BCM Testimony--Michael Adams

My name is Michael Adams and I am a 3^rd year seminary student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. I also received my undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in May of 2009 in Business with a focus in Insurance/Risk Management.  Currently, I am working on a Masters in Divinity degree and exploring opportunities in serving the Lord in Salt Lake City, Utah.

When I first came to BCM one might say that my Christian walk looked good. I stayed out of trouble and was living, at least based on today’s standards, a pretty moral life. However, I had a very strong desire to make MY mark on the world and was basically taking the approach of how I could use God to get the things that I wanted such as money and prestige. However, during my sophomore year I went on a short term mission trip called Christmas in China which has had a huge impact on my life. One of the biggest life lessons I began to learn on this trip is that life is not about God making us happy but is about us serving the Lord, making His name great, and reaching the nations with the gospel. This mission trip helped me realize that I needed to change my priorities around. Serving God is the most important thing in life, not serving self.

Upon my return to the University of South Carolina I got very involved in reaching internationals with the gospel on campus. Although I did not have the privilege of leading a Chinese person to Christ on my mission trip to China I did have the wonderful privilege of leading a Chinese student at USC to a relationship with the Lord. Also, during this time, I met a student from Russia who is a Latter Day Saint (Mormon) as well as a professor who is LDS who taught me International Business Communication. This has lead me on a potential path to serving the Lord in Salt Lake City, Utah (aka Mecca of Mormonism) with a desire to reach the city for Christ as well as internationals in the area who may confused between Mormonism and true authentic Christianity.

I am very thankful for BCM and the ministry’s desire to serve King Jesus. It was BCM who promoted the Christmas in China mission trip. It was BCM that allowed me to use its amazing facility to hold an International Bible Study. And it was at BCM during one of these Bible studies that my friend and brother in Christ from China came to put his faith in trust in the Lord.

As a student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary there has been a lot of talk about something called the Great Commission Resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention. BCM at USC is certainly a ministry that is intentional about reaching the lost with the gospel as well as helping equip its students to grow in their understanding of how they can allow God to use them in fulfilling His Great Commission and furthering his Kingdom.

Thank you BCM!

Michael Adams

University of South Carolina

Class of 2009

BCM Testimony--Katie Woodlieff

Heather Bennett and Katie Woodlieff

I have been lucky enough to be a part of two BCM/BSUs. My first was during my four years as an undergraduate at Wake Forest in North Carolina. However, my first experiences with this organization were much earlier. While in middle and high school, my church often had BCM/BSU teams come for the weekend. As a teen, going through all the struggles and challenges which that time of life brings, I was amazed by a group of college students like this - so unashamed of their faith and their own identities. I wanted to be just like them.

When entering college, I sought out BSU. And, they sought me out as well. I became quickly involved. College is a difficult time for many students - and it was for me. During this time students grow and change, experience setbacks and progress, and begin to truly develop a sense of their adult selves. For me, BSU was an anchor in that process - an anchor back to the most important thing in life, Jesus Christ. BSU helped me build relationships with other believers, grow spiritually, connect with a local church, and make my faith my own. While other things were constantly tugging at my mind and my time, BSU always reminded me of my foundation as a believer.

When transitioning to graduate school in South Carolina, at USC, it seemed natural to me to seek out BCM.  I was blessed to find another group of students who loved me and who desired to grow closer to Christ. For someone like me, moving out of state, to a city where they didn't know anyone, BCM provided more than words can express. At this point in my life, my needs were different, but BCM still found it a priority to help in meeting those needs. I was able to connect with other graduate students, and also help in reaching out to underclassmen, as I used life lessons I learned in college to give advice and reassurance.

I love the heart that BSU/BCM has for its students, and for the world. Two of my fondest memories in this organization involve service opportunities, a major priority to this ministry. While at Wake Forest, I spent most Friday mornings preparing lunch for homeless men, women, and children in the area.  And while at USC, I looked forward to spearheading our ministry's annual Christmas service project - adopting a needy family from our local community. These service opportunities, though very different, reminded me of our true purpose as belivers of Christ - to be a light to the world.

