JANA GATES (top), a junior at West Texas A&M University, put stickers on shoes during DestiNATIONS. (Photos by Laura Cadena)

DestiNATIONS stretched boundaries of student missions
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--It had the look of a missions conference, but organizers of "DestiNATIONS: A Conclave of Mission Awareness" say it became more.
___"What we heard wasn't the same old, same old," said Brenda Sanders, student missions

DURING DestiNATIONS, Amy Jordan (right), a sophomore at Panola College in Carthage, sorted clothes at Irving Christian Assistance Network.

coordinator for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The focus of the weekend was not on mission needs, she said; it was on knowing and pursuing God. When that happens, "you can't help but join him in what he's doing."
___About 3,000 people met at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas for the four-day conference for college students. It was jointly sponsored by state Baptist conventions and three Southern Baptist bodies--LifeWay Christian Resources, the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board.
___It was "a great experience of cooperation between our Baptist agencies and our state conventions," said Tom Ruane, director of Baptist student ministry for the BGCT. "I don't know that anyone has seen this in a long time.
___"It was a great conference," he said. There was "a lot of emphasis on the students helping the local churches to know their role in world evangelism."
___Students came to the conference from all 50 states, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Italy, Germany and Canada, Ruane said. Texas students made up about one-third of those in attendance.
___In the conference's opening session, worship leader Charlie Hall asked the students to put their hands over their hearts and "cry out for the nations."

JAMIE WATTERS, a sophomore at Lamar University, collected tickets for the moonwalk during a block party at Hidden Village Apartment complex in Irving.

___Jeff Lewis, an evangelist from California, reminded them they were "worshipping the God of all nations, not a tribal deity. ... We are here to draw near unto him and to give him the honor and glory due unto him."
___Then, he added, God will "not allow us to rest until his glory is declared to the ends of the earth."
___Sanders saw many indications the conference touched the lives of students. She said students were "on the floor, on their faces" praying. And "little groups of students came early and prayed."
___In one of the "continent group" break-out sessions, Sanders saw several students sit in a circle listening to one girl tell why she couldn't be used by God. "A fellow student just looked at her and said: 'Those are excuses. You just need to get over that. You just need to go.'" Only a peer could have spoken to the girl in that way, Sanders said.
___In another gathering, she witnessed students circled around missionaries, praying over them. The missionaries then prayed over the students. "It was like a passing of the torch," she said.
___Sparse attendance greeted late-night music events, she said; but it was hard to be disappointed when she realized students were gathered in the spacious foyer praying and talking.
___"This is evidence the Holy Spirit is doing something," Sanders said.
___During DestiNATIONS, Amy Jordan (right), a sophomore at Panola College in Carthage, sorted clothes at Irving Christian Assistance Network while Jana Gates (top), a junior at West Texas A&M University, put stickers on shoes. Jamie Watters (above), a sophomore at Lamar University, collected tickets for the moonwalk during a block party at Hidden Village Apartment complex in Irving. (Photos by Laura Cadena)

The Baptist Standard