With a reminder that their objective for the upcoming summer “is to give the gospel away,” 45 Baptist Collegiate Ministry students were commissioned to summer missions service on the last Saturday in March at West Side Baptist Church, West Columbia.
South Carolina BCM summer missionaries pray during their commissioning service.Jody Jennings, BCM director at North Greenville University, also instructed the student missionaries to stand, raise their right hands, and repeat: “I will, at some point this summer, contact my parents.” Students looked sheepishly at their parents in attendance while the parents applauded.
Jennings’ charge to the students – who will be serving in such varied locations as Connie Maxwell Children’s Home in Greenwood, Peru and South Asia – was a mixture of admonition and encouragement.
“I look out and I see a multitude of people who can change the world,” he said, adding later that “God’s power is greater than our fears. He equips us; don’t give up when you face opposition.”
He also reminded them that as they go, sharing their faith “will be intentional and will take hard work on your part. Don’t get distracted by the desire to have a summer missions experience, great as that will be. Your objective is to give the gospel away.”
Tori Henderson, state BCM president, told her fellow students about the greatest lesson she learned while teaching the True Love Waits emphasis during her 2011 service in Swaziland. “I learned the importance of abiding in Jesus,” said the senior at Coastal Carolina University. “Stay in the Word. If you feel like you’re not doing anything, but you’re staying in the Word and with Jesus, that’s his will. And be flexible. Don’t be surprised if God erases your plans; it means he has something bigger planned for you.”
Kendal Danford, campus minister at Francis Marion University, prays with a student, Ashley Hall, who will be serving in Cleveland, Ohio, this summer.Jennings’ message resonated with Gwen, a sophomore from Coastal Carolina, who will be working with an orphanage in South Asia. “I’m really excited for the opportunity to immerse myself in that culture, share the gospel, and do God’s work there,” she said. “I am nervous about being bold. I’m a little afraid I’ll be timid. I’ve been really praying over Ephesians 6:19-20 about being bold.”
Stephen Crowley, a Francis Marion University student who will be serving on a short-term trip to Athens, Greece, said he was excited and nervous about the same aspect: “being stretched.” His mother, like many of the parents there, said she was excited about her son’s opportunity to do good things while in Greece and nervous about the travel and his safety.
Ken Owens, state director of BCM, said, “We celebrate a missionary-sending God, from the first chapter of Genesis, to the ultimate missionary of his son Jesus, to the beginning of the church in the book of Acts. We are all called out to be missionaries.”
Students, parents, and friends also gave $848 to the Emery Smith Offering, named in honor of the state BCM director from 1978-2000. The money will be used to send students to Canada for missions service.
Stephen Crowley and his father at the BCM summer missionary commissioning service. Stephen, a student at Francis Marion University, will be serving in Athens, Greece, this summer.This year’s projects include: short-term trip to Greece and Peru; long-term stateside assignments in Cleveland, Ohio; and long-term team projects in Canada, Swaziland, Peru, South Asia, and the Philippines. Ministries range from college student outreach to children’s ministry to healthcare.
BCM groups across the state raise money throughout the year to help support student missionaries. Some students, especially those serving overseas (often through the International Mission Board), raise additional financial support to meet costs. – SCBC