For almost six decades, the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) office of collegiate and student ministries has been sending college students on a summer missionary pilgrimage. And April 6, this summer’s students were commissioned during a service at Birmingham’s Lakeside Baptist Church.
The 94 students who were commissioned will serve in Alabama, the United States and in other countries.
According to Scotty Goldman, an associate in the office of collegiate ministries, these short-term missionaries are continuing a long-standing tradition with college students from Alabama.
“College students from Samford University, the University of Mobile and Judson College, along with students from 14 four-year universities and colleges and 18 community colleges, are continuing a tradition that many of their parents participated in,” he said.
Goldman said that of the 94 summer missionaries, 88 were appointed through the Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM) and the other 14 applied directly through the International Mission Board (IMB) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB).
Alabama Baptist State Convention president and pastor of Lakeside, Mike McLemore, delivered the service’s message about “five reasons why they go and we stay.” It was directed as much to the parents as it was to the students. His text was the third chapter of 1 John, and he assured parents and students that God’s protection and guidance would sustain the students in their missions journey.
“Every person walking on this globe needs to know that they are loved,” he said. He pointed out that never did Jesus speak the words “I love you” with His lips. “The reason was that Jesus demonstrated His love to others. Everything Jesus did during His life was love in action.”
The summer missionaries have already been active raising their own financial support since no funds are allocated for them either at the state or national levels.
“Summer missions is unique in that it is students sending students,” Goldman said, explaining that many of the schools’ BCMs have impressive fund-raisers to support their summer missionaries.
Then the young adults anxiously wait to hear from the SBOM to see if they have been selected to fill summer missionary positions.
Although almost all applicants are accepted as summer missionaries, Goldman said that the decision for those appointed through the BCM is heavily influenced by the input of the Baptist campus minister.
Goldman said the students do not know where they will be assigned until they attend a weekend retreat held in February. They are allowed to request three choices where they would like to serve but Goldman points out that sometimes they don’t get their wishes.
“It’s during the weekend retreat in February that we get to spend time with the applicants and get to know them. We evaluate their strengths, gifts and abilities and then we try to match the student to the job,” he explained.
Goldman said the office of collegiate ministries tries to stress the importance of their ministry as the student’s first priority and the location as secondary.
“Occasionally we have some students who are disappointed with their assignment but they almost always come back at the end of the summer and tell us their assignment was the right place for them to serve,” he said.
Although Goldman said that the SBOM is pleased with the number of students who have chosen to dedicate their summers to missions work, he said the number is down slightly from the last few years.
“September 11 has really hurt us,” he said, adding that parents are somewhat leery of having their kids travel and be far away from home.
For parents Felicia and Allan Butts, they will have twice the worry for their two children, both University of Mobile students who are serving as summer missionaries. Their freshman daughter Elizabeth will be going to Arizona, while their sophomore son John will be working in Ohio.
“Yes, of course we have some concern about their safety, but we’ve sat down and talked to them and we feel secure in them going,” said Allan. “John served in Washington, D.C., last year and he had a wonderful experience. His enthusiasm caught on with Elizabeth and they both wanted to serve this year,” he explained.
The commissioning service was the conclusion of the April 5 weekend orientation in which the summer missionaries participated. Students chose from seven seminar topics that would strengthen their skills and their evangelism approaches. The choices ranged from inner-city missions to teaching Vacation Bible School and working with children to resort missions and relationships on the field.
Some of the students will be assisting missionaries who have requested summer help.
For several years a team of students has traveled to Wales to help out a missionary with a backpacking ministry he organizes during the summer.
And while one student will be helping to design Web pages for churches, another will be serving as a chaplain in a North Carolina state park.
Others will be working with senior adult ministries, assisting revival teams and conducting sports camps. One team of students will be going to Louisiana to work with homeless people.
Ahmad Jones, a senior at the University of South Alabama, will work with sports evangelism in a major city in Venezuela. “Last year I decided on the spur of the moment to take a class in Spanish,” the Birmingham native and member of Sardis Missionary Baptist Church said. “God had a plan for me to use my Spanish,” he added.
Jones, a 23-year-old economics and philosophy major, said that he developed a close friendship with a fellow student at the BCM, David Counselman, who was majoring in Spanish. “Before I ever even thought about serving as a summer missionary, David and I would work on our Spanish together almost every day, just for the fun of it. I felt this urgency to learn it,” he said. “I didn’t know at the time what God had in store for me.”
Livingston 47-year-old fills student missionary role
David Smelser wasn’t surprised that some of his fellow summer missionaries referred to him as “Mr. David” and “Sir” at the weekend orientation. They also looked puzzled when they realized he wasn’t one of the program presenters. He was expecting it.
That’s because Smelser doesn’t look like your typical collegiate summer missionary.
He is a 47-year-old graduate student attending the University of West Alabama who has decided at midlife to make a career change.
A former career chaplain who holds a master of divinity degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Smelser decided he wanted to switch gears and acquire a master of arts degree with a history major so he could teach at a community college and still pursue his ministerial goals. “This way I can also be a bivocational pastor and I wouldn’t be leaving the ministry but just broadening it,” he said.
Smelser said he wanted to do something different this summer and started considering summer missions. He discussed the possibility with the campus minister at the University of West Alabama, Bruce Gentry, and asked him to inquire on any age restrictions. Gentry came back with the good news that anyone could apply as long as they were attending school. “I was encouraged to apply,” he said.
An active member of First Baptist Church, Livingston, Smelser said he has been assigned to work with the International Seafarers Ministry in Charleston, S.C. He will have a myriad of duties including transporting seamen into town for supplies and shopping trips. The Mobile native said he worked near the docks during his youth growing up in the port city and that he’s comfortable around seamen.
“This was a good fit for me. I’m looking forward to the experience and I hope to make an impact during my three months as a summer missionary,” he said.
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