This summer, 3,688 students and adult leaders passed through the gates of Charleston Southern University to participate in M-Fuge. Every Sunday for eight weeks, the vision was cast for a new group of students ready to take on mission projects throughout the Charleston area.
There are six mission tracks from which M-Fuge students may choose: games and recreation, creative ministries, PCY (painting, construction and yard work), children, peer, and social. Students who chose games and recreation worked with Boys and Girls clubs, local recreation centers, and conducted sports camps.
Those choosing creative ministries spent time in local nursing homes, performed puppet shows, and shared music and drama. PCY students spent days helping locals with improving their living conditions.
Those who chose peer worked at various sites reaching out to other teens in the community. The Lowcountry Food Bank, The Salvation Army and The Coastal Center were sites included in the social area where students engaged in “behind the scenes” ministry.
This is the seventh summer Charleston Southern has hosted M-Fuge. Campus minister Clark Carter commented, “M-Fuge was a great experience again this summer. Literally thousands of lives were touched and changed because of our partnership with M-Fuge and LifeWay. What is also great about this partnership is that the money we receive from M-Fuge helps us send CSU students, faculty and staff around the world for missions service each year.”
David Crabtree, who worked the past two summers as an M-Fuge tract leader, was the camp director at Charleston Southern this summer. He said that a goal of M-Fuge is to be a life-changing camp for participants. “These students bond with other Christians and build confidence,” said Crabtree. “It’s like spring training, a week of learning that shows when they get home.”
An e-mail from an adult participant confirmed that M-Fuge indeed changes lives. The participant wrote, “I know you are in your last week of M-Fuge, and I hope that you have had a wonderful summer in Charleston. Our group has continued to pray for you all, and I know some of our kids and adults have been in touch with their M-Fuge leaders since we returned home. We had a terrific time, and I’ve had so many positive comments from parents who have seen dramatic changes in their children. Be encouraged – what you do does make a difference!”