Missouri Baptist college students covering the state to proclaim the ‘Good News’ help other in need
By Allen Palmeri
Staff Writer
July 6, 2004
JEFFERSON CITY – A total of 81 college students from Missouri Baptist life are working in various settings this summer as missionaries sharing the Gospel.
Much of the work is being done in conjunction with Vacation Bible Schools as well as Backyard Bible Clubs. Some is being done with church camps and various summer camps. Other work is taking place among youth groups and in youth leadership teams in churches, with youth discipleship and evangelism training also involved. Student missionaries are also at work strengthening church plants across Missouri.
“It’s refreshing to see all these students doing this,” said Julie Hendrickson, collegiate ministry assistant for the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC).
Hendrickson supports Ron Wynne, Baptist Student Union director at the University of Missouri-Rolla, as he places student missionaries in their proper locations. More than half of them become Vacation Bible School workers, said Sondi Scroggins, preschool/children’s specialist for the MBC.
“Some of them have never worked with children before,” Scroggins said. “Some of them have a background in early childhood education. A lot of them will be used in recreation, crafts and music. Some of them will be teachers. Some of them will be assisting the teachers. But a lot of our smaller churches really don’t have the leadership that they need to pull off a Vacation Bible School sometimes, so having one or two come in makes a big difference to them.”
Among several Missouri colleges and universities sending missionaries are: Southwest Baptist University; Hannibal-LaGrange College; Central Missouri State University; Southeast Missouri State University; Missouri Western State College; College of the Ozarks; Park University; Ozark Christian College; Lincoln University; the University of Missouri; Southwest Missouri State University; University of Missouri-Rolla; and Truman State University.
Among several out-of-state universities and colleges represented in the MBC summer missionary outreach are: Oklahoma Baptist University; John Brown University; Bismarck State College; Union University; the University of Kansas; the University of Tennessee; Ouachita Baptist University; and the University of Illinois.