With over 30,000 students enrolled at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, the words of Jesus ring true, for the harvest truly is plentiful. Arkansas Baptists have partnered together to reach these students through campus and church based collegiate ministry seeing hundreds of students make significant faith decisions yearly.
One of these ministries, Cross Church College, a ministry of Cross Church, recently launched a brand new dedicated collegiate ministry space, the largest in the nation. On the evening of October 25th, more than 1200 students from the University of Arkansas gathered for the first time in this new space.
Cross Church College Pastor Luke Harper shared a word with the students challenging them to take the Gospel to their campus, to every fraternity, sorority, dorm, and common space, reclaiming ground for the glory of the Lord.
Associate College Pastor Noah Graves shared, ““The Lord is doing something big in Fayetteville and we really believe He’s going to do something big in this building. But without God’s people who are passionate about God’s power, we will never reach the 30,000 students down the road. We are so grateful to be in cooperation with Arkansas Baptists.”
By the end of the evening, there were six student baptisms and 23 faith decisions made within the room. All of this was made possible through the faithful giving of church members, sacrificial leadership of church staff members, and mobilized student leaders.
All across our state, the college campus represents the most strategic mission field, one in which the world has come to us and gathered in a single place. It will take the effort of every Baptist Collegiate Ministry and every church working cooperatively together to reach these nearly 150,000 students with the Gospel. When we do, as history has proved, revival on the campus leads to revival in the world.
Article by Thomas Guinee, University of Arkansas Baptist Collegiate Ministry in Fayetteville, assistant campus minister.