BOUNCE students rise to occasion, adapt to share God’s love in storm’s aftermath

A week ago, the BOUNCE week five summer mission team was ready to serve Mora County, New Mexico, assisting with recovery efforts resulting from the 2022 Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire and post-fire floods. But, recent water contamination and flooding steered them to be a different community’s “answered prayer.”

July 8-13, one hundred middle school through college students were redirected to Claremore, OK, to assist in relief efforts following tornados that blew through the community in early June. 

Missional their entire life

Celebrating its tenth year as a ministry of Texas Baptists, BOUNCE offers student ministry leaders the opportunity to mobilize their middle school, high school and college students to engage in challenging mission service and inspiring times of worship. 

Scott said BOUNCE’s strategy has always been to do things that are going to encourage students to be missional beyond the week.

“As we like to say, we want them to ‘BOUNCE’ back home and find opportunities to be missional their entire life,” said Scott. “That’s why we do worship. Through our worship experience, we’re trying to help them understand the value of mission service to cultivate a love for missions and ministry in their life.”

Doing this to show God’s love

Riley Cooper, another high school senior at Faith Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, said her team was okay with all of the changes and flexibility because they recognized their work was all for God’s glory and none of their own. 

“We don’t think that just because we’re teenagers that we can’t help in all the ways that we could. We’re doing this for God and doing this to show God’s love,” said Cooper.

BOUNCE offers two types of mission opportunities for students: disaster recovery/community rehab and church planting. Student disaster recovery/community rehab opportunities allow students to help rebuild communities and reflect Christ in areas impacted by disasters or where homes are in need of rehabilitation through hands-on construction missions. 

Student church planting opportunities allow students to serve with church plants for significant ministry that not only assists church plants and planters but also cultivates an appreciation and love for church planting in the lives of participants. 

Students also receive training in sharing the gospel, and Scott said his hope is that they would come out of the week able to share with confidence.

Scott extended his gratitude to the BOUNCE supporters in Oklahoma who helped coordinate service projects for the students and to First Baptist Church of Inola for opening up their facilities for students to stay while they assisted with recovery efforts. 

For more information about BOUNCE, visit txb.org/bounce.