Tarleton: No outsiders in this group

To be perfectly honest, I had no earthly idea what to do.

A group from Baptist Student Ministry at Tarleton State University was spending the weekend at the Heart of Texas Baptist Encampment in Brownwood. It was our first fall retreat, and things were going great. We helped the band set up while supper started, so I arrived a little late to the dining hall. This is where my predicament started.

Warren EthridgeDuring my four years as a student, I was always the one who engaged the unengaged. If there ever were “outsiders” to the group, I took it upon myself to meet them, make sure they felt welcomed and were included. But as I looked at the group we had brought, there were no outsiders. Our student leaders were actively engaging each student who was new to the group, just as we had taught them.

So, I had no idea what to do. I stood—probably with a dumbfounded look on my face—holding my tray and looking for someone “unengaged,” to no avail. I finally collected my wits and sat down next to some friends and started reflecting on what God was doing in this place.

Among the students we brought, there were several who had no relationship with Christ and very little connection the BSM. But thanks to the faithful believers that make up our student leadership team, relationships with those individuals were being formed and nurtured over a meal. These students were learning how friendly and loving people who follow Christ can be.

Our students were getting it

A moment of pride swelled up within me. Our students were getting it. They were planting spiritual seeds back into the soil of our college campus. Just like a parent who had seen his child just take its first steps, I was grinning from ear to ear. I wanted to tell the whole world how awesome my kid was, but there were more important things to be done.

I immediately began praying for some of the new relationships starting around me. I thanked God for his faithfulness to bring workers for the harvest that is Tarleton State University and just for the fact that disciples were being made all around us.

Laborers for the harvest

As a staff, we have prayed continually for God to send laborers for the harvest at our campus, and the Lord has answered the prayer in more ways then we ever could have imagined. It just goes to show, when you pray for rain, bring an umbrella! I hope that as this year progresses, I find myself in more and more situations where I’m at a loss for what to do because of what God is doing in the heart of our student leaders.

Warren Ethridge is serving with Go Now Missions as a campus missionary intern at Tarleton State University in Stephenville.