More than 1,000 college students from church groups and university ministries across South Carolina gathered in Myrtle Beach on Feb. 6–8 for CONVERGE, a weekend event that challenges and equips college students to passionately follow Jesus.
This year marks the highest attendance for the event to date.
“This is a record year for CONVERGE,” Chad Stillwell, leader of SCBaptist’s evangelism team, said. “We are incredibly grateful to God and to our churches for continuing to invest in this generation of college students.”
Students spend time in worship, led by Spero Project.
A Weekend to Grow
Outside of beach pick-up games and pickleball tournaments, attendees heard testimonies of life change from their peers, breakout sessions from state ministry leaders, and messages that encouraged them in their walk with the Lord.
Charleston Southern University student Whitney Carpenter said, “I came to CONVERGE to worship, learn, and grow with Jesus alongside like-minded believers, and that is exactly what I’ve gotten the last two years.”
Another student, Jonathan Howard, shared that as a Christian Studies major, CONVERGE was “very reinforcing to my call to ministry and very convicting to the role I’m preparing myself for.”
Equipping Students and Leaders
Breakout sessions offered an opportunity for both students and collegiate ministry leaders to receive training and equipping that tackled a variety of topics including identity, spiritual rhythms, missions, evangelism, and more.
Stillwell led a session specifically to equip church leaders and volunteers. He had leaders assess what their ministries were doing to engage lost students, make disciples, and develop leaders, emphasizing that these were the three main areas that collegiate ministries should primarily focus on.
“It was an event like this where I’d been just bouncing around my college ministry. By the end of the event, I surrendered to a call to ministry,” Stillwell shared. He reminded leaders that even if they don’t immediately see results, the work they do among college students matters.
Encouraging Students to Go on Mission
During free time, students had the option to join an evangelism outreach event, and 84 students signed up to spend their afternoon engaging people with the gospel, praying for them, and letting them know they are seen and loved by the Lord.
CONVERGE also encourages students to strategically use their season of life for the Lord and for Great Commission impact through short-term missions. They highlighted multiple opportunities for students including Camp McCall, Palmetto Collective, GenSend, and BCMGO. Students also joined together in a midnight prayer session to pray for the lost, for missionaries across the globe, and for more people to be sent to the mission field.
In total, 41 students made a commitment to missions or ministry, and seven students chose to follow Jesus for the first time.
In all of this, Stillwell emphasized how encouraged he is by what SCBaptists are witnessing in the next generation. “They are eager and passionate to learn more about Jesus,” he said. “God is moving in this generation of college students in a way we haven’t seen in a long time.”
— Anna Gardner serves as the creative editor for SCBaptists.