 |
 |
CRYSTAL WOOD of Texas Tech changes the oil in a van used by CityChuch in Amarillo. Baptist students working at the church during spring break did a variety of jobs--including cleaning and vehicle maintenance--to help the inner-city congregation.
|
APRIL GIBSON of Texas Tech sweeps floors at CityChurch in Amarillo. |
Many traveled across the state,
but experienced different world
___By Laura Cadena
___BGCT Student Ministry
___The mission field was as close as Austin and as far away as Amarillo.
___But for most university students giving their spring breaks as volunteer missionaries, it might as well have been half way around the world.
 |
HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS pose in the Texas House of Representatives chamber.
|
___Baptist students from 10 Texas universities spent the week meeting some of the state's poorest residents face-to-face as they worked in public housing projects in Austin, Amarillo and San Antonio.
___At the Rosewood Courts apartments, situated just a few blocks away from the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, Hardin-Simmons University students held daily craft sessions and chalk talks with children to convey biblical teachings. Many students commented how unbelievable it was that such an impoverished housing community stood just a few blocks away from one of the largest universities in the world.
___The area, where drug busts are common, came alive as the university students played outside with the children.
 |
ROBIN DICKENS helps children with a craft project.
|
___Some of the students were veteran volunteer missionaries, but others were first-timers.
___"I had no clue what I was getting into," said Christina Parker, a sophomore. "I didn't really realize I was going to have to entertain them. I didn't know how I was going to explain to a 2-year-old who Jesus is."
___Students found joy in showing neighborhood children the love of Jesus.
___"People like us come and spend time with them, we love them and let them climb on us, throw dirt and rocks at us," said Ben Clark, intern associate with the Baptist Student Ministry at Hardin-Simmons..
___"Not only do we help the little kids, we also help ourselves by doing what God wants
 |
NEIGHBORHOOD boys help rinse off a wall where Hardin-Simmons students had drawn a Christian message in chalk.
|
us to do," said sophomore Rachel Spenst. "I have grown in my relationship with (God) this week; it has taken all of his strength to not do things or to do and say things I need to do."
___"I have never come on a mission trip and learned less than I teach the kids," added senior Julie Crain. "Even when I was watching the Veggie Tales last night, so much of it applied to my life I was thinking, 'God is speaking to me through Veggie Tales.'"
___The Hardin-Simmons students also spent time learning about state government, including classroom sessions inside the Capitol.
___This unique blend of academic learning and textbook learning illustrates the creative approach Texas Baptists take toward missions action and education, said Brenda Sanders, student missions coordinator for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___"The Hardin-Simmons group in the shadows of the Capitol saw the very need for those in Austin and were given avenues of how they they could help the impoverished not only through meeting their physical need but by being a Christian involved in politics to change the laws that affect the impoverished," she said.
___In Amarillo, students from Texas Tech worked with CityChurch to minister to the Panhandle city's urban kids.
___In San Antonio, 100 students from Texas and Oklahoma held sports clinics and backyard Bible clubs for 400 children living in area housing projects.
___By the end of the week, 91 children had accepted Christ as Savior.
 |
 |
SPRING BREAK partiers on South Padre Island flock to a free e-mail booth sponsored by Beach Reach, the Baptist ministry that has operated on the island for 20 years. (Photos by BGCT student ministries staff)
|
FRANK MORALES of the University of Texas Pan American talks with a young girl at a sports camp put on by the Baptist students. |
___
Send this story to a friend
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!