Students see dramatic difference at Sul Ross

Posted: 9/21/07

Students see dramatic difference at Sul Ross

By George Henson

Staff Writer

ALPINE—The decision by students involved with the Baptist Student Ministry at Sul Ross State University to present the multimedia drama “Last Chance” was a win for the men desiring to join the school’s basketball team.

While the new coach has not made his selections for this year’s squad, 20 of the students going through tryouts attended the drama, and 18 made professions of faith, said Moises Morales, who hopes to make the team as a shooting guard.

Morales and BSM President Jermaine Packard both have been members of the hoops squad and hope to be selected for this year’s squad, but are just as involved in the work of the BSM. Young men who are trying out for the school’s basketball team attended the drama at their invitation.

“Some of them I had to do some talking and twisting arms, and some of them wanted to get out of study hall and this was just an out for them. And some of them were there for the girls. But after they were there, God went to work on them,” Packard said.

Their attitudes and actions since seeing the 45-minute drama offers tangible evidence that their commitments are real, Packard added. In the past, the team had been known as a group who was pretty wild, he said.

The differences are obvious, Morales said. “They keep asking us questions about the BSM and stuff like that—what churches there are, about Bible studies—they just want to know more. Most of them don’t want to look too religious in front of their buddies, but when it’s just us, then they say, ‘When you go to church can I go with you?’ and things like that.

Twenty-two members of the basketball team attended the Mighty Monday Bible study recently, doubling the usual attendance, said BSM Director Dan Dunagan.

“This is without a doubt the best year of my ministry here,” Dunagan said, who has been at Sul Ross 16 years.

But the influx of new Christians has been so great, Dunagan admitted discipling them will be a challenge.

“If I didn’t have students willing to stand in the gap and help with these new believers, I might be in some trouble,” he acknowledged.

The sacrifice of students already involved in BSM made the success possible, he stressed.

Because the students felt so strongly that drama was worthwhile, they raised the more than $5,000 it took to bring the production to Alpine, and then gave of the time and talents to learn the lines and put on the show.

Members of the basketball team were not alone in seeing their lives changed. Sixty-seven students made professions of faith in Christ, and 20 people rededicated their lives to Christ.

That number extended even to a couple of the BSM students who acted in the drama. They were so affected by the parts were portraying, they became convinced they had not had real conversion experiences in the past, Dunagan noted.

“They came in thinking they were saved, and in the end, knew they were saved,” he said.

Morales has a very specific prayer for his teammates.

“I don’t want the highlight of their college careers to be that they played on the Sul Ross State University basketball team, but that this is where they gave their lives to Jesus Christ,” he said.