Semester missionaries merge vocational, ministerial callings

Posted: 1/19/07

Semester missionaries merge
vocational, ministerial callings

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

ARLINGTON—Each week, Bryan Simpson leads a Bible study at Mitchell College in New London, Conn. At first, it was he and another person. Then someone else joined him. A third person has said he will start coming, but hasn’t shown up yet.

And it doesn’t matter to Simpson. He wants people to hear the gospel and study the Bible, but he’s not focused on numbers. He’s more concerned about discipling college students who have little knowledge of the Christian faith, helping them mature spiritually.

Matt Miller, a recent Stephen F. Austin State University graduate, explains his interest in mission in this short video. (requires Windows Media Player)

That way both people in his Bible study can lead a few of their friends to Christ. Then those friends can lead other people to Christ. A Bible study with two people can be the epicenter of a larger Christian movement on a campus, he said.

Simpson, a Hardin-Simmons University graduate, is one of several Texas Baptist college students and recent graduates who serve as semester missionaries through Go Now Missions, the Baptist General Convention of Texas’ student missions effort.

Many of the student missionaries discover ways to incorporate the vocational abilities they learn in college into the ministerial calling God has laid upon their hearts. Lindsay Mouser, who recently graduated from Texas Tech University, found she could use her nursing skills in Niger, where she worked alongside an African midwife.

Niger has one of the highest rates of maternal death during childbirth in the world, and the village where Mouser served is three hours from a hospital. Mouser and the midwife provided a safe delivery option for pregnant women.

Serving as a nurse allowed Mouser to minister to people in Niger, and she believes it will help her serve others wherever she works.

“There’s sick and lost people everywhere,” she said. “I thought (nursing) would be a good career to put next to ministry. That’s just something people can trust you with. If they can trust you with their health, then you’ve got that ‘in’ for them to trust you, and you can speak to them about their faith, and they can trust you with that too.”

Courtney Tardy, an education student at the University of Texas at Austin, ministered by teaching English as a second language classes in North Africa. The classes allowed Tardy to engage people in spiritual conversations.

She became close with one Muslim family in particular, spending time in their store and eating with family members in their house. Tardy hopes she modeled a Christ-like love for the family.

“I want them to remember him and not me,” she said. “That’s hard at times, because I want them to remember me because they’re my friends, but ultimately, I want them to know that Jesus is what I’m all about.”

Semester missionaries said they learned much during their time on the field, noting the experience invigorated their respective prayer lives and prompted them to be bolder in sharing their faith.

Matt Miller, a recent Stephen F. Austin State University graduate, said his experience through Go Now Missions and Greater Good Global Support Services (G3S3) in Cranfills Gap helped him work through his missions calling. He is going to continue ministering at G3S2.

“Through Go Now Missions and G3S2, I found a place where I fit in,” he said. “I’ve been able to figure out a lot more about my calling.”