The World Cup has officially arrived in the United States. For the next several weeks, the globe will be captivated by the beautiful game. Stadiums will roar with excitement, nations will hold their breath, and legends will be made on the pitch. But long before the first whistle ever echoed across an American stadium, God was already at work. A passionate group of college students from South Carolina had the privilege of witnessing a far greater victory than lifting a golden trophy—they saw God move powerfully, using the sport as a tool to save souls and help a church reach and connect with their community.
In late May, the Lord led ten students from South Carolina BCM to travel on mission to Manchester, United Kingdom. Partnering alongside IMB missionary Kris Kuriger, dedicated British believers, and Trinity Church Manchester, this team didn’t just cross an ocean; they stepped into divine appointments orchestrated by God. Their primary mission field? A neighborhood soccer pitch beating in the heart of one of Europe’s most legendary soccer capitals.
In Manchester, it’s not just soccer. It’s football. And football is the absolute lifeblood of the city. It dictates the rhythm of the week, shapes deep-rooted community identity, and dominates daily conversations. Knowing this, God masterfully took the very pulse of the city and used it as a brilliant bridge for His Gospel.
The Lord worked through the South Carolina BCM team as they joined forces with a local British church and an IMB missionary to host a dynamic football outreach camp for neighborhood children. As the student volunteers ran drills, cheered on every child, and forged authentic relationships, the Holy Spirit opened doors to share the ultimate story of love. By using the profound narrative of Abraham and Isaac, they illustrated a Heavenly Father who willingly sacrificed His only Son for our salvation.
God’s impact was nothing short of miraculous. Hearts were softened by His grace, and right there at the soccer camp, the Lord drew four individuals to make life-altering decisions to follow Christ!
But God’s transformative work didn’t stop with the local community; He was actively igniting the hearts of the American college students, too. Tyra, one of the students serving on the trip, watched the Holy Spirit move in real-time.
“One way I’ve seen God move on this trip in Manchester is seeing kids who were not interested in Christ having questions and becoming curious about Christ,” she shared, her faith renewed by the raw spiritual hunger God was awakening.
This is the beating heart of collegiate missions: God using students who are available and willing to go.
Across the Baptist Collegiate Network, the Lord is raising up a generation of students. Guided by His Spirit, they are dedicating their spring breaks, sacrificing their summers, and giving their absolute best through Baptist collegiate ministries, local churches, state conventions, Send Relief, NAMB, IMB, and other vital mission partners. From the bustling streets of North American cities to remote, unreached corners of the globe, God is sending these students into places of deep spiritual need.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, these young adults realize they do not need to wait until after graduation to fulfill the Great Commission. God is sending them now. Their leaders are helping them recognize that their campus years are not a mere “waiting room” for future obedience. When students are intentionally discipled, equipped, and surrendered to God’s will, He uses their open hands and willing hearts in extraordinary ways.
Collegiate leaders are helping students understand that they are not just preparing for life after college. They are following Jesus now. They are not merely future church leaders. They are present-day witnesses.
Beyond the football pitch, the Lord guided the team as they partnered with Trinity Church Manchester to reach out to Muslim families in the northern part of the city. The students witnessed the Holy Spirit empowering local believers to love their neighbors. Students were blessed to partner with church members who themselves give time each week to genuine conversations and intentionality to share the Gospel. One member, an 80-year-old retired nurse, uses her time each week to share the Gospel with people who have little access to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Justin, another student profoundly impacted by the trip, watched God crumble walls through honest, spiritual dialogue.
“I have seen God move in amazing ways,” Justin testified, “and one of those ways is having people coming from a Muslim background who have never been to church asking deep theological questions about Jesus and wanting to really seek Him and learn more about Him.”
IMB missionary Kris Kuriger emphasized that God has made Manchester a profoundly strategic training ground for college students, offering immediate impact.
“One of the benefits of coming to the UK is there’s no language barrier, so you can jump right into ministry,” Kuriger noted. Yet, the spiritual hunger is immense. “Most of the UK is less than two percent Christian now,” he urged. “It is an opportunity for Christian students to come and actually reach the least of these, and so we want to invite you as a college student to join in with what God is doing.”
Through Baptist collegiate groups, God is actively helping students discover their divine calling in this global mission. For some, He uses a single, one-week trip to shatter their worldly perspective and open their eyes to His global heartbeat. For others, God uses a summer assignment to forge an unbreakable courage to witness as they learn to rely on Him in a new city.
