Russia-bound students discover missions in Dallas

Posted: 8/18/06

Go Now Missions workers help Cornerstone Baptist Church in Dallas conduct its children’s camp.

Russia-bound students discover missions in Dallas

By Laura Frase

Communications Intern

A bump in the road left three Russia-bound student missionaries in the midst of prostitution and drugs in South Dallas.

A student team originally planned to minister in Russian orphanages through Go Now Missions—the Baptist General Convention of Texas student missions program—but political turbulence postponed their trip. Three students chose to spend part of the summer at Cornerstone Baptist Church in South Dallas before traveling to Russia.

University of Texas-Pan American student Denise Villarreal already had dedicated her summer to God’s work and wasn’t going to sit idly by.

“I didn’t want to spend half of the summer doing nothing for God,” she said.

Holly Miller, a student at Texas A&M University-Commerce, agreed.

“I told God I would give up my whole summer and do his work,” she said.

Villarreal and Miller worked with the church’s children’s camp, while the third student in the trio, Texas State University student Jeremy Banik, led the youth on a camping trip.

The students saw some fruits of their labor. During children’s camp, a little boy hit a girl. The volunteers told him it was wrong, but the boy didn’t understand why, because he has seen his father hit his mother. The students talked to the boy about how to treat other people, Miller said. The next day, the group played tickle tag, and Miller tickled the boy. After she tagged him, he crossed his arms and became upset, she explained. He told her that he wasn’t going to fight her because it was wrong to hit girls.

“It was so cool to see how God made such a visible change,” Miller said.