FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Spring break for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students might be a break from school, but it’s not a break from ministry. And more than 100 churches and 900 people who made decisions for Christ, including 206 who made professions of faith, are grateful.
Nearly 150 students from the Fort Worth, Texas, seminary took the gospel across the United States and to the Caribbean March 15-20 ministering to people in all walks of life through revivals, inner-city outreach and drama and music ministries.
In its 40th year, the spring evangelism practicum sent 86 students to lead revivals in 102 churches in 26 states and three Caribbean islands. The practicum sends students to small churches outside the Bible Belt that might not otherwise be able to hold revival services.
Eric Reese, a master of divinity student from Texas and recipient of the practicum’s annual Todd Riza compassion award, preached in Grenada and St. Vincent. On the last night Reese preached, he met a 66-year-old man who said he was tired of church.
“On the last invitation,” Reese recounted, “I was praying for this guy. I said, `God, Charlie needs Jesus.'”
Reese said that as he was about to turn around, he saw the man stand up.
“He said, `I want to get saved,'” Reese said, recalling the emotions he felt as the man gave his life to Christ.
Rafael Rondon, a master of divinity student, led a revival at his home church of Iglesia Bautista in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. In the audience during one service, he said, he saw a man he had known growing up in Puerto Rico who had been in prison for attempted murder and drug dealing.
When Rondon gave the invitation, the man came forward and shared that he had been released from prison the day before and realized he needed Christ in order to change his life, Rondon said.
“I learned that no matter what I do it’s God that does the work. I just need to be available for him,” Rondon said.
The spring evangelism practicum began as just a class for some but proved to be a life-changing event.
Michael Stewart, a diploma student from Texas, with an emotion-filled voice, admitted he had never led anyone to Christ before spring break.
“But God changed all that,” he rejoiced.
He shared how God used him to lead a young exchange student from Hungary to the Lord in Bethel Baptist Church in Billings, Mont.
“God’s hand is in this, not ours,” Stewart said.
Thirty-seven students headed for Florida to do inner-city ministry in Miami and Leesburg as part of courses offered by the school of educational ministries social-based ministry department.
Twenty students ministered in Miami’s multicultural environment, while the rest ministered in the central Florida city of Leesburg..
Susanna Bell, a master of arts in church and community ministry student from Alabama, was with a group who spent the first day assisting in a homeless ministry in downtown Miami.
“God taught me that I have so much and have been so blessed,” Bell said. “He also taught me how much I have to give, not just materially but how much I have to give of me.”
The group also helped at Touching Miami with Love, an after-school program in Overtown, a neighborhood considered to be one of the most dangerous in Miami. Chris Wibberg, a master of church and community ministry student from Missouri, said she was touched by how the city has allowed the ministry to go into city parks and work with the children.
The group also worked with preschoolers and adults infected with AIDS. They helped in a music therapy class for the children and in a residential treatment center for adults.
Through this experience, Bell learned about God’s love.
“You can never give enough love,” she said. “He always refills you with love. That is what people need, a hug, a handshake, a kind word, a touch.”
She added that the trip was an eye-opening experience.
“God taught me to keep my eyes wide open,” Bell said. “It’s not just in Miami, Fla.; it’s here in Fort Worth. He taught me to keep my eyes open to where the ministry is and where people need to be love and reached out to.”
The group in Leesburg worked with First Baptist Church, which has more than 70 ministries, including a crisis pregnancy center and a men’s rescue mission.
Rob Peavy, a master of church and community ministries student from Florida, said he saw God’s hand at work through the diverse ministries in the church. He noted how God showed him how each person they encountered was a witnessing opportunity.
“It renewed my confidence in the fact that every person we see during the day is an opportunity for a divine appointment,” he said.
Another group of Southwestern students went to Trinidad, a Caribbean island north of Venezuela, to spread the gospel through personal evangelism, music and drama.
The group went into schools and used puppets to teach children about Jesus. Astrid Bent, a master of church and community ministry and a master of arts in communications student, said the children reminded her of her childhood in San Andres, Colombia, an island off the coast of Nicaragua.
“Those children reminded me of myself,” Bent said. “God has a plan for their life just like he had a plan for my life.”
She also learned after seeing the poverty and large number of Hindus on the island that a person’s situation in life is irrelevant in the eyes of God.
“In spite of the circumstances, God can work in their lives for his purpose,” she said.