I can never adequately put into words the true impact that BSU/BCM has had on my life. I can say, however, without a doubt, that I wouldn't have maneuvered college so well without this organization and all the support it provides. I believe that those years were defining ones in my life - years in which I grew and developed a great deal in my faith. BSU/BCM were critical in that growth.

BCM Testimony--Chris Foy

BCM Alumni:
Rob Foy, Matt Raven, Chris Foy

Thank you BCM.

There’s no way that I could thank BCM properly in a blog post or a video for everything that it has meant in my life, but I’ll give it my best shot.  After reading all the wonderful testimonies already posted, I have decided to share simply all the great things I gained from being a part of BSU/BCM.  It would be quite concerning if these opportunities were ever not afforded to our college students.

Simply by being a part of BCM…

It gave me tremendous mentors.  Jane Poster, Greg Nix, and Chad Stillwell to name a few. 

It gave me lifelong friends.  Eight years after graduation, I’m still as close to many of my BCM brothers and sisters as I was back then.   

It gave me accountability.  I shudder to think what kind of roads I would have gone down had I not had the support of friends who cared about my Christian walk.

It gave me encouragement.  It is incredibly moving when your peers do great things in name of Christ.  There were countless examples of my friends going out and making the world a better place because of their opportunities through BCM.

It gave me mission opportunities.  All I had to do is sign up my time, and through BCM I served in trailer parks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, thrift stores, Bible Camps, three week long service trips, and one eight week missionary trip in Kershaw. 

It gave me the tools and confidence to take what I learned and spread the message of Jesus Christ throughout the world in everything I do.  I’ve incorporated the lessons I learned into the churches I have been a part of as well as into my everyday life. 

It gave me hope that in an increasing secular world, there is a program that is equipping young men and women to be the future of our church.

BCM has given me so much.  I could never give the organization enough praise. 

Chris Foy

University of South Carolina

Class of 2003

BCM Testimony--April Adams

Crystal Ham, April Adams, Lauren Vincent Thomas, Shelley Petit Stinson

If one's major would have been determined by hours of time spent on a particular activity, mine would have been BCM. I arrived at the University of South Carolina in 2002 a bit apprehensive of everyone and everything, yet determined to not spend my next four years with all of the same people I went to high school with. It took me a couple of weeks to make my way to a BCM activity. The Main Street Center had just been bought and renovations had barely begun. I remember standing in the front room at the Center and meeting Jane (campus minister) for the first time. She asked me if I'd like to see the "new Center." I thought we were going to get in a car and drive somewhere so I warily agreed. Then she proceeded to take me around the grungey building and tell me the vision of the new student center. Little did I know, but I would invest a large amount of my time, effort, blood (yes, pretty sure I smashed my finger knocking out old windows once), sweat and tears into that building itself and the activities within it.

I decided to go against caution and go on the fall retreat. I think the only reason why I went was because Jane told me I needed to video the weekend. I never would have gone without being given a task. I left Columbia on a Friday barely knowing a soul and came back that Sunday afternoon with some of the best friends of my life (and the first of many video tapes full of memories). I got involved in everything, Bible studies, service projects, outreach, fundraising, intramurals, media ministry, whatever was going on, I had my hand in it.

The summer after my freshman year, I went to Kansas as a summer missionary through BCM. It wasn't the best trip of my life, but it was an experience from which I continue to learn. During my time in the Heartland, I was able to reach a new level of honesty with myself and God.

The rest of my college career, I served on BCM's council and was president my (first) senior year. I saw the BCM building go from a dust covered renovation project to a functioning and thriving student center where laughter, worship and life was shared amongst the seeking souls who passed through its doors. Because of BCM, I serve in my church, Shandon Baptist, on the Media Ministry volunteer staff, teaching Bible studies, planning events for my Sunday School class and more. If BCM wouldn't have been there, it's likely I would never have opened my mind to attending a larger/different church than what I was raised. I wouldn't have realized the ministry opportunities available to me, nor would I have seen some of the potential in myself.

