Don Simmons, dean of the DWU College of Leadership and Public Service.

Derik Fossum and Kelsie Nebelsick in Chincha, Peru, in May 2009. The little girl, Jenny, was one of many the group met while doing construction in the community, building a well and working with area children. Photo courtesy of Shannon Mack/DWU student

“I knew as these experiences were happening that they were life-changing,” Fossum said. “The people who I traveled with on both occasions were amazing. They all left a mark on me.”

The soft-spoken 20-year-old from Canton is a junior double-majoring in business and leadership and public service, and he plans to go to law school. He had never left the country before last year.

“Throughout both experiences, all the places I went, I just kept thinking that I couldn't believe I was where I was,” he said. “I thanked God for the opportunities He gave me to travel, learn and help people. It was really powerful.”

The Peru trip consisted primarily of manual labor, and the group also spent some time playing with the local children.

“I’ve never seen poverty like that before,” he said. “It was eye-opening to see people like that. You’d think they’d be hopeless, but they’re not. They keep a positive attitude.”

Once in Africa, Fossum realized that Peru was just an introductory lesson in poverty. In Kenya, there are roughly a million children orphaned by AIDS, and up to 180,000 children living with HIV (for a full article by Messer, go to: www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=6027).

Fossum was greeted by extreme poverty and disease, as well as living symbols of the resilience of the human spirit. He spent most of his time just observing and interacting with the people who were living with HIV and AIDS and those fighting against it – many of whom were one and the same.

Derik Fossum met several inspirational people while in Kenya, including Isaac Idambo, associate pastor at Riruta Methodist Church.

“In Riruta, there is a church with about 70 members,” he explained. “This one church helps to support more than 200 children weekly, 76 of whom are orphaned by AIDS, and 38 of the children actually are HIV- positive themselves. It’s entirely run by volunteers and the whole church is probably no bigger than a large classroom. A woman in Colorado sends them $200 a month, and that is what sustains them.

“If a church like that (in Kenya) can do that – what could a church in the United States do over in Kenya?” Fossum asked. He’d like to see more Americans and churches adopting this one woman’s attitude toward giving.

“I learned a lot from Dr. Messer – that poverty, AIDS and hunger cause each other; in order to stop one, you have to stop them all,” Fossum said.

He also met people he called “amazing” – the Bishop William Muriuki at Kaaga Synod, Florence Murugu, director of the Kaaga Synod’s HIV/AIDS program, and Isaac Idambo, associate pastor at Riruta Methodist Church. Fossum stays in touch with Muriuki and Murugu.

“Florence calls me her son on the other side of the world,” he said.

He’s already working to make a difference in his own way.

For his public service senior seminar he is working to raise funds for the “Gift of HOPE,” which is part of an HIV/AIDS program in the Kaaga Synod of the Methodist Church of Kenya. His other project is a Web site for the program that will be used as an education and training tool to fight the battle against HIV/AIDS, as well as a resource for fundraising.

In Peru, the positive effects of a hard day’s work were apparent in the sidewalks and masonry created by volunteer hands. In Africa, the results weren’t as tangible.

“Sometimes it felt like I wasn’t making a difference,” he said. But then, he realized something. “The way Don Messer reacts (to the people he’s with) makes more of a difference than anything.”

When he got back he decided that he was going to throw himself into more ministry opportunities. Spring in Peru and summer in Africa didn’t satisfy his itch to help – it only made him more aware of the need that was out there – in this new world that was opened up to him in a single year.

An experience-starved student crossed an ocean and came home a man with a mission.
“I’m going to change what I want to do,” he said. “I want to be involved in mission work for as long as I can. I want to find somewhere I can make a difference.”