Students worship during an Arkansas Tech University BCM event. (Submitted)
LITTLE ROCK – Revival is happening on college campuses across the nation, including in Arkansas.
At Ohio State University a revival, led by members of the school’s football team, broke out in August with hundreds of college students showing deep hunger for God. In all, 62 students responded to the altar call and were baptized in large tanks of water.
In Texas, more than 120 people were reportedly baptized during a recent revival event on the Corpus Christi campus of Texas A&M University.
“God is up to something on the college campus,” said Warren Gasaway, Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) Evangelism + Church Health team leader. “When you think about the record number of freshmen that have come to our Arkansas BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) ministries and the salvations we have seen to start, it’s just clear that God is up to something.”
At Arkansas Tech University (ATU), BCM Campus Minister Adam McCampbell said the first two weeks have been amazing.
“The atmosphere felt great. I really felt the Holy Spirit fill the room. Our leaders mingled super well and engaged all the students. They have been excited to do follow-up as well,” he said. At ATU, they hosted a BCM Luau the first week with food provided by Central North Little Rock’s Grill Ministry. The second week, Chris Russell from Second Baptist Russellville spoke at their worship service.
In attendance, McCampbell said they had 120 students the first week and 100 the second week. They have seen around eight professions of faith so far this year. Their goal for this semester is to engage 50 students in one-on-one discipleship.
McCampbell said it has been amazing to see God use students on the campus of Arkansas Tech. He shared about one of their sophomore girls, Aston, who on the second week of classes sat down to have a Gospel appointment with a freshman girl. Gospel appointments are meet ups they schedule to get to know new students, share their story, and share the Gospel.
“Ashton had never shared the Gospel until last semester at Beach Reach, our spring break mission trip. She was ready this semester. At her very first Gospel appointment she used the material we recommend using for Gospel appointments, and the freshman girl gave her life to Christ,” McCampbell said. “Now Ashton is beginning to meet with her each week to disciple her.”
McCampbell said they are currently working on setting up around 42 of their new students in a one-on-one discipleship relationship. Each of these relationships begin from a Gospel appointment.
“We cannot wait to see what God does through these as He continues to work through the students at Arkansas Tech,” he said. “This is my third year here and when we started, we only had 10 students and no place to meet. Now we meet at Second Baptist every week. Last year, we averaged around 60 students and this semester a little over 100 students.”
God’s been moving at Conway BCM, too. They have had record numbers this semester and in the last four weeks have seen 10 salvations – at least one every week.
Over at the Little Rock Metro BCM, Campus Minister Matt Stubbs said over the last few weeks they have had between 70 and 80 students attend each week, and they have had three salvations.
“The atmosphere is amazing right now, as our students are doing a phenomenal job of making everyone feel loved and welcomed when they walk through the door,” Stubbs said. “We anticipate this amount of people staying consistent or possibly growing for the rest of the semester, as we have had more people come each week. God is doing a mighty work on our campus, and the churches around us have been such a great support. We want to see people come to know Jesus through BCM… and through His providence, that has happened.”
At University of Arkansas Monticello (UAM), Campus Minister Jeremy Woodall said their first Encounter service of the semester was an incredible time, noting they ran out of chairs and students brought milk crates in to sit on.
This year, the UAM BCM moved their meetings back on campus for the first time since 2021.
“We have outgrown the capacity of our building, so we are meeting at our athletics conference room right across from our building at the indoor practice facility on campus,” Woodall said. “We had over 100 students present with a total of 117 students, faculty, staff, and adult volunteers.”
Woodall said they had five students indicate a desire to know more about following Jesus and over 25 indicate they would like to know more about local churches.
“Follow up with those students has been great,” he said.
At University of Arkansas Fort Smith (UAFS) BCM Campus Minister Luke Dawson said it has “been an incredible start to the semester.”
Dawson shared about a freshman at UAFS, Kris, who came to their first BCM worship service on Aug. 27, the week after school started. During that service, she realized her need for Christ and decided to commit her life to Jesus. She was immediately plugged into one of the BCM’s newly formed discipleship groups made specifically for incoming freshmen and is being led by members of the BCM’s student leadership team. In just three weeks, she found salvation, discipleship, community, and is getting plugged into a local church.
UAFS BCM had 60 newcomers its first two nights who had never been to a BCM event before. Dawson said they got over 30 freshmen plugged into discipleship relationships with BCM student leadership.
“I really think this generation is just hungry for the things of God. I think, maybe more than I have ever seen in young people today, they desire to have discipleship, to have accountability, to have those meaningful, lasting relationships, and to talk about spiritual things even with people outside of our ministry,” Dawson said. “Thank you, Arkansas Baptists, for supporting the work of collegiate ministry on our campuses.”
Gasaway touted the BCM campus ministers spread across Arkansas, sharing the Gospel on campus.
“God has given some great young leaders who love the Lord, love His church and want to reach students for His glory,” Gasaway said. “They consider the campus as a mission field and act as missionaries on that campus. They are very engaged in that ministry, and we are excited to have them.”
To learn more about BCMs in Arkansas, click here. Folks can show support for BCMs through encouragement, prayer and resources, as well as engaging, seeking involvement and having a great desire for a movement of God.
