Center for Collegiate Ministry: Bringing students to Christ

The Lord has brought the nations to Texas through our college campuses. Baptist Student Ministry reaches college students for Christ, strengthens Christian college students through discipleship and apologetics, and prepares future leaders for the Church.

The Longhorn Baptist Student Ministry (BSM) at The University of Texas (UT) at Austin has found many opportunities to reach students. Marcy Martinez, associate director of the BSM, explained that there was a lot of need for spiritual comfort and ministry.

“There’s a ton of spiritual need. We just put out a sign that said ‘free Bibles and prayer’ and people come walking in,” she said. “The need is there.”

The BSM’s 48-hour prayer tent was one such outreach that drew students closer to the Lord this semester. The event, which takes place annually, is usually held in the center of UT’s campus. However, due to the pandemic, the majority of the event took place in the BSM building in the fall semester of 2020, where students were able to socially distance themselves as they went through the different prayer stations.

Among the event’s participants were two girls who had been reading the Bible with a BSM student. The girls, who were not Christians, were invited to pray, and after a few minutes of praying with BSM members, Martinez said the girls went off on their own and each prayed for a few hours.

“It was the first time either of them, I think, intentionally prayed on their own. So that was a really cool experience,” she said.

The event was mostly student-led, explained Jamie Richardson, an assistant at the BSM. Small groups, called “family groups” each prayerfully considered and planned the stations of the prayer tent.

“Creating a space in the middle of the semester for students to intentionally seek God and petition God for their campus and their neighbors is really pivotal,” Martinez said of the event.