Digital Storytelling Class Supports International Non-Profits 

EUGENE, Ore. — Storytelling takes many forms and can be used for several purposes. During the Digital Storytelling course at Bushnell University this past academic year, students learned how to create and convey compelling and cohesive messages that empower and support others in need. The class utilized video and other digital platforms to create content for non-profit organizations in Cambodia and The Gambia. 

Course instructor Jay Jones, who brings over 20 years of professional experience to the classroom, explained the impact that working for non-profits played in the classroom. “It made it real. This wasn’t a mock brand or a made-up campaign. The students knew the videos could actually help organizations doing important work.” 

Through helping others, students saw the transformative value of service. “To create something for a real client opened the experience into something much bigger,” shared alumna Alyssa Foss ’26. “I wanted to create a video that would bless the ministry and truly capture their story. The real-life context called me to get outside of myself and my own grades and focus on somebody else.” 

Gaining New Skills

Students worked together to create digital content for non-profits in two different countries, which required getting to know the non-profits and the countries while learning the technical skills of creating social media assets and editing videos. “Most students focused on either editing or building social media assets,” shared Jones. “For many, it was their first time using these tools. Editing is hard, but they did it.” 
 
In addition to the difficulties of learning the software, students had to navigate the “real-world limitations” of fixed baseline content: “There wasn’t endless footage or polished assets. So, they had to figure things out,” continued Jones. “What do you do when you’re short on visuals? How do you tell the story if no one’s on camera? How do you add context through research? That’s much closer to how projects actually work in the real world.” 

Sharing the Good News Abroad 

The students’ work is supporting the ministry of two non-profits, one of which operates in The Gambia, Africa’s smallest country. At only 4400 square miles, it is smaller than the Willamette Valley, though both share the characteristics of being bisected by a river and relying on agriculture. There are important culture differences, of course, including that approximately 96% of Gambians identify as Muslim. 

In this predominately Muslim country, Shared Blessings was founded to share the message of Christ and to provide for those in need through education, food support, and other forms of outreach. The student-created video showcases Shared Blessings leaders Sulayman and Manuela Bah speaking about the organization’s history of outreach, which started as a school and expanded from there. 

“Trying to bring the gospel into a 95% Muslim country has to have a different approach,” Manuela shares. “So we were trying to come up with more creative ways of how to minister to not just the children but their families.” The students’ creative work bolsters the new efforts Shared Blessings is undertaking to spread the word in Gambia. 

The other non-profit was Warm Blankets Switzerland, which provides for the basic essential needs of children in Cambodia and several other countries. The organization installs water filters to provide clean drinking water and provides financial support for community homes and refuges. 

The student video showcases the efforts of Warm Blankets Switzerland to support vulnerable children and highlights the difficulties of doing so. The video conveys the importance of the mission in a way that cannot be captured in words. 

A Culture of Service

The vital work of both organizations highlights the immense importance of service. That attitude is also deeply woven into Bushnell’s ethos, with non-profit support and mission trips happening regularly. 

Jones likes to quote 1 Peter 4:10-11, which emphasizes that “each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.” Silverthorne echoes the sentiment: she emphasizes the importance of social good in her teaching and works to make that a reality for students. Marketing courses often work with local non-profits to support their efforts. 

There are many important stories to tell, and Bushnell aims to equip students with the skills needed to tell those stories in compelling and interesting ways. Find out more about the marketing program at Bushnell University.