TRENTON – The decision to get an on-campus gym membership was a personal one, not a ministry one: Campus Missionary Christina Boatright wanted to build healthier habits for her overall wellness. The on-campus gym at North Central Missouri College, which is open to the public, just made sense. Three months later, that seemingly personal decision has led to a bountiful ministry harvest. “God was like, ‘let’s just throw some extra on that,’” Boatright says. One of Boatright’s BSU student … [Read more...]
MBC campus missionaries, students intentional in gospel witness to all
ST. LOUIS – MBCollegiate Campus Missionaries aren’t just passionate about reaching college students with the gospel of Jesus Christ. From insurance salesmen to neighbors and everyone in between, they are living as gospel witnesses in all their spheres of influence – and teaching their students to do the same. Kale Uzzle, Campus Missionary in St. Louis, and his wife have been faithfully and intentionally reaching out to their neighbors for months. While COVID has provided challenges, they … [Read more...]
BSU ministry connects students with local churches
SPRINGFIELD – It’s a simple idea, but a revolutionary one in the world of college ministry: group church visits. Starting this semester, MBCollegiate Apprentice Levi Springfield and his girlfriend, Kaelyn Denham are taking their group of Missouri State University college students on monthly church visits to help them find and plug in to a local church. Springfield has seen a trend in BSU ministries that he says has “been here since the age creation of the BSU”: students often find their … [Read more...]
BSU student overcomes worry, graduates, becomes staff member
MARYVILLE – Beth Yarnell grew up in a solid Christian family in Liberty and accepted Christ at a young age. Though she understood the saving grace of Jesus, she found herself constantly worrying about the future. “I was prone to worrying and wondering if God liked me,” she says. “I felt like I had to do it all on my own.” When she started her freshman year at Northwest Missouri State University, the worry only intensified. “It was a big transition, going from having that family and … [Read more...]
Couple adopts students, pursues apprenticeship with Missouri Valley collegiate ministry
MARSHALL – Alex and Marita Avilez are every pastor’s dream: they have a strong, healthy marriage. They work their jobs and go to their gym with missional intent. They are actively involved in their church and their association. They exude a palpable love for the Lord. They also possess something else, something that makes their presence a blessing far beyond the walls of their local church: a burning passion for college students. “I love college kids!” says Marita. “College was such a … [Read more...]
Seven college students build homes in Mexico, weather blizzard in Texas
MEXICO – A global pandemic has stopped a lot of things, but it hasn’t stopped people from needing homes, and it hasn’t stopped MBCollegiate Campus Missionary Scott Westfall from helping build them. From Dec. 26 - Jan. 2, Westfall led a team of seven students and three other adults on his sixth trip to Mexico since March with Casas Por Cristos. As usual, the team spent a week building a house for a family in Mexico, constructing not just walls but a bond that lasts well after the trip is … [Read more...]
International students hear gospel at Truman State
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...]