By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (LBM) – Sixty-three members of the LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry took trips to Florida, Hawaii, Utah and the country of Columbia over the spring break to offer the gift of salvation.
During the March 6-15 evangelistic outreaches, they witnessed a mighty movement of the Holy Spirit in a variety of ministry opportunities in which they participated, according to LSU BCM Director Blake Grundy
By the end of the mission trips, the teams collectively engaged in 731 Gospel conversations and saw 71 of those come to faith in Christ.
IMPACTFUL
Forty-two students traveled to Honolulu to assist students from the BCM with the University of Hawaii-Manoa with evangelism, yard work at a conference center of a local church and property maintenance at Pu`u Kahea Conference Center in Waianae (the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention’s camp).
Another 15 students traveled to Panama City, Florida, to share the Gospel with individuals along the beach. Additionally, four students shared the Gospel to Mormons in Utah and two others assisted with a marriage retreat in Columbia.
Grundy led the team in Panama City and was inspired by students who went from apprehensive about sharing their faith to leading tourists to a relationship with the Lord.
“Some students who are really good at outreach and sharing their faith on campus were shy at first in Panama City,” he said. “They felt there were not gifted in witnessing to someone, but what they learned is that they’re able.
“They learned how to share their story and stepped out of their comfort zone,” he continued. “It’s a good lesson that we all should not be afraid to not do the most comfortable thing but instead be obedient and see what the Lord does.”
Larkin Harris, minister of college students and senior adults at First Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, has led students on a mission trip to Hawaii for the past 15 years (though the LSU BCM team did not go to Hawaii during COVID).
When Harris led his first trip there, just 1 percent of students on the campus of the UH-Manoa professed to follow Christ and when they returned this year that number had increased to 3 percent. Harris said he was encouraged by the continuous bold witness of the UH-Manoa students who have continued to share Christ even after the LSU BCM teams returned to their respective campuses each year.
“This generation from Hawaii to Baton Rouge and beyond has a love of serving others and being very evangelistic,” he said. “God is working in the lives of students as He opens their hearts and minds to Him.
“It was cool to see the students from our BCM share the Gospel with others and be there when some of them accepted Christ,” he continued. “That made the trip such a fun one.”
IMPACTED
Connor Chnowski used a wooden hammerhead shark he bought while in Hawaii to lead Isa, a fellow airplane passenger seated next to him, to Christ while on the team’s return flight.
Initially, the two men shared about their lives and then Isa fell asleep. When Isa woke up, he noticed Chnowski was reading his Bible. That lead to a Gospel conversation and Isa accepting Christ.
Chnowski used a wristband he received from his church, Jefferson Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, that contained four symbols representing a part of the Gospel story: heart (God’s love for mankind), division sign (sin and the divide from God), cross (Jesus dying on it for our sins) and question mark (the opportunity to ask if a person knows Christ as their Savior).
“Usually, I like to keep to myself on planes because I don’t want to disturb anybody, but on this plane, I just felt kind of called to talk to him,” he said. “The shark ended up being something that broke the ice and led into a conversation about Jesus.
“When I was buying that shark, it didn’t cross my mind that this would be a great way to share the Gospel,” he said. “I never would have imagined it would be something the Lord would use to lead another person to Him.”
LSU BCM Vice President Molly Harris said God’s sovereignty was evident throughout her trip to Hawaii.
Going into the trip, she was nervous about how her group would serve alongside the members of the UH-Manoa BCM. Yet, God used them mightily, she said, including reaching three campuses who had never been reached by the UH BCM before.
Harris’ most memorable moment was when she conducted a spiritual life survey with a woman named Charity.
“When we got to the question in our spiritual life survey that asked, ‘If you could ask God any question, what would it be?’ she shared that when she had lost her daughter at birth 14 years ago, she left her faith at that time in her life.
“Since then, she has started to explore and return to her faith,” she continued. “We were able to sit there with her, cry with her, encourage her in her faith journey and pray with her.
“While she didn’t profess Christ as her Lord and Savior in that moment, we were able to pass her information on to a local church that will reach out and connect with her,” she said. “This ultimately goes to show God’s plan overall because despite my initial reservations, if we hadn’t had brought a large group, we wouldn’t have been able to go to these unreached campuses, and I wouldn’t have been able to meet Charity.”
Chloe Delahoussaye said a conversation with a girl named Ava reminded her of how the Lord allows others to accomplish things for His Kingdom. During a conversation with Ava, Delahoussaye learned she had questioned her salvation just a few days before. But through that, Delahoussaye was able to reassure Ava that she was a child of God.
“The Lord was able to reach Ava through me,” she said. “After our conversation, she texted me thanking me for everything and how much our conversation meant to her. It really encouraged me to continue to walk in obedience and share my faith.”
Ever since that moment, Delahoussaye has remained “on fire” for Jesus.
“My heart breaks for the lost and I can’t help but go tell people about Jesus on campus,” she said. “My prayer life is so consistent because I was truly able to see the power of prayer and that was a huge struggle for me. I want my fire to stay lit and to continue to pursue the Lord wholeheartedly.
“Your circumstances don’t determine God’s power,” she continued. “He can use you through every season.”