As the World Cup dominates screens across America, millions will celebrate the world’s game. But in Manchester, God allowed a team of South Carolina college students to see the Creator of the universe use a simple sport to open eternal doors. They saw God love children through time spent around a football. They rejoiced as the Holy Spirit called four souls from darkness into light.
The Lord has made the college generation ready. He is equipping them to serve, giving them the hunger to go, and preparing them to carry the Gospel from their campus quads to the nations. The only question that remains is whether churches, ministries, and leaders will continue to partner with God by boldly calling them, training them, and sending them out into the world He so desperately loves.
Chad Stillwell is the Evangelism Share Team Leader and Collegiate Ministries Director for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
You made it! You have students mobilized on the mission field and at camps. You just sent this year’s graduates out with a great celebration. You get a chance to unwind from the routine of midweek services, coordinating small groups, and student leader meetings. It’s time to enjoy the summer and think about caring for students when they come home!
While college campuses dwindle to a remnant of students, you as a church leader have an incredible opportunity to care for students when they come home. By all means, rest and reset for the year, but also take advantage of the sweet time you get with these students who have been at another college campus.
Caring for students when they come home is different. They’ve been in the grind and are back to rest and reset like the rest of us. There is even more free time available and less stress without a final looming over them. Caring for students starts the week they graduate from high school. Using their first summer to connect with them immediately after high school graduation can change the whole college experience. We would always be at senior Sunday to welcome them into college. They need to know who you are and feel comfortable coming into the group. We would also use the senior Sunday School teachers to help us connect. They would pick a date to all walk over to the college department together so that nobody felt alone. We would also take a group of students to tour the college they plan on attending in the fall. On that tour, we would introduce them to local college ministers and visit their churches. Helping the High School Grads feel a part of the group in the summer will help them even more when they start on campus.
Students feel cared for when they have a place to belong. Another way to care for students in the summer is to plan a weekly event with a high focus on fellowship. We always tried to do our Bible studies in a home if possible, and if they had a pool, even better. Each week we would eat dinner, pray and study the Bible, and then have fun. In the summer, you should expect the group to change, the first half of the summer will be different than the second half. The first half of summer, students may not be taking a class, or they may be waiting on camp to start or a job to line up. Prepare yourself to watch the group change and adapt to the needs.
Sometimes, caring for students who come home means we don’t forget them. Students may feel forgotten when they get home and they are alone. One way we connected with students was sending post cards or care packages. If a student is away at camp, we would get our group to write them a note and send it with some of their favorite snacks. We would also send welcome packages with hand written notes to incoming freshmen. This gave the summer group a way to serve and connect with other students. This also meant the world to the student receiving the care package. They knew the group back home loved them and couldn’t wait to see them again.
Another part of caring for students is giving them an opportunity to get away together. We would end the summer and simultaneously kick off the school year with a beach retreat or collegiate week. The beach retreat was the highlight of every summer. We would pile them up in a retreat center in Gulf Shores for a few days. The days would be semi-scheduled with volleyball tournaments and the evenings would end with a worship service and share time. The students tended to make their own traditions, like giving the worst sunburn award and making it a competition of staying up the entire night before we head home. On the last night, students share their excitements and fears about the upcoming year and we would pray together. Collegiate week was the same. It was a time to get away and get to know students from other campuses. It was always a meaningful time to end the summer.
As summer ends, students start heading back to their campuses, ready for another year. If they haven’t connected with a church at their campus, help them find a place. You may have some connections with other campus ministers that would help. You can be their advocate and bridge the gap for them.
Summertime can be the most fun time of the year to work with College students. Plan a weekly gathering, a few fun events and an end of summer sendoff, and your students will feel like they have been cared for while they are home. At the same time, your ministry isn’t starting over but is energized and ready to reach the campus.
Cody Albritton is the Discipleship Pastor at North Monroe Baptist Church in Louisiana. You can follow him on Instagram @codyalbritton.
Are you familiar with the phrase “Where God guides, God provides”? Maybe some of us are too familiar with this phrase – to the point that we overlook the Scriptural truth of this statement. In Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples to not worry about their needs and how they would be met. Using the example of birds not storing food away for coming days, he says “and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26). Then Jesus gifts the disciples this promise: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34). What a promise to which we can cling! We must wrestle with this truth ourselves, and then encourage students to rely on the Lord for provision as they live on mission, whether they’re graduating and figuring out next steps or fundraising for a missions opportunity.