BCM provided me with an extended family and equipped me for a life of service within the church and my community. I can't thank Jane Poster for her leadership as campus minister, the interns who lent their talents and gifts each year, Ken Owens for his organization and leadership over all the BCMs statewide and all those in Southern Baptist churches and beyond who have contributed to this ministry enough for the support, love and growth they provided during some of the most formative and crucial years of my life.


April Adams
USC-Columbia
Class of 2006

BCM Testimony--Ben Bryan

Susan and Ben Bryan

My on-campus involvement with BCM spanned seven years. I got involved during my first semester on campus, became active as a student leader and remained so in graduate school, and then served as the BCM intern. From the senior class during my freshman year, to those who were freshmen while I was intern, I had contact with an entire decade of students.

Many of the testimonies on this board are students I knew, and some I’ve not seen in years. It’s wonderful to know that their experiences through Baptist Student Union and Baptist Collegiate Ministry have had a lasting effect on their lives, spiritually, just as it has on mine. As Ward pointed out, college is a pivotal time in one’s life: Habits, values, and relationships formed there have an enormous impact on students for the rest of their lives. And most of us are familiar with studies reporting the number of students who leave the church during college and never return (over 60%). Given the stakes, I firmly believe on-campus college ministry is among the most critical mission focuses for the church today.

But the reason for that importance isn’t just the spiritual health of the students touched directly by organizations like BCM. It’s also because of the extended impact on the lives they reach. I’ve seen first-hand the extent to which the opportunity to serve in Christian leadership at the college level can lead to decisions to enter full-time ministry, or, at the very least, service in a needed leadership capacity at their home church. At the church I attended after college, leadership in the single adult ministry was comprised predominantly of individuals who had served in some capacity in a Baptist Collegiate Ministry in South Carolina.

The duration of my involvement with BCM afforded me a unique perspective: I was able to watch many students make incredible transformations between their freshman and senior years. The year I served as intern, I sat in on meetings in which a nominating committee of student leaders discussed the direction of BCM student leadership the following year. They had a huge vision for reaching the campus and for supporting missions. They could discern the spiritual gifts of younger students they believed would be excellent fits for needed leadership and service positions. These students were able to dream big, share a vision, and lean on God for direction in evangelizing an often-hostile environment. It was only at this point, some seven years after first attending a BSU worship service, that I truly comprehended what a powerful ministry it was: Baptist Collegiate Ministry had an enormous impact on my personal spiritual growth, but it had just as much of an impact teaching me how to serve and to lead as part of a body of believers. I just had to witness it in other students in order to realize it.

Through BCM, I forged life-long friendships. I made lasting memories. I grew personally in my walk with Christ. And I am thankful for the influence that the ministry, and particularly Jane Poster the campus minister, had on my growth as a Christian and as a leader. I pray that God continues to use Baptist Collegiate Ministry as a way to grow and equip future Christian leaders, just as I've seen it do for years in more ways and with greater reach than any ministry I've ever been a part of.

Ben Bryan
University of South Carolina
Class of 2002
BCM intern, 2004-05

BCM Testimony--Cristin Henry

Left to right: Katie Woodlieff, April Adams, Cristin Henry

BCM, to me, represents life-change and growth.  At an integral time in my life, BCM was one catalyst that drove me to deeper relationship with Christ.

When I arrived on campus at USC, I was completely alone, and that was what I wanted.  I wanted to start a whole new experience where I didn’t know anyone.  I knew that I wanted to go out of state at a big school where none of my friends went.  I did just that.  What I didn’t know was how God would completely change my life through it.

I had been a believer since I was seven, but when I left for college, my relationship with Christ was roller coaster-like, at best.  Over the summer, as I was preparing for school, it became clear that God was moving in me.  I knew that I needed to make some changes.  I just wasn’t sure how. 

My first day alone on campus, after I had finished freaking out in my room, I found an invitation to a BCM cookout.  I didn’t really know what it was about, but I figured I could at least meet a few people there and since I knew no one, I decided it couldn’t hurt.  That was when things began to change for me.  I made friends at that cookout that I am still friends with today. 

