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Spring Break is Missions Time for Baptist Campus Ministries
03/17/2010
Students involved in the KBC's Baptist Campus Ministries participated in a week-long spring break missions trip across Kentucky. Pictured L-R are Megan Peek, Jon Raley, Jake Thomas, Katie Juneau and Kim Schuler, all students from the BCM at Northern Kentucky University, who helped distribute 'Find it Here' bags with the gospel message to homes in Louisville. Click here to download this photo.
LOUISVILLE -- About 500 students from Baptist Campus Ministries in Kentucky will spend their spring breaks on mission, including several who have already assisted churches and associations in distributing ‘Find it Here’ evangelism materials.
Missions has always been a major focus for Kentucky’s BCMs, and spring break is an ideal time for students to put into practice what they are learning, said Keith Inman, director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s collegiate department.
According to Inman, the KBC planned a new type of “GPS” missions experience this year that would take students across the state for a variety of missions projects. Inman was even able to incorporate gospel distribution into the trips as part of the KBC’s ‘Find it Here’ evangelism initiative currently underway.
“A lot of churches have asked for help with ‘Find it Here’ distribution, so we decided to mobilize students during spring break because this is right during the time when all of the churches are distributing the gospel bags,” said Inman.
Two groups of about 50 students each have been involved in the trips. The details of the trip were kept secret from the students until it was time to move to the next project, he said.
“We basically planned a missions caravan around the idea of a GPS. They haven’t known where they were going to go during the entire week, but each stop was planned around a missions project,” said Inman.
At the start of each week, the students met at Laurel Lake Baptist Camp in Corbin to work with churches in the area and participate in worship services. From there, they hit the road to unknown locations throughout the state.
“The idea was, for example, to tell them on Monday, ‘This is your assignment for the day.’ And then we could tell them later, ‘Be all packed up and have your stuff on the van,’” Inman said. “Then we’d be running off down the interstate and they wouldn’t know where they’re going next.”
Na-Young Kim (Northern Kentucky University), Sandra Mathis (Western Kentucky University) and Kim Schuler (Northern Kentucky University) helped sort clothes at the Hope House in Bowling Green. The missions project was just one of many during a week-long spring break missions trip coordinated through the KBC's Baptist Campus Ministries. Click here to download this photo.
In addition to the KBC’s spring break road trip, students from BCMs throughout the state are participating in missions work in a variety of other states and countries, including Nashville, Tenn., Fargo, N.D., Dearborn, Mich., Camden, N.J., Arlington, Texas, Charleston, S.C., Gainesville, Fla., Las Vegas, New Orleans, St. Louis, New York, Atlanta, Ireland, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Murray State’s BCM is taking international students on a spring break retreat to Gatlinburg as an outreach to those who are not yet Christians, Inman said. Several BCMs, including the University of Louisville, are returning to Beach Reach in Panama City, Fla.
Bill Noe, UofL’s campus minister, said 22 students from the BCM are going to Beach Reach, where they will serve other students at the popular spring break destination.
“In the morning we do a free pancake breakfast, and then at night we offer free van rides and send out street teams. We also have a prayer ministry undergirding all of the ministries that are going on at the same time,” Noe said.
Typically, when students set foot on one of the vans, they ask if the ride is really free, and they want to know why the BCM students are offering to help.
“From the beginning we get to talk about Christ and how He compels us to serve others and how He’s important in our life and we want to share Him with others, and we get an opportunity to share the Gospel with them,” Noe said.
“Then when we see them subsequent times, we’re able to build on that initial conversation and continue sharing with them sometimes three and four times during the week. It also encourages my students and gets them excited about coming back to UofL and sharing their faith on campus,” he said.
For many students, it’s their first mission trip. Noe said the four spring break mission trips he took in college were pivotal in his call to ministry, and he has seen God use the trips to lead some students to career missions all over the globe.
“I think it’s exciting to think about 15 or so BCMs that are taking spring break mission trips, but all of those are collectively a part of the KBC,” Noe said. “I have 30 or 40 students, and some of them have more who are serving literally all over the world during spring break as an extension of the KBC’s and the local churches’ commitment to college students through BCM. That’s really exciting to be a part of.”
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Release prepared by Erin Roach, KBC Communications