Here are a few simple missions fundraising tips:
Below is a copy of the sample fundraising letter we share with our students, to help get them started.
Jessica Jiang is the Collegiate Missions Specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Follow Send Tennessee Missions on Instagram @send_tn.
I am the Associate BCM Director at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. For over thirteen years, I have had the unique privilege to serve at my alma mater along with Scott Smith, the BCM Director. Scott has served in this role for decades and I have watched opportunities unfold for campus ministry during my years as a student and being on staff. While we may not always see the fruit now, we can be obedient and faithful to the Lord by the way we serve our campuses. Being a good citizen on your campus means stewarding well what has been entrusted to you. Here are a few ways to be a good citizen where you serve on your local college campus.
We want to honor Jesus with the way that we interact with others. We are like missionaries who must learn to adapt to the culture in which they are serving.
Let people know who you are by introducing yourself and give them a chance to get to know you. We have a banner sign that hangs in our campus student center that tells who is speaking at BCM, and we change it out each week. While heading there to change it, there is rarely a time when we walk to campus that we do not run into someone we know. This gives us a chance to catch up, ask about any prayer requests, and follow up with them. Find a place on your campus where a lot of people are and find different ways to connect with them.
This shows that you care about the students, staff, and school outside of your ministry. We want to meet people where they are, like Jesus did. You will get to know more people in a different way.
This may be easier for some than others, but administration will be more likely to work with you if you are known for following the rules. You want to become someone that the school trusts. Remember that every school is different, so you will want to know the rules for having an event on campus, posting flyers, serving food or coffee, etc. If you accidentally break a rule, own up to it. That will help you to be seen as a team player and will help with any future collaboration.
These opportunities may come in unexpected ways. Recently, Scott Smith and I were given the opportunity to speak for a few minutes about what BCM does on the Lander campus at the University’s Board of Trustees meeting. You never know what may come from a friendship, volunteer experience, partnership, meeting, or any event if you are open to what God can do through it.
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:5-6
Are you new to serving in campus ministry, or new to your campus? (3 years or less?) New Campus Ministers Fellowship is having another Zoom call, this Wednesday, October 11th at 10am CST/11am EST. We’ll meet for an hour and the topic is “Rhythms of Rest and Boundaries.” Click here to sign up!
Katie Troutman serves as the Associate Director of the Lander University BCM. You can follow the ministry on Instagram @landerbcm.
When is the best time to promote and encourage students to get involved in serving in missions? I always say start early in August and never stop! However, we have also found that having a week-long or month-long missions emphasis in the Fall semester has proven to be effective in focusing on missions and challenging students to go and serve. We use the month of November to do this. It is a strategic time in the Fall semester when students seem ready to pray and think ahead to spring break and summer missions opportunities. It’s also a time when students are close to going home for the holidays and that can be a crucial time for having conversations with parents about serving in missions. It can also provide valuable connections with their home church, family, and friends for fundraising.
Kick off your missions week or month with a missions fair. Before our weekly large group, we asked students who had served in missions the previous summer to host a table with information about where they served. They get creative! For example, students who had served with GenSend in NYC gave out cheesecake at their table and talked about their experiences in the city. We give each student who attends a “passport” to receive a stamp at each table. If you fill your passport, you get a chance to win a $100 mission trip scholarship.
Plan a Coffee House night with live music, student missions testimonies, highlighting summer missions opportunities, and praying for the nations. You can also use it as a missions fundraising by adding elements such as a silent auction or selling different coffees and snacks from around the world.
Use this time, not only to promote missions opportunities, but to really educate your students about unreached people groups around the world. As a BCM, provide times where you corporately come together to intercede for the nations and for the unreached. We incorporate a time into our weekly large group where a student leader shares how to pray for a specific unreached people group and then spend time in small groups praying. You can find a lot of resources at www.joshuaproject.net.
It does not have to be Monday but set aside a day each week during GOvember to specifically focus even more on missions. We host a different topic each Monday during the month to help students learn about different aspects of preparing to serve such as fundraising, spiritual preparation, and even how to talk to your family about serving in missions.
Utilize social media as much as you can to promote missions during this time. Some ideas can include posting video testimonies from students who have served on mission and highlighting summer missions opportunities from your state BCM missions program, IMB, and GenSend.
