August 7, 2024
College students across Georgia left campus and classes during their spring break. But while many went to beaches and parties, Baptist Campus Ministry students went on mission trips throughout the United States and the world. Students saw salvations, calls to ministry, and the impact that sharing the love of Christ can make in the lives of others as well as their own.
Nine students from Berry College, whose BCM is led by volunteer campus ministers, traveled to Berlin. In Germany, they partnered with IMB missionaries and visited several college campuses, sharing the gospel up to 20 times each day with students from China, Kazakhstan, India, Korea, Uzbekistan, Germany, France, Ghana, South Africa and Turkey.
Campus minister Keith Wade at University of North Georgia-Dahlonega took students south of the border, to Ensenada, Mexico, to minister to families and children. Some students provided a camp experience for local children, while others built a home for a family.
North Georgia student Caity Sullens said, “God truly opened my heart and showed me that my purpose of being there was to not only spread His word, but to share His love and show attention to all the kids who may not be able to get it at home.”
Greg Ware from Concord Baptist Church, who joined the team on the trip, added, “Christ is alive and palpable at UNG. It is obvious in the way [the students] serve and worship our King.”
Tacana, Guatemala, was the destination for students from the University of Georgia, partnering with a church planted by Beech Haven Baptist in Athens. Students delivered 40 water filters to homes, and worked in the elementary and middle school in Tacana.
Georgia BCM campus minister Tommy Fountain reported that 23 individuals professed faith in Jesus during the home visits, as well as a number of middle and elementary school students.
"Our mission trip to Guatemala was the first time I had ever witnessed with my own eyes people be saved,” said student Monroe Harless. “The success of the trip was an incredible reminder of what God can do through us when we are willing to step out in obedience and share the gospel.”
Traveling even further south, Georgia Southern students worked alongside IMB missionaries in Panama. In that country they ministered to children, university students and adults. Students were able to share the message of Christ through conversations, and prayed over hundreds of people, including migrants seeking passage to the U.S.
Students from Kennesaw State headed in the opposite direction, north to the Big Apple, to share the love of Christ at Holy Apostles, one of the largest soup kitchens in North America, which serves up to 1,300 people each day. They also assisted at East 7th Street Baptist Church, known as Graffiti, by leading church services, engaging children with the Gospel in an after-school program, and prayer walking nearby neighborhoods and sharing the gospel.
“People showed so much joy from just being served a hot meal, how much more joy should we have knowing and sharing Jesus!” said student Peter Mullins.
Shorter University students went west to the predominately Mormon community of Logan, Utah, with the theme of “Jesus is Enough.” BCM students led a youth discipleship event with more than 60 in attendance where the students shared testimonies, preached, and led small groups following the message
Closer to home, students from the Georgia College BCM visited Chattanooga, working at three churches where they served a food pantry, ministered at a single mom’s ministry, worked with middle schoolers at an after-school program, and more.
Freshman Josh Pop, said, “God used this week of serving these teenagers to clearly give me a call to the ministry. This has truly changed everything for me.”
Eight students traveled from Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, to Harlan County, Kentucky. They worked to revitalize a church that had suffered during the COVID pandemic. Students partnered with Bill Wallace, the associational missionary for the Upper Cumberland Association of Baptists, to knock on doors and inform residents of the church’s reopening, and pray for and share the gospel.
Jackson Carlstrom said, “The door-to-door outreach we did was a totally new experience for me, something I never imagined I’d ever do, and the idea of knocking on the doors of strangers really scared me, but I found myself feeling much better about it by the end.”
Other students served without leaving their home state. Twenty-seven BCM students from Georgia State went to Savanah, where they ministered to residents at the Living Vine, a home for unwed mothers, worked in a thrift store and served a pancake breakfast to fellow students at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Students with the BCM at Georgia Gwinnett College used their time off from school to help at Camp Pinnacle, the Woman’s Missionary Union get-away just outside Clayton, a resort town in north Georgia. They did outside maintenance and inside cleaning to serve the staff at Camp Pinnacle and provide a pleasant environment for upcoming guests.
The BCMs from Georgia Tech and West Georgia combined to send a total of 43 students to Augusta. They worked to improve the local mission center, prayed for churches in the Augusta Association of Baptist Churches, and spent a day sharing the gospel with more than 100 students on the Augusta University campus.
West Georgia student Emily Grissett put their service into perspective, “Everyone is in need of the gospel. Our main mission in this life is to make the name of Jesus known. Living with that mindset daily changes every aspect of your life.”
