Across our state, collegians are wrapping up a semester and year of study by taking finals. This is one of the more exciting times of the year for these students as they get a much-needed break. For those that are graduating, this is the pinnacle of their time in undergraduate and graduate studies and is the launching point for their future work.
As the spring semester draws to a close, our Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) have been utilizing this time to look forward with hope to the future. Our campus ministers have spent the year training current leaders and identifying future leaders to join in on the mission of God for our ministries on our campuses.
Every year in April, we at the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) BCM, or “Weevil BCM,” as we like to call ourselves, utilize our time after spring break to begin training and planning with our current and prospective leaders for the next year of ministry as we seek to finish well for the current year. This year we took 14 students through this leadership training. Five returning students and nine first time students comprised this group.
Our time of training culminates in our annual commissioning service. On this night we honor the graduates that have been a part of our ministry. We invite them to bring their families and friends to help us celebrate this great accomplishment. We introduce our leadership for the upcoming year and recognize students that will be serving through summer internships, mission opportunities, and summer camps.
The main purpose of this evening and time of commissioning is to remind our graduates that they are being sent out from our ministry into the world and whatever is next to take the things they have learned and put them to work. Equipped by the power of the Spirit of the living God and the power of the Gospel, we encourage them to continue to live on mission with God. We also want to honor and thank them for a job well done in their time here at UAM.
For our future leaders and summer missionaries this time of commissioning is a time to encourage, pray for, inspire, and empower them as they seek to make the best use of their summers to rest, be restored, serve, and continue to pursue Jesus, be changed by Jesus, and live on mission with Jesus.
Overall, 27 students were commissioned by UAM BCM during this year’s commissioning service. This is part of a collective group of more than 300 students in the state being commissioned and sent out on mission by our BCM campus ministries this summer.
Our prayer is that their time on our campuses and their time being involved in our ministries equips them more as servants, missionaries, and church members.
Will you pray for them?