Provide times where students can collectively come together for the purpose of working on their summer missions applications. This encourages new students who may have questions about the application process and provides opportunities for you to connect and pray with your students as they make decisions about their summer.
Provide a day during your missions month to serve locally as a group. We had the opportunity last year to serve in a nearby city where our students connected with refugees and learned about unreached people groups living near our city.
There are so many benefits to students going and serving in missions. They go and serve in a different ministry context, learning so much about evangelism and discipleship, which they can then bring back to their campus. Students mobilized to serve in missions return home energized about how they can serve their own campus and better grasp the concept of their campus as their own mission field. It’s a “win-win” situation! Because of that, it is so important to have a strategy when it comes to promoting missions on your campus. Whether it’s GOvember or another strategy, I am praying for God to mobilize many students on our campuses this year!
Stacy Murphree serves as the Campus Minister at Austin Peay University’s BCM. You can reach her at smurphree@tnbaptist.org or follow the ministry on Instagram @austinpeaybcm.
One of the best things that college leaders get to do is be a part of sending students on a mission. We love hearing stories about the impact on our students and ministries, but it is also very exciting to see how God works in the hearts of those to whom our students’ minister.
Josh Cook is the lead pastor of Dwell Church in Denver, Colorado. He shares here a little about his ministry and the benefits of having college students come to serve with them.
Dwell Church is a new church plant in the heart of Denver, Colorado. We like to say that we are a family, defined by the love of God, and committed to giving it away. We want to welcome all of Denver to find a home in the Kingdom of God. Denver is a beautiful and growing city that is a magnet for young people. From the mountains to coffee shops, to all major sports teams, Denver is a nearly perfect place to live. The one thing it lacks, however, is a faithful Gospel presence. Less than 10% of people living in Denver have an active relationship with Jesus. Dwell Church exists to change that and we would love to have you join us in this mission.
We have numerous opportunities for BCMs and churches to send out teams throughout the year, but our most impactful way to serve is through the GenSend Summer program. Every Summer, college students from all around the country come to Denver to serve our city, help build the church, and learn more about who God has made them to be and what He has for them to do.
We love hosting college students. Many of our church members are college-aged or newly graduated, so the connection is immediate. Denver is also a city of young people and there are tons of people who moved out right after school and are desperate for connection. For as much as we think and make plans, just being a faithful Christian, living a good life, and serving a local church makes you different from most Denverites. It takes Christians just like you to make new disciples, and we need more faithful laborers to step into this harvest field.
To get involved, students can check out GenSend.org or reach out to me directly at josh@dwelldenver.org
“Over half of colleges and universities have little to no gospel presence on them. We’re not okay with that …” is the opening message that greets you on the Campus Multiplication Network’s homepage. CMN is designed to train and equip campus ministry leaders in the “how to” of pioneering a new campus ministry or seeing evangelistic momentum in an established ministry. We share CMN’s desire to see new work on new campuses and participation in CMN’s training has been vital in the campus ministry lives of several Baptist Campus Ministers and their ministries.
Ken Harmon the Director of Northwest Collegiate Ministries says, “CMN has been so significant in the lives of our campus ministers in the network. It has broadened their vision and provided tools to help expand their strategy to more effectively multiply their mission and ministry.”
Here are three brief testimonies on how the Campus Multiplication Network has impacted Baptist Campus Ministers.
“You get some really easy, practical training on how to map the campus, how to think through your strategy for reaching students and doing evangelism.”
“One of the biggest things was the lesson on prayer: praying for your campus, getting ready to launch on the campus and how important prayer is for that.”
“As a new staff member it has been really easy for me to get bogged down in a lot of menial tasks, but the CMN training really casts vision for what’s important to do and what to be focusing on.”
Hopefully, you can see that CMN is a great campus ministry tool. If you are an established ministry, it can help you create a vision for reaching those who are not already being reached on your campus. It might even encourage your ministry to establish a new ministry on another campus with little or not gospel centered work. If you are new to campus ministry, CMN could equip you with the tools necessary to build a strong ministry foundation that will deliver benefits for years or even decades.
For more information or to apply to be part of a Campus Multiplication Network cohort check out www.campusmultiplicationnetwork.com.
If you are connected with Baptist Campus Ministries or a church based collegiate ministry in partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention, there may be available resources through the North American Mission Board (NAMB) to help facilitate your participation in the Campus Multiplication Network. Contact Paul Worcester at pworcester@namb.net for more information.
