The mission of Charleston Southern University’s campus ministries is to reach college students with the gospel, raise them in the scripture and release them to change the world. During the 2006-2007 academic year, this mission resulted in 1,336 people accepting Christ.
Charleston Southern University students serve their community as part of Project SERVE.These acceptances occurred both on and off campus. One of the events with the greatest impact was October’s Convoy of Hope, during which 65 Charleston Southern students helped 4,700 Charleston-area people in need with groceries, meals, free medical and dental assistance, job placement and Christian entertainment. After both the event and follow-up visits, 1,145 people came to know Christ.
“Our students are not content to simply hear how God is working in the world around them. They want God to use them in the process. They want to make history, not simply study history,” said campus minister Clark Carter.
The university’s campus ministry groups include Baptist Collegiate Ministries, Campus Crusade for Christ, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Outreach, Prison Fellowship, and One Accord Gospel Choir. Through these groups, approximately 490 students are actively involved in weekly ministries and Bible studies on campus. Students began the year with their hearts and minds in the right place, raising money to help pay medical expenses of a student who suffered a head injury over the summer.
More than 400 students became involved in off-campus ministries this year by partnering with ministry organizations including the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board; international organizations including One Verse and One Life; national organizations such as Souper Bowl for Caring and Convoy of Hope; and private organizations such as Health South, the South Carolina Baptist Convention, local associations and churches.
Students impacted the world on a global level, conducting ministry missions in 15 different countries: China, England, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Moldova, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, St. Lucia, Sudan and Thailand. The missions spanned the realm of teaching young children in African schools to raising money to translate the gospel into native languages or to provide HIV prevention and AIDS health care.
Throughout our own nation, Charleston Southern students lent a helping hand and set good examples for Christ. They spent their would-be vacation time tutoring high school students, teaching Vacation Bible School, shoveling snow, assisting with an Ohio church plant, and exploring Christianity with New York City’s students of other faiths.
The students made sure to include their community in the process. They assisted folks in need with home construction and refurbishment, park and yard landscaping, dinner donations and delivery to 1,000 families, and put on a festival for 65 children in a local low-income community.
“We hear so much negativity about this generation of students,” said Carter. “But I have to say that I am very encouraged by what I see. Our students have a passion to see God move and work in their lifetimes, just like he did in the book of Acts. The great news is – God is able to do just that.”