November 12, 2001

Mary Hardin-Baylor students get close-up look at missions
___BELTON--Christians must follow Jesus' leadership and carry the gospel into the world, missionaries told students at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
___Twenty-one missionaries from around the globe participated in the Texas Baptist school's second annual Missionary Emphasis Week this fall.
___Jesus was "the Word Incarnate," God in human flesh, stressed Jimmy Dorrell of the Church Under the Bridge, a ministry to the poor and social outcasts in Waco.
___"'The Word Incarnate' by definition means that Jesus came to live among us," Dorrell explained. "Jesus lived among the lepers, the prostitutes, the poor, the sinners. God called me to get into the middle of the pain."
___About 1.4 billion people live in absolute poverty, he reported, insisting American Christians' typical definition of charity--giving from their "leftovers"--is not what Jesus intended.
___The students need to leave their world of security and demonstrate true charity, which means giving what they value most to the world, Dorrell said.
___Even in school, God can be equipping students for global ministry, Mentanna Campbell told a first-year French class.
___"Isn't French great?" asked Campbell, who with her husband, Scott, serves as a missionary in France.
___"I couldn't speak a word of French when we first arrived. But after being in Paris for two years, God taught me to speak this beautiful language to a people who desperately need to know the Lord."
___The students' direct exposure to missionaries qualified the emphasis week as a success, reported Shawn Shannon, director of Baptist Student Ministries.
___"Students need the exposure to people who are actually serving the Lord on the field--not to hear just mountain-top experiences but to hear what it really means to serve in another country," Shannon said.
___That experience was a highlight for Christy Crothers, a freshman from Moffet.
___"I have only been on short-term trips, and I did not get to talk to many missionaries," said Crothers, who already has participated in mission trips to India, Nepal, Mexico, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
___"These guys really live there for the long term, living it day-in and day-out," she added, noting the emphasis week "opened my eyes and increased my desire to pursue what I believe God has called me to, which is missions."
___Students visited with missionaries after class and during a missions fair and special meals.

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