About a decade ago, the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas at Arlington started seeing one college student a week pray to receive Christ. The momentum remained strong, and in the past 10 years, about 400 students have made professions of faith through the ministry.
“There has been a culture change in our ministry, where we are truly brokenhearted for the lost, pray for revival, and do more intentional and bold evangelism,” said BSM Director Gary Stidham, who reports 50 students have prayed to receive Christ so far this school year.
“God has used Christian students to reach non-Christian students in powerful ways in the last 10 years.”
During his 19-year tenure, Stidham has led the ministry to develop a leadership pipeline, while fostering a culture of intentional evangelism and discipleship.
BSM reaches students in the critical “crossroads in life,” when believing individuals are open to deep discipleship and seeking individuals are open to the gospel, he said. Plus, Stidham thinks college students are just a lot of fun to be around.
“Students are eager, full of life, curious and friendly. They are adults so you can interact with them that way, but they haven’t grown apathetic or tired,” he said.
Friends introduce friends to Jesus
Jenna first started attending church as a high school senior at the invitation of a friend. She immediately plugged into BSM as a freshman two years ago, and she surrendered her life to Christ in January 2022.
Last fall, Jenna met Bailey, a freshman with no church background who had never heard the gospel. After five weeks of studying the Bible together, Bailey prayed with Jenna to receive Christ.
Stidham said Bailey “has gone on to invite her non-Christian friends to be a part of campus ministry, and now two of her friends have also made professions of faith.”
Joseph is another UTA student who grew up with some knowledge of church, but he did not fully understand the gospel. Kyle, a BSM leader, began to disciple and read the Bible with Joseph, who eventually prayed to receive Christ.
Joseph began sharing his new faith with other students in his major and has led four of them to faith. After graduation this Spring, Joseph plans to launch a new collegiate ministry in the San Antonio area.
“You can impact the world through campus ministry. We get to see people whose lives God touched on campus go on to be used by God to serve, lead in churches, start families, be in marketplace as ministers, and serve on the international mission field,” Stidham said.
“It is so gratifying to see people faithfully walking with the Lord years after they were impacted by college ministry.”
Churches minister to college students
In addition to campus ministries, which engage college students living and studying on one or more campuses in a community, there are powerful ministries for them happening through the local church context. And, according to College and Missions Pastor RJ Voorhees, the need for churches to reach lost students with the gospel is more urgent than ever.
“We are seeing a post-Christian world on our local campuses, and through students whose families have never attended a religious worship service,” said Voorhees of First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“There’s an amalgamation of students and cultures here including nominal Christianity, faithful Christianity, and a post-Christian mentality that’s almost presenting like apathy. Yet, spirituality still seems to be on the forefront of their minds because they are looking for a bigger picture.”
At 204 years old, First Baptist is the oldest church in Tuscaloosa. The multigenerational congregation has had an active ministry to college students for many years and, as a result, college students are the second-largest age group at the church.
That is largely due to the fact that the University of Alabama campus sits just one mile away, but First Baptist also draws students from the community and through partnerships with other churches that also include students from a local historically Black college.
The church’s college ministries are seeing consistent growth and depth post-pandemic. Voorhees focuses on how God is at work in the lives of students through the ministry, which is leading them to adopt a missional mindset.
“These students want to invite people in and do life with them, by fully loving and praying for others while taking opportunities to have spiritual conversations. Many have begun teaching and walking through the Bible together, and are seeing that bear fruit,” Voorhees said.
Connecting through family groups
First Baptist in Tuscaloosa connects students through “family groups” that study a Scripture reading plan together. Missions is a top priority for the church’s ministry, which is praying that up to 25 percent of students will ultimately serve on mission through short or long-term experiences.
Voorhees also develops student leaders and said many have stepped into personal ministry roles this school year, within the church and on their campuses.
“I get to see students do a great job of carrying the torch. They are on campus in ways that we can’t be, and reaching students we can’t reach. It’s nice to settle into a true Ephesians 4 model of equipping the saints,” he said of ministry in the church context.
Going into his sophomore year, Hayden has grown in his faith and is passionate to reach international students by living a life of hospitality. He is pursuing dentistry and plans to use these skills through missions one day.
Last fall Hayden began inviting students and an international teaching assistant from his area of study to go to church with him.
Hope is another student leader at First Baptist in Tuscaloosa who uses her passion to reach the nations by serving as the church’s ambassador to a cooperative group reaching international students.
Because of Hope’s efforts to invest in the lives of others, “international students are being reached, faith conversations are happening, and people are returning,” Voorhees said.
Voorhees encourages local churches to engage college students in the community, and especially through one-on-one discipleship.
“I want to make everyone understand how necessary college ministry is. It’s been said that college campuses are the most strategic mission field in our country today. The nations are coming to these campuses, and we need to be showing them Jesus as these students are in the most formative years of their lives,” he said.
Stidham agrees, noting he sets an alarm to sound at 10:02 a.m. every day to remind him to pray Luke 10:2 over his ministry to students. He asks “the Lord of the harvest” to send workers to the harvest field.
“We need more people who are willing to love students and pour Christ into them,” Stidham said. “Whether that’s a church partnering with a campus ministry or planting a new work, there is desperate need for more workers on college campuses.”
Julia Bell is a freelance writer working with the nation Baptist Collegiate Network.
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