Jeremy Woodall serves as the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) director at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, home of the Boll Weevils.
The first weeks of school for an incoming freshman are some of the most pivotal days of their lives. At Weevil Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) we say that decisions that a student makes during the first four weeks of school will determine the next four years of their lives. Realistically, it can determine the rest of their lives.
We structure the first month of school into what we call “First Four” at Weevil BCM. We work alongside the student engagement and admissions teams to work orientation and assist them with their welcome week activities. During the first full week of school, we start our “First Four” events. We pack an extreme amount of effort, spend a lot of dollars, and host more intentional events during these weeks than at any other time of the school year! Already this year we have hosted or assisted with over twenty intentional events that have reached over five hundred students. We have hosted yard parties, kickball, Baggo tournaments, and beach parties, among other things to make connections and gather contacts so that we can engage students and work to set up Gospel appointments in hopes of reaching these students with the Gospel and getting them involved in discipleship with our ministry.
Our ministry is not the only one that puts out this sort of effort. Baptist Collegiate Ministries across our state have worked diligently over the last few weeks hosting dozens of events that have reached over 7,000 students on Arkansas campuses! Our BCM ministries have had over 700 individual Gospel conversations and have seen more than 10 individuals commit to follow Christ and begin the process of discipleship. We are extremely grateful for the opportunities that the Lord has blessed us with across our state in these first few weeks. Each event we host or Bible study we conduct carries with it a Kingdom purpose and every one of them matter.
There is still a lot of this fall semester left to make continued impact, and we covet your prayers. If you have or someone you know has a student on any campus here in Arkansas or another state, we would love to help get them connected to a Baptist Collegiate Ministry serving on that campus!