KIRKSVILLE – When asked if his ministry at Truman State has always focused on reaching international students, Campus Missionary Greg Xander laughs. “Not intentionally,” he says. When he took over as BSU Director 11 years ago, reaching international students was not on his radar. “I grew up in Edina,” he says. “Population: all white.” Neither he nor his wife, Stacey, had overseas experience, nor had they known any international students when they attended Truman Gene Austin, now the … [Read more...]
Football player advances Kingdom
MARSHALL – When Texas born-and-raised Cedric Davis arrived at Missouri Valley College here on a football scholarship in the fall of 2019, he didn’t know a soul. He just knew he was supposed to be in Missouri. A year-and-a-half later, the answer to why is clear, and it has little to do with football or his degree. Davis didn’t grow up going to church but became a Christian his junior year of high school while singing “No Longer a Slave to Fear” at a winter youth retreat. “I burst out in … [Read more...]
Twenty-one saved through Springfield church’s young adult, collegiate ministry
SPRINGFIELD – Like many youths growing up in church, Jared Bone’s understanding of his personal role in discipleship and evangelism ended at the doors to the church building. “I brought a friend to church, so my job is done,” he says of his mentality as a youth. That all changed during college. Today, Bone, the young adult and outreach pastor at High Street Baptist in Springfield, is passionate about helping other young adults recognize that inviting friends to church is just one small … [Read more...]
MBCollegiate blessed by supportive churches
JEFFERSON CITY – It might not be a stretch of the imagination to say that without local churches, Baptist Student Union would not exist. Historically, BSU ministries have been started, prayed for, supported by, and funded through regional associations, local churches, and individual church members. The same is true today, over a century since the first BSU opened. “Being an Associational ministry, the BSU is, in effect, a partnering ministry,” says Aaron Werner, Campus Missionary at … [Read more...]
MBCollegiate intern spearheads partnership with Disaster Relief efforts in St. Joseph
ST. JOSEPH – Disaster relief in the middle of a pandemic is no easy feat, but disasters don’t go on lockdown. On July 21, the south end of St. Joseph experienced flash flooding after receiving five inches of rain, affecting hundreds of residents in the Southside area. “It’s already a much more impoverished area,” says Isaac Whitman, a senior at Missouri Western. “It’s very blue collar. Historically, that area has been closed off to churches and ministries.” Of the roughly 130 homes that … [Read more...]
MBC campus ministries make gospel connections amid COVID-19 crisis
JEFFERSON CITY – COVID-19 restrictions are posing serious challenges for some college ministries in connecting with new students, reconnecting with existing students, and gathering students for Bible studies and discipleship. For other ministries, the new ministry format is actually providing opportunities for new, unexpected, and deepened connections. Normally, Missouri State holds a student organization fair during Welcome Week to help students find the organizations and activities they … [Read more...]
FBC Neosho women partner with BSU to disciple, raise up female leaders
NEOSHO – When college students Sierra Wilson and Hannah Frances joined the newly-launched women’s Bible study group at Crowder College BSU in the fall of 2019, they had no notion that they would lead the group a year later. Neither saw herself as a leader, but Aaron Werner, Campus Missionary, and Mischelle Hill, a volunteer and lifelong member of FBC Neosho, noted the potential right away. “That very first night, Hannah and Sierra were amazing to me,” says Hill, who Werner recruited to … [Read more...]
MBCollegiate students serve, share gospel on college campuses
JEFFERSON CITY – With the fall semester underway, many MBCollegiate campus missionaries are seeing a positive trend in the midst of the upheaval of coronavirus: their students are stepping up to lead – in expected and unexpected ways, and often without being asked. With most institutions placing limitations on events and seriously restricting nonstudent access to the campus, it’s more vital than ever that students take the lead in bringing the gospel to their peers. Reese Hammond, Campus … [Read more...]
Truman State BSU alum develops app to help students encounter Jesus
KIRKSVILLE – While working for a camp ministry in New Mexico, Truman State BSU alum Alan Henson was hit with an idea: what if he could marry technology and nature to create ministry experiences right in the middle of the campgrounds? The idea was born for an app that would use 360° video footage to foster a personal encounter with Jesus. As a software developer and self-proclaimed dreamer, being struck with an idea isn’t abnormal for Henson. He shared this idea with a colleague at the … [Read more...]
Collegiate ministries prepare to pivot quickly, as uncertain fall semester begins across state
JEFFERSON CITY – With the Fall semester about to begin, MBCollegiate Campus Missionaries are making plans – and contingencies for what happens if their campuses move online. Currently, most campuses are reopening, but it’s far from education as usual. Campuses like North Central Missouri College (NCMC), Crowder College, and Missouri State University will have in-person classes with indoor mask requirements and social distancing. On-campus organizations will be allowed to meet on campus as … [Read more...]
MBC collegiate summer missions interns grow through ministry, mentorship
JEFFERSON CITY – The 2020 MBC Summer Missions program ended, Aug. 1. For the prior ten weeks, eighty-six college students served as interns alongside pastors, campus missionaries, and other ministry leaders. From mission trips to producing media, handing out homeless bags to mentoring youth, leading worship to planning events, the interns dug their hands in deep to real-life ministry – even in the midst of a global pandemic. The internship stretched the students, both spiritually and in … [Read more...]
MBC teams build homes, relationships in Mexico
MEXICO – In the past nine years, Scott Westfall has been to Mexico over forty times building homes with Casas por Cristos, an organization that partners with churches in Mexico to build homes for deserving families. “So many things in ministry have started because of these trips,” Westfall says. Westfall, formerly a youth pastor and now an MBCollegiate Campus Missionary at Missouri Valley College, led teams on two separate trips this summer, one to Juarez and one to Acuna. In Juarez, … [Read more...]