God worked in amazing ways in my life over the four years that followed, much of that facilitated by BCM and friends within BCM.  BCM helped me get plugged into a local church, where I became a member and served.  I started attending Bible studies through BCM, as well as retreats and social activities.  I was given opportunities to lead and use my gifts, as well as stretch myself outside my comfort zone through local ministry and international service. 

Jane Poster, USC BCM director during my time at USC, poured into me wisdom and encouragement.  She helped strengthen my walk, and clearly identified gifts in my life I had never seen before.  I think she knew before anyone else, including myself, that God was calling me overseas. 

I took my first international mission trip with BCM, after my junior year.  Then, after I graduated, I served two years in Asia as a Journeyman.  That time overseas was life changing and has opened my eyes to God’s work around the world like nothing had before.  I know that God used BCM to lead me overseas and to where I am today.

When I look back at what God did in my life during college, I am in awe.  I am thankful to BCM and those involved with BCM for submitting to God’s leadership and calling to serve college students.  When we allow God to move in us and work through us He does amazing things.  Thank you, BCM, for allowing Him to move.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3.20-21

Cristin Henry

USC-Columbia

Class of 2006

BCM Testimony--Will King

Will King is a 2004 graduate of the University of South Carolina. Will submits this testimony explaining how BCM was there for him during a turning point in his life.

Please submit your testimony to us at testimony@thankyoubcm.com

Now, more than ever, it is important that we as alumni support BCM.

BCM Testimony--Jason Rapp

What a blessing it's been to read the testimonies of so many of those who've connected with our Lord thanks to this vital ministry through the years. I'm privileged to call many of them friends. Though many stories are familiar, you can never tire of being encouraged by the way God moves in someone's life.

The vital ministry of which I speak allows young people to grow and develop among brothers and sisters in Christ at a critical time in their lives. Ways of thinking and habits form and take root as make our way, away from the nest. Having BCM does one of two things, depending on your situation: a) allows fellowship that reinforces so many of the values church and family instilled as you progressed to this point in life, or b) helps those without that advantage be introduced to the peace and assurance of that comes from a relationship with the Living God. No small thing, to be sure!

Beyond being a "safe haven" for believers old and new in the often-hostile environment of most college campuses, BCM means a lot to me for the connections I made that, nearly nine years later, I still have. Directly because of BCM, I've had hands of Christian brothers and sisters reaching out in support in the depths and hands reaching to the skies in jubilation during the heights (my groomsmen, for example, were all BCM alums).

But I won't belabor any points about life-long friends that so many have done well already. I feel a more powerful story lies in the impact BCM has down the line, and the point has been driven home to me in striking fashion more than once.

Most organizations mean things to people personally after some time, but the truly worthwhile ones pay things forward through the values instilled and lessons taught. The council for the USC BCM let students take ownership of in-reach and out-reach, which are appropriately the elements of the BCM logo. Leaders are perhaps born, as the saying goes, but their skills have to be honed somewhere. In the mid-2000s, when I looked out at the others serving on leadership at the Shandon Baptist young single adult ministry, I was awestruck and proud that nearly two handfuls of people I also saw at BCM council meetings were again serving together for Christ. Now, on young married adult leadership at the same church, I still see a few of those, and know of others serving in other areas.

Ownership then, ownership now. BCM helps you grow in faith during a time when you become who you are. And when you're here now looking back, overwhelmed by the blessings received, it makes you all the more eager to continue serving Him wherever you are.

Jason Rapp

USC-Columbia

Class of 2002

BCM Testimony--Ward Inabinet

Greetings!

My name is Ward Inabinet. I was at the University of South Carolina from 1995 through 2000, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. I look back on my college years as pivotal in the shaping of my world view. These precious years provided abundant opportunities to establish positive, nurturing relationships that pushed me toward life-long Christian discipleship. BCM was a major element in that process.

