Baptist Student Ministry: Changing Lives for a Lifetime

Matt Jones (center) and his IMB Nehemiah Team served in the Philippines while he was a student at the University of Delaware. Jones said that his involvement with the Baptist Student Ministry ignited his love for missions. Photo courtesy of Matt Jones.

Ask Blake Hardcastle, director of the University of Delaware Baptist Student Ministry (BSM), what is the best way to engage twenty-two thousand college students with the Gospel, and his answer is clear—reach them where they are, on campus.

This large, highly-concentrated pocket of lostness is nestled in the heart of Newark, Delaware. Many of the students who attend the state’s largest university do not know Jesus.

At the University of Delaware, as well as many other campuses around the country, organizations need proper credentials to have a presence on campus. As a registered student organization, BSM has direct access to students in a way that the city’s local churches can’t.

Curtis Hill, senior pastor of Ogletown Baptist Church in Newark, sees BSM as a crucial partner in his church’s ministry to college students.

“If I’m thinking missional strategy,” he said, BSM is “an effective platform” to gain access to those students.

Layered Cooperation

The relationship between Ogletown and BSM involves multiple layers of cooperation. It begins with Ogletown’s giving through the Cooperative Program, which helps fund the ministries of the Mid-Atlantic Baptist Network (formerly the Baptist Convention of Maryland-Delaware), such as the BSM at UD and other collegiate ministries in the two-state convention. The church is also part of the Delaware Baptist Association, which dedicates a portion of its budget to collegiate ministry at UD.

In addition, Ogletown funds a staff member dedicated to collegiate ministry who works primarily on campus with Hardcastle. And, the church makes direct contributions to BSM. Because of the church’s strong relationship with BSM, the church staff person serves as a bridge between the church and campus.

Hardcastle, a member of Ogletown, said the partnership with the church began about twelve years ago when church leadership realized they had no clear strategy in place to reach college students. Some students would attend services, he said, but it was little more than a “spiritual checkmark” for them; they weren’t fully integrated into the church body.

“[Students] just don’t come to the church on their own. You have to be on campus to access them,” Hardcastle said.

Baptist Student Ministry students hand out free donuts each week on the University of Delaware campus. These and other acts of kindness lay the groundwork for Gospel conversations. Photo courtesy of Blake Hardcastle.

Reaching Students

Building relationships and making personal connections are key to reaching students, Hardcastle said. BSM conducts some outreaches designed to foster awareness through acts of kindness, such as handing out free donuts and taking out dorm residents’ trash. Once connections are made, students are much more receptive to Gospel conversations, he said.

BSM accomplishes its goals of reaching students and making disciples through outreach and social activities, a weekly large-group Bible study on campus, smaller groups that meet during the week, one-on-one discipleship, missions and service projects, and opportunities for students to serve in leadership positions.

A growing area of ministry for BSM has been to international students. According to the University of Delaware’s website, there were 3,338 international students representing ninety different countries studying at UD in 2014.

Of that number, almost one thousand were non-degree-seeking students studying English at the English Language Institute through the University.

Student BSM leaders must commit to meet with international students to practice conversational English, which provides natural opportunities to talk about Christianity. An increasing number of international students, some of whom do not have access to the Gospel in their home countries, have been attending Bible studies and other events.

“They want to be with Americans, they want to be with English-speaking students, they want to experience American culture,” Hardcastle said.

While affirming international mission trips, Hardcastle also encourages students to reach the nations without leaving campus by building relationships with international students.

“Instead of spending three or four thousand on a trip for a summer, you could spend three or four hundred and have coffee [with an international student] every week for a whole year,” he said.

He said that five international students have accepted Christ in the past two years.

A group of freshman students from the Baptist Student Ministry return from a conference. Photo courtesy of Matt Jones.

Making Disciples

In addition to their ministry responsibilities, student “servant leaders” are required to meet one-on-one with BSM staff for discipleship, emphasizing spiritual disciplines and encouraging spiritual growth.

Matt Jones, a 2013 graduate, is one example of an alumnus whose faith was significantly impacted by BSM. Though he accepted Christ at the age of six, the bulk of his spiritual growth occurred as a result of BSM, he said.

Jones recounted a life-changing moment. One day toward the beginning of his one-on-one discipleship with Hardcastle, his mentor suddenly asked him to explain the Gospel.

“I just couldn’t believe that I grew up a Christian and I had no idea how to explain that,” Jones said. Through practice and continued discipleship, he has made sure from that point on that he is always prepared to give an answer, he said.

Jones led freshmen small groups for three years, building relationships with first-year students through activities and leading Bible studies.

Matt Jones baptizes a new believer while serving with IMB Nehemiah Teams in the Philippines as a student. Photo courtesy of Matt Jones.

Connecting Students to a Local Church

An important goal of the BSM’s discipleship focus is to develop students into functioning members of a local church body. As freshmen and sophomores, the students are encouraged to get involved in a local church, whether Ogletown or one of the other churches in the area. As juniors and seniors, they are encouraged to move from a “consumer” role to active participation in ministry—whether formally through established church ministries, or informally by intentionally seeking out opportunities to build relationships and serve others.

Not only do the students benefit from the connection to a local church, but the church benefits from the constant influx of students that are actively growing in their faith.

“Because of the work that Blake’s done in evangelism and discipleship, they’re leaders,” Hill said. “They know how to engage lost people. They know how to make disciples.”

Hill sees college students not as the future of the church, but as the present.

“They have gifts, they have skills. . . . They have a passion to walk with the Lord, they’ve counted the cost,” he said. “So there’s a pretty strong backbone for Christ, and that is huge in the church.”

Jones is one of several BSM alumni who stayed in Newark after graduating and continue to serve at Ogletown. He currently leads a youth group and a young adult group. Hill said there are others serving as staff, volunteers, and deacons at the church.

Jones plays with children in a village while serving in the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Matt Jones.

Sending Students to the Nations

Hill sees cooperation at its finest when students are sent out to reach the nations through IMB missions. The church commissioned two students who began their two-year service as IMB Journeymen this past summer.

“The BSM leads people to Christ that we probably would not have had an opportunity to [reach], and they end up at our church,” he said. “But then because of the IMB, because of the Cooperative Program, there’s an outlet for students to go on summer missions, and then they come back and tell our church, as a church body, what the Lord did. So it’s neat to see, on so many levels, that cooperative effort working.”

In addition, the church recently underwrote costs for four students to go on short-term mission trips through Nehemiah Teams. Jones, who spent a summer in the Philippines with Nehemiah Teams as a student, met and was able to share the Gospel with people who had never heard the name of Jesus.

“It was kind of like we were walking through the book of Acts, in my mind, in seeing God doing miracles almost in front of our eyes,” he said of the experience.

His love for international missions was one of the biggest things he took away from his involvement with BSM, Jones said. “Without BSM I wouldn’t have cared about missions at all.”

Long-Term Rewards

Collegiate ministry requires patience, Hill said, noting that yearly statistics cannot tell the full story of the fruit that becomes evident over time. He and Hardcastle both have numerous examples of former students who, years after graduating, are still serving in church leadership roles or in missions.

“There’s an exponential impact over time that really becomes almost impossible to measure,” Hill said. “[T]he fruit may not be immediate, but years later this is going to be hugely impactful for the church. We make a big investment in college ministry, and it’s worth it.”

About the Author

Rebecca Wolford