Sending Students Around the World, and Around the Block.

This past weekend, I got to spend some time at the annual missions conference at my old church in Murfreesboro, TN.  Nothing motivates me more to get to our assignment at the regional office than telling others about what God is doing.  Most of the time I just tell them with words, a few pictures, and maybe a video.  This time God brought a living, breathing example of what we are seeing God do on campus.  God brought Ginger to the missions conference.

In years past, the Friday night portion of the conference has been a showcase for one of the international missionaries.  But this year they took the time to honor some of the local ministries there in Murfreesboro that the church supports.  One such ministry is “Special Kids,” and outreach to local special needs children.  The representative there at the conference for special kids was Ginger, a product of the Campus Crusade ministry from MTSU.  Ginger was heavily involved with CCC in college, and even spent a year after school doing campus ministry with us in Sweden.  Now she’s working with the PR and marketing wing of the Special Kids ministry.

That’s why I am in ministry, and specifically college ministry.  No other group of people on the planet is as motivated, mobilizable, and ready to reach the world for Christ.  There’s often a misconception in ministry that we only want folks to come on staff with us.  That’s not our heart at all.  Of course, we’d love for students (or at least the ones we like) to join us and work alongside us, but the end goal is not more ministers.  It’s more worshipers.   And folks like Ginger are a true testament to God’s work in the movement at MTSU.

I was so glad to see Ginger using her gifts and talents to continue to reach folks for Christ.  She enables those sweet children to experience the best care and love they could, by her work in marketing for the organization.  As a parent who has spent some time in waiting rooms and surgical recovery rooms with my child, I was brought to the edge of tears during her presentation.

We’re not about having a club on campus.  We’re not about gathering some Christians together to pat each other on the back and compare how big our study Bibles are.  We’re about sending students around the world with the greatest message of hope ever uttered.  And sometimes, after they’ve been around the world with us, God calls them to other amazing ministries, or to the workplace to be a light and a witness there.

Ginger, thanks for reminding me why I do what I do.