23 participants (17 students and 6 staff) from Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan attended Co-Serve’s Servant Leadership Academy program in Colorado, USA in July, 2025. The phrases “impactful” and “relational” were used by students when describing their experiences.
The program included a combination of experiences that show cased servant leadership, from the businesses and NGOs we visited to staying with two sets of host families, one in Parker and the other in Colorado Springs. By far, the students’ favorite part of the Academy was getting to know their host home families and being integrated into their family relationships. We also had two nights when they cooked and served their host families an international dinner from their country, another high point.
We visited fifteen amazing organizations during the Academy, and through each visit, we saw inspiring examples of servant leadership. One of the favorites was the Life Center, which serves homeless people and where we learned how simply talking with and showing respect to the homeless is a great way to serve them. We participated in service projects of cleaning and cooking for the Center. At the Air Force Academy, we heard from two retired Lt Colonels about servant leadership in the US Air Force and Army. Another highpoint was the YWAM Emerge Aquaponics center where we saw an example of how to help a poor community become sustainable through raising fish, which fertilizes lettuce, which can be sold at markets. At Camp Elim, our students learned how the older teen and college staff are trained to serve the younger campers. And we experienced the challenge course, where we learned to work as a team.
After each visit, our students would lead debrief groups to help us think through what we learned. A final outcome of the Academy was that each student developed their own personal mission statement, which they shared during our graduation program.
