Hello everyone!

Hello students, alumni, church leaders and friends!

I know some of you have already heard, but there has recently been some news from the Baptist State Convention of NC that involves a restructuring of the organization. This also means some changes for BCM across the state. Baptist Campus Ministry will no longer have any paid staff presence at UNCG or any other schools in North Carolina after December 31st, 2013. The ministry will make the transition to a new model where churches form partnerships to help make disciples on campus. For more information about what this looks like at a statewide level, the article is here.

Many of you have been wondering what this will mean for UNCG BCM in particular. Let me assure you, BCM will still have a presence on campus! The wonderful thing about our ministry is that our purpose is to spread Jesus’ name, so we don’t rely on any individual to keep us going, but work together as a body led by Christ. We’re not slowing down, but in fact gaining momentum as we head toward next fall!

Those of you not on campus may not be aware, but this semester UNCG BCM has started two communities on campus, in Moore-Strong (a dorm) and Jefferson Suites (apartment-style housing). These groups have been meeting on Tuesday nights for Bible study, sharing stories about how God is using us to disciple others, and serving the communities we are in. We believe God is going to do amazing things through these groups as we learn to take the gospel to our campus, instead of waiting for campus to come to us.

In the fall, we plan to launch approximately six new groups, which will soon multiply again! This model means that students are doing the leading, and God has been raising up some amazing leaders in our group! What is incredible is that we were already headed in this direction, but the changes from the convention are confirmation to us that a more student-led focus is where we’re supposed to be.

Many things are in flux at this point, and will be in the following months. Evan will be changing roles, but there will be BSCNC staff assigned to our area to assist our connections with churches, and the ministry will continue when January 1st, 2014 rolls around. BCM will continue as an organization on campus, and we will continue to spread the gospel! Thank you for your prayers and continued support during this time!

-Your UNCG BCM Staff

Hey guys! I am so excited about all of the stories I’ve been hearing lately from Jefferson as well as all of the awesome things I’ve gotten to experience here at Moore/Strong! I know next Tuesday night will be a night full of amazing stories of what God is doing on this campus in these two dorm buildings. And the best part about all of this? It’s just the beginning! Many more groups are to come in the fall! So that means we have two more weeks to love on these places in ways we never thought possible. Remember the urgency of the gospel.

We are also having an awesome weekend here at Spring Conference! Our very own Rachel Tesh is now the state team leader for Fall Convention 2014! So you guys had better be there! Tim Brown, Christa Duncan and Victoria McLain will be commissioned tonight for Summer Missions as well. Let’s be in prayer for them as they go out into world with the Gospel this summer! Evan even made a new friend, who was an owl named Twitter. All in all, it’s been a great experience this weekend and I am so glad I got to be a part of the state team who planned the conference and thanks to all who made it out!

Big stuff on the way here at UNCG, as well! We are coming back together at the ACM building this week at 7pm to share stories about what we’ve been doing within our campus communities. Come ready with your stories and with ideas on what we can do next! Be praying about what God will do next. It involves you!

- Logan

In case you haven’t heard, we’re multiplying BCM. We’re moving out of our bubble and we’re going out to the campus.

We are moving out to multiply locations on this campus and most of all, multiply disciples.

Here’s a sneak peek of what to expect on March 26th when we go to our Campus Communities:

First, let’s take a look at Jefferson. This is where our apartment and off-campus student community will meet on the 26^th:

Look for Tim, Danielle and Rachel to let you in to the building and all of the other folks from this community before 7pm at this back entrance:

And now to my home, sweet home, Moore-Strong:

Look for me, Victoria, Christa and all of our other awesome dorm students outside the dorm to let you in. On a nice sunny day, meet us out at the picnic tables out front:

On a not so nice and rainy Tuesday, meet us here at this entrance which is on the right side when facing the building:

From there we will go up the stairs to the 3^rd floor suites where I live and then go down the hallway to this room:

It really has a nice-upper room kind of feel to it. I’m working on getting chairs for the room, but feel free to bring pillows, bean bag chairs or any kind of easily portable thing to sit on.

Come with stories, come with prayerful hearts and open minds, come with a Bible, come with another believer. Come and be a part of something amazing that God is doing on this campus. We are in the “hipster stage” of our multiplications process. We’re multiplying before it’s mainstream. This is just the beginning! Get excited!

-Logan

So far, we’ve spent the semester talking about discipleship, and going through the book Multiply. It’s all about disciples making disciples making disciples, right? A few weeks ago, we talked about the light hidden under a bowl (Luke 11:33) and it made us wonder, is the ACM building our bowl? Are we hiding our light from the campus because we feel safer gathering in a place where it’s unlikely we’ll run into non-believers?

We believe that God has placed each and every one of us on this campus for a reason. We’re not satisfied to meet every week in a room isolated from the twenty thousand students who need to know Jesus. They’re not going to come to us in room 214, so we’re going to have to go to them.

That’s why, starting two weeks after Spring Break, we’re multiplying our Tuesday night session into two Campus Communities! We’re sending you out on campus, to Moore-Strong and Jefferson Suites. You may have already seen #bcmMoStro and #bcmJefferson on twitter. Which group you are a part of will depend on where you live. There are more details below, but we’re trying to keep you close to where you live. The idea is to become invested in the community around you. These groups will also be a great place to invite a friend who might not be willing to walk into the ACM building, but would walk across the street to another dorm.

The groups will look like this:

• Moore/Strong includes people who live in Cone, Grogan, Guilford, Mary Foust, North/South Spencer, Moore/Strong, Phillips/Hawkins, the Quad (Shaw, Bailey, Coit, Cotten, Gray, Hinshaw, Jamison), Ragsdale/Mendenhall and Weil/Winfield.
• Jefferson includes people who live in Jefferson, Lofts on Lee, Spring Garden Apartments, Tower Village, and those who live off-campus* (either in nearby off-campus housing or commuting).
• * There will be some exceptions, but if you have any questions, talk to someone or email us at uncgbcm@gmail.com.

Don’t worry though, you’re still going to see the people from the other end of campus. We’re going to come back together every three weeks to celebrate what God is doing in our groups and on campus. For the rest of this semester, the schedule will go like this:

• March 19th - we’ll still meet together in the ACM building. (First week after Spring Break.)
• March 26th - Campus Communities
• April 2 - Campus Communities
• April 9 - we’ll come back together at the ACM building. As a happy coincidence, this is Shine a Light on Slavery Day.
• April 16th - Campus Communities
• April 23rd - Campus Communities
• April 30th - this is the last day of classes. We’ll come back together for one last Tuesday night.

I’m sure you’re wondering, “What are these groups going to do?” The answer is, pretty much what we’ve already been doing this semester. We’re going to talk about how God has been helping us disciple people. We’re going to share life. We’re going to study scripture. We’re going to pray together. In addition, we’re going to start figuring out ways we can serve the community God has placed us in.

One of the main differences is that Campus Communities will be student-led. This semester has been all about rising up as disciplers, and we believe that all of you are capable of teaching what you’ve been taught. Another difference is that they will probably be smaller at first. This has the advantage of giving more people the opportunity to share and for us to really get to know one another. Don’t think of it as division, think of it as multiplication. Wouldn’t it be awesome if we invited so many people to these groups that eventually they had to multiply into four new groups!?

As a matter of fact, that’s the vision. We’re dreaming of a day when there is a Campus Community in every dorm on campus, and then those groups get too big and we have to multiply again, until there is a discipling group on every floor of every dