Testimony from Soularium

My name is Walter Brigman and today I'd like to share with you my confession of faith.
To begin, you need to know about my life before accepting Christ. I grew up in the small town of Chesterfield, SC. Chesterfield is a small town where everyone knows each other and is filled with traditional southern Baptist churches. When I was growing up, my dad worked all week (and still does) to provide for our family. Mom usually had Sundays off, so my brother and I would be woken up and dragged off to church. My parents are both believers and tried their best to instill in me Christian values. I say Christian values because they knew it would take an act of the Holy Spirit for me to become a Christian. I continued to grow up in this small town and had a relatively normal life. I grew up playing sports because that’s all we had to do. They eventually became my passion and I grew to focus on baseball and football. I entered high school playing these two sports and really didn't think much about the “church thing“ My friends and I were having fun and enjoying teenage life. Occasionally, we would go to an FCA meeting or a high school ministry at a local church but it never really meant anything to us. There were even times we talked about becoming Christians but we felt it was just a collection of rules that didn't have any meaning to us. We'd always say, “Maybe when we're older, we'll become Christians”, never realizing that we may not have tomorrow.
High school continued and senior year quickly came. Our football season started and I was having a good year. A few colleges were asking about me and I was enjoying this time. In our first playoff game that year, I broke my left ankle in the first quarter. This injury, combined with the previous ones I had, left the few colleges interested in me closing off contact. Now, I see these injuries as blessings but at the time, they were the end of my young life. All my life, I had played football and baseball, and then I was facing the option of never playing either again. Senior year ended soon enough and I came to Charleston Southern with the small hope of playing football or baseball here. That hope was quickly taken away and I was left with a void in my life. I had started partying my senior year and that continued into college. I used that to fill the hole in my life. I wasn't completely out of control but my focus certainly wasn't on school. I finished the semester barely passing my classes and went back home. Back at home, to my parents' dismay; I continued the awful lifestyle I was living. Christmas break came and went and soon enough I was back at school. Second semester seemed to be going about the same as the first. I was doing much better in classes but still continued the partying. One day, I was going to work and stopped by the Strom Thurmond center to check my mail. A friend of mine was conducting a solarium survey and asked me to take it. The questions ranged from “Which image would you use to describe God” to “When you think about your own spiritual life or journey, which image best represents what you wish were true?” I really struggled with these questions. I finished the survey and didn't rally know what to think. I walked away confused and felling like I needed to talk to my friend more about God but I didn't. I went to work that afternoon and didn't really think anymore about the survey. I then left Charleston for the weekend to see some friends in the upstate. I tried to enjoy my visit but God just wasn't going to let me do that. I tried to continue with my normal lifestyle that weekend by partying with my friends but it just wasn't in me to do it anymore. I came back that Sunday and called my friend who had given me the survey. He met me in my room and we talked about the questions I had from the survey. As we went through those, I began to realize that something was missing in my life that couldn't be filled with anything I did. God had been laying convictions on my heart and it culminated with my friend reading Revelation 3:20. He asked me if I wanted to accept Christ as my Lord and Savior and we prayed together about it. Later that night, I called my parents and gave them probably the best news they've ever heard from me.
Afterwards, my friend began to disciple me and help through my first few weeks as a Christian. I'd like to say that it was a walk in the park but that wasn't the case. I had to make a drastic change in the lifestyle I'd been living for over a year and a half. I had to say goodbye to some friends whom I really didn't need to be friends with. I'd love to say this change to place overnight but it took a while for me to get right with God in all areas of my life. This was definitely a tough time of my life. I know it's funny for me to say that right after accepting Christ was a tough time in my life but I had to change my entire life after that moment. I wasn't a bad person but my life definitely didn't match up with what God wanted for me. I also had many questions and few answers though this time. I was overwhelmed with the things my friends and family were sharing with me and it was confusing. However, with their continued support and love, I moved through this time probably as painlessly as possible.
I accepted Christ almost three years ago. It's been a difficult walk but it's been worth every step I've taken with the Lord. That void I had in my life is gone and has been replaced by Jesus. The things I worried about before are things that I don't think about now. Jesus Christ has transformed my life. I know that day I walked by my friend doing the solarium survey was God moving in my life. He had been working on my heart and was just waiting to finish the job. I thank God everyday for my friend evangelizing as he was commanded to and for God himself caring enough about me to send His son to die on the cross for my sins.

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Freshman Survival
Jacksonville State University
Jacksonville, AL

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ER Evangelism Story by Austin Evers, University of Guam BCM

One thing about college ministry on Guam that makes me so excited is the diversity within
our group of students. On any given Tuesday night worship we’ll have up to 8 or 10 different
countries or islands represented. It’s international ministry happening naturally.
One of these students moved to Guam from China around 8 months ago. Traci began coming to our worshipservice to be around English and to get some practice, but soon she began to feel the HolySpirit draw her to community and worship with our other students.
I love getting to take students to lunch or coffee, so I offered to take her to lunch to talk. I had
been praying for her for some time, many of our students had, so I was excited to spend some
one on one time talking about Jesus and faith and what God seemed to be doing in her life.
Almost right away she started the spiritual conversation. She had never been around people
who wanted to learn more about God and he intrigued her. The spiritual part was confusing
to her, but she enjoyed the informational learning. I told her I was so glad she enjoyed it and
of course we loved having her and all those things. I told her I loved learning with everyone
too, but before I could really understand and really grasp this God and Jesus and Church I had
learned so much about I had to answer a very important question. This question is a big one
though, and it was tough to answer, life changing even. So I showed her the passage where
Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” I confessed to her it wasn’t an easy
question no matter how simple it sounded. It’s heavy. It’s honest and vulnerable. And I told
her if God hadn’t put that question on her heart yet that I was praying he would. She nodded
and stayed quiet for an uncomfortably long time. I worried it was too soon or that I had offended
some international rule of eating crepe wraps in peace. So I sat.
She looked across the table and calmly said, “That is a tough question.” I agreed, and probably
grinned like an idiot. I added that it was important not to rush the answer, but to be responsible
and ask God for help. Then not only would she continue to learn about God, but if he brought
her to Jesus being her Lord and God, then she would also get to know him personally. No
longer would she merely know about this Jesus, but she would know him, his very self. She
seemed to think this sounded good and strange, but said she would give it honest thought.
About a week ago the pastor of her church took me to lunch and told me Traci had come to his
office after church and asked for his help to become a Christian. She told him she had come to
realize Jesus wasn’t only good and interesting, but he was savior and God. He said she acted
as if she had come to this realization a while ago and now was more than ready to do whatever
This isn’t an isolated joy on Guam. God is moving across the college campuses giving students
new life. The kingdom of heaven truly is “at hand.”

How Missions Has Changed My Life By: Johnnie Mack Stephens

My name is Johnnie Mack Stephens, and I am a student at the University of Tennessee at Martin. God has done amazing things in my life through missions. He has pushed me beyond my comfort zone and allowed me to be involved in his work even when I am so undeserving of it. He has opened so many doors of opportunity for me. God has shaped me into a follower, a leader, and a missionary. Missions has been an experience that God has positioned into my heart and into my lifestyle as a way of service. I have been blessed with the chance to be a part of summer missions for the past two summers and am looking forward to the next.

Summer missions has really impacted my view of God’s divine work and his perfect direction for all of his children. I look at how I was as an individual before doing summer missions: nervous, timid, and choosing to do missions because that seemed as the best possible solution of spending my summer. Then I look at myself now, as a growing witness, striving and hungering for more of his work in and around my life. God has given me an amazing passion to be sent out as a light in this dark world. I think that was and is my true desire going into summer missions.

My first summer I served through the Tennessee BCM Missions program also known as Light Messengers with the Dyer Baptist Association for ten weeks participating in VBS. It was a hard decision rather to serve or not. This was the summer before I started college, and I was scared to jump into missions and then shortly after begin college as a freshman. God did not have any doubts though. He knew his plans for my summer and where he wanted me to grow and experience, and in the process he gave me a love for being submerged in his work.

Last summer I served as an Innovator missionary in Orlando, FL. I worked a job and through my job witnessed to my co-workers and other employees, showing Christ’s love to them in a practical genuine way. It was a long summer but at the same time, a learning experience greater than the last. He showed me the importance of encouragement by other believers, by your families and friends as well as taught me perseverance and endurance through trials. Overall God has shown me the significance in taking in his word, and not just reading it as any other book but studying it, allowing it to become part of my lifestyle and an act of worship to him. Feeding off his word is what gives us strength, motivation, and a drive for his love. What God has shown me, prepares me and excites me for my next endeavor on the mission field. I am looking out to this world knowing and understanding that God uses him working in me to salt the earth. Even now he is breaking my heart for the lost and arranging my desires to get me ready for this upcoming summer.

I have no idea what God’s will is for my future plans after college, but I know he has already given me a desire wherever he leads. My true passion is to be faithful in obedience to his calling. He has given me a sparked interest in serving as a Journeyman after college. All I can do now is pray, wait, and search for the initiative that matches his direction.

Johnnie Mack is a junior at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Currently he serves as a Baptist Collegiate Network student missions mobilizer and will be serving on a team in Las Vegas, NV this summer as a summer missionary through the North American Mission Board. For the upcoming 2010-2011 academic year he will be serving as the UT Martin BCM President.

How Missions Has Changed My Life

My name is Erin Winkles, and I am thankful for the opportunity to serve with the Tennessee BCM Missions program also known as Light Messengers. I have had the opportunity to serve for two summers in the great state of Maine. My first summer of missions I served on the New England Travel Teams and the second time I served in Scarborough, Maine with SouthCoast Community Church. This summer I have the opportunity to serve in South Korea.

The word change means to make the form, nature, future content, etc. of something different from what it is or what it would be if left alone. This is exactly what happened to me when I served through Light Messengers. Christ never left me alone. I was made different because He stayed by my side the entire journey. My summers have not easy by any means. You have days here and there that make you question why you are serving. Sometimes when you are on the mission field those days are hard. You don’t like the weather or the food. Your teammates annoy you or get on your last nerve sometimes and you long for time alone. You also miss your friends and family at home. On top of all of that you are often surrounded by spiritual darkness. The people you are serving have no clue about Christ and your mission is to declare His love. When I realized that I was not alone, Christ shattered that darkness around me. He reminded me of the purpose of why I was there which was to completely serve Him.

How do you know if you are really changed? You know you are changed when you bring your mission home with you. When I came home I had some struggles to face, but had I not obeyed God and served in summer missions, I would not have learned to lean on Him. I knew I was changed because I trusted Christ with my situations even when I came home. Life gets busy, and I knew that if I learned to lean on Christ during two of the hardest summers of my life then I could surely trust Him when my life got hectic at home.

Missions gave me the opportunity not only to go and share the Best News but it also allowed me to strengthen my relationship with my King. I learned to be open, flexible, and bold in my faith. I learned compassion and how to love with Christ’s love. I learned about communication and team building. However, I could not have learned any of those things had I not first leaned on Christ and realized that He never left me to do it on my own. I love that I can truly say that missions changed me because Christ was by my side every time I served Him on the mission field. No matter where Christ leads me to serve Him next, He will be right there with me the whole way as I go serve, come home, and be changed!

Erin Winkles is a senior at East Tennessee State University. Currently she serves as a Baptist Collegiate Network student missions mobilizer and will be serving in South Korea as a TN BCM summer missionary. For the upcoming 2010-2011 academic year she will be serving as the ETSU BCM President and BCM State Co-President.

Ministry at Mesa State

Kevin, one of our staff members, is doing a ministry called “Compassionate.” It is very much a social ministry in which students are encouraged to identify and develop ministry projects that serve the less-fortunate. Among the projects taken on so far: raising several hundred dollars to help buy a new wheelchair for a Mesa student, remodeling a trailer home for a homeless person, and preparing breakfast at 6:00 a.m. for a local shelter once each week. SERFS (Safe Rides for Students) also continues to be an important ministry for our Christian Challenge group. We gave around 3,500 rides this past year to students who had been drinking. The ministry involved as many as 40 of our students in 6-8 hour shifts on Friday and Saturday nights.

One of my favorite activities is a Thursday afternoon group called “disciplemaking.” The idea is to present a devotional in such a way that all of the students involved can turn around and present the study to somebody else during the week. We started with 3 students in August and now regularly draw 20 students.

Darrin Crow, Director of Christian Challenge
Mesa State College - Grand Junction, CO

Students Sharing Christ

I have lunch on campus twice each week, and usually it is easy to find several students from our ministry with whom to visit. One day in November I was eating with one of my students and talking to him about sharing his faith. Jake has been one of our best students for years, but his shyness and awkwardness have always been a problem for him. Who should join us but the most outgoing girl in our ministry, Susan, and a friend of hers, Kayla, from the swim team.

Susan asked us what we were talking about, and I explained that I was talking to Jake about sharing his faith with somebody he didn’t know. Susan said to Jake, “Kayla is not a Christian. See how you can do with her.” After Jake sat for a minute trying to say something intelligent, Susan told Jake that he was not doing very well and needed to get after it. Jake’s panic was starting to show, so I asked Kayla if she would mind if Jake tried to share with her how he became a follower of Christ. She agreed, so Jake stumbled through the plan of salvation. He did a pretty good job until the end when he really talked himself into a hole. Kayla asked a question and Jake’s response was, “Everybody knows that.” Well, we teased Jake a little and thanked Kayla for playing along.

Later in the week Susan led Kayla to Christ. Her question was, “Do you really believe the stuff Jake was talking about?” From there Susan was able to lead her to a commitment to Christ. Susan later told the story and graciously gave Jake credit for sharing his faith. Jake knows he really butchered things, but he also recognizes clearly God’s ability to work through all of us.

Darrin Crow, Director of Christian Challenge
Mesa State College - Grand Junction, CO