Having fun on the warm, white-sand beaches of the Gulf Coast was a top priority for many Alabama college students over spring break. But 23 students from the University of Mobile (UM) had a different plan — to blitz chilly Kent Island, Md., with the love of Christ.
According to Jeff Pearson, pastor and co-church planter of The Bridge, Stevensville, Md., the year-old church plant the students partnered with, they could hardly have come to an area with a greater need: 95 percent of the island’s residents don’t attend an evangelical church.
“It was neat to see a huge mission field in our own country on that one little island,” said UM sophomore Stephanie Barnes.
The idea for The Bridge began when David Orr, pastor of Weems Creek Baptist Church, Annapolis, Md., and his congregation saw a desperate need for a church plant to evangelize Kent Island.
After spending more than three years in prayer, they were thrilled when God sent them Pearson — just the church planter they had been looking for.
“They knew what was needed here was an out-of-the-box approach,” said Pearson, who spent 12 years in the corporate world before being called to ministry.
“I’ve got a standing invitation to the Southern Baptist world: if you’ve got a missions team, come. We’ve got a heart to plug Christ into the community and get Him outside the walls of the church,” Pearson said.
That’s exactly what the students from UM helped The Bridge do. The missions effort was the first of the UM Campus Ministries’ trips to use a new format that will have them take a trip one year later to the same place.
UM students performed contemporary Christian music and interacted with members of the Kent Island community at an impressive assortment of venues. These included a flower boutique, gas stations, restaurants, an ice cream shop, a super market and even a liquor store.
“We wanted to reach people where they are with the love of Christ,” Pearson explained.
People’s interest in the band translated to interest in the church.
“The week they were here, we had four new families visit the church,” Pearson said. “The week after they left, there were three families, and this past week, we had five new families visit. That’s 12 new families that have come here as a result of that ministry, and in a church plant, that’s phenomenal.”
One morning, the UM group even woke up at 4 a.m. to join Pearson in his weekly ministry at the docks of Chesapeake Bay.
They served breakfast to, played music for and prayed with the watermen who were getting ready to begin their day.
The UM team was composed of two small bands that played at different places and two service teams that traveled with the bands, passing out fliers and DVDs about The Bridge, speaking with people about the church and sharing Christ and praying with them.
The bands combined, forming one large band, to play two major concerts, one at Kent Island High School and one at Matapeake Elementary School, both located in Stevensville.
Students were eager to brave the cold so they could “take contemporary Christian music and use it as a medium to take a relevant and culturally significant message to a people who see church and faith as archaic,” said Justin Orr, one of the trip’s UM student leaders and son of David Orr.
Pearson was impressed with the students’ determination.
“The University of Mobile students were world-class musicians and missionaries. Their heart was enormous,” he said. “Not only did they press on, they did it with giant smiles, engaging hearts and an incredible enthusiasm.”
UM freshman Kennedy Mulinge was encouraged by people’s positive reactions.
“When we were talking to people, we thought that they may reject it, but God had walked before us and made their heart to be softer, so we were able to tell them about the church, tell them about Christ, and God used us as His vessels,” he said.
UM freshman Sarah Beth Shepherd added, “It was really neat to see the impact we were able to have. God showed favor on us. It was so exciting to depend on the Lord and see how He was working.”
The trip especially emphasized the importance of North American missions to the students.
“A lot of people on Kent Island hadn’t heard of Jesus. It’s kind of shocking because I didn’t expect that. I definitely think missions is something we should be doing as a day-to-day thing,” said UM sophomore Matt Davis. “It shouldn’t be about a weekend trip, or a week trip, for us to be doing mission work.” (UM)
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