September 9, 2024
WAYCROSS, Ga. — For aspiring math major Bree Howard, it just didn’t add up that South Georgia State College’s Waycross campus had no Baptist Collegiate Ministry.
So the sophomore from Blackshear did something about it. She started one.
“I’m trying to graduate with a 4.0, and that’s important to me,” Howard said. “But this is way more important. This is eternal.”
With the help of professor Amy Fitzgerald, a handful of classmates, and local church leaders, the BCM is up and running on the Waycross campus, which has about 250 students.
As Georgia Baptists press to expand BCMs onto college campuses across the state, they are taking note of the Waycross startup, which shows collegiate ministry can be viable even on the smallest campuses.
“Our desire is to see college students who don’ have a relationship with Christ to trust Christ as their savior,” said Greg Benfield, missions strategist in the Piedmont Okefenokee Baptist Association. “We also want to help the student who is already a believer to connect with other believers on campus so they can encourage one another.”
At least 44 Georgia college and university campuses have active BCMs, but the Georgia Baptist Mission Board wants to expand to 96. That would put BCMs on every campus in the state, no matter how small.
“Our colleges and universities are spiritual battlefields that desperately need strong BCMs to shine the light of Christ,” Mission Board staffer Levi Skipper told the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee last year. “It’s crucial that we expand our reach to every campus in Georgia, and we are taking steps to do just that.”
The 20-year-old Howard, who will be transferring to Georgia Southern University in the fall, said she’s glad the Lord used her to help start the Waycross BCM before she moved on.
“We’re not promised another day on this earth,” she said. “So, we want to make sure eternal matters are settled, because that’s what’s going to last. It’s important to have a Christian ministry like BCM in a secular college. It’s a good way to make disciples and to encourage and help students grow in their faith.”
As the kickoff for the Waycross BCM approached, Howard, a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, said she was hopeful that her classmates would be as excited about BCM as she was. They were. Up to a dozen students have been attending the first series of BCM meetings.
“So I have been pleased with the turnout,” Howard said.
Benfield said the college has been supportive of the new BCM, providing meeting space, and local churches have been on board from the beginning, leading devotions and providing meals at the meetings.
“We know this is the age group that tends to stray from the church,” Benfield said. "This BCM gives students who aren't connected to a church the opportunity to get connected."
Benfield said he has high hopes that the core group of students who are now engaged in the Waycross BCM will keep it going.
“That’s when we’ll know it’s got roots and will be here for a while,” he said.