Students in college are at a crossroads in their life - having the time and space to ask fundamental questions. Questions such as "Why am I here?" , "What's the meaning behind this world and the universe?", and "Where can I meet people who will accept me just as I am?". The BCM at USC has always been a space on campus to welcome students asking these questions. Jane Poster was there, with her quiet presence, to lovingly engage the student body. For me, the BCM created a space for students across all disciplines to unwind, have fun, worship God, and learn how to be a body of Christ to a world in desperate need of Christ's healing and love.

God's Holy Spirit will always be at work, with or without a physical BCM on college campuses. But know this; a BCM ministry staff and a physical space to gather for fellowship, study, worship, (and food!) can not be underestimated in allowing the Holy Spirit to penetrate student's lives and hearts. The impact has longterm and eternal ramifications.

There is no time like the years of college to cement a person's lifestyle. Decisions about how to leverage one's money, how to invest one's valuable time, how to raise one's children, and ultimately how to engage one's culture are all chiseled within these few years. Praise God that the Baptist church had the vision to establish a deep connection on campus to these students. Even now, on a regular basis, I look back on notes I took at BCM conferences. I look back on pictures of crazy late nights during mission retreats. No trip back to campus is complete without a drive by the old BCM property at USC. Many good memories come rushing back on friends, late-night studies, and (of course) the good food I experienced there. Christ was made known to me within those walls and within that community. Then, we made Christ known to the world. That is a call that I continue to reach for today.

Please, consider the missed opportunities we all will face if the BCM relinquishes her spot in the lives of college students in South Carolina.

Best regards,
Ward Inabinet
University of South Carolina
BS Mechanical Engineering, class of 2000

BCM Testimony--Amy Jackson

How has Christ impacted my life through BCM? I think the easier question is answer is how He hasn't--there are so many ways that I have been molded and changed: by the people I met in my four years at the University of South Carolina through BCM, through learning about ministry, and even by making important discoveries about myself, my calling, and the personality God has given me.

I came to the University of South Carolina as an out-of-state student, and I only knew two other students on campus--that really changed after I got involved with BCM! I felt at home at BCM, even from the first time I came to the student center in tears, asking to speak with Jane because I was so homesick and overwhelmed with changes and a new town and new people. There were other tears along the way, but also lots of laughter. I cannot put into words how the staff at BCM really encouraged, impacted, and changed my life--for the better. I was blessed to be able to build relationships with the Posters, as well as the Stewarts, and now live in Birmingham, Alabama and get to work alongside Mary and Wayne Splawn, who were interns at BCM during my junior year of college. I feel blessed to be able to call all of these people former mentors and ministers, as well as current friends.

I also have to say that, through BCM, I made friendships that I hope will last for the rest of my life. I met people who have a passion for Christ, and they spurred me on to know Him more and become more like Him. They are the people that I can call in the middle of the night with a ridiculous problem, and know that they will have encouragement and comforting words for me to hear.

BCM was also a stretching experience for me; I'm such an introvert sometimes, and God used BCM to show that He has a sense of humor in calling me to positions that I constantly felt were for more "extroverted and outgoing" people: Trailer Park Ministry coordinator, missions chair, BCM president. Through BCM and the great leadership and mentoring efforts of the staff there, I began to see that God had an incredible purpose and calling for my life, and that He created me and gifted me uniquely and could use my quietness and organization and thoroughness just as he could other people's extroversion and excitement. it's because of ministry at BCM--in particular, the Spring Break Boston mission trip, my time as a summer missionary, and the year of serving as BCM president--that I felt led to go to seminary and pursue a calling into ministry.

I can't say enough positive things about BCM and the impact it had on my life--the tremendous opportunities I received through BCM, the relationships I built through BCM, and the life-changing and eternal truths about Christ and his kingdom that I learned through BCM, both through speakers and through being challenged to live out the gospel on campus, in Columbia, and throughout the world. My four years at USC were challenging, stretching, molding, and beautiful--and that's all because of Christ's kindness in leading me somewhere like BCM.

Amy Jackson

University of South Carolina

Class of 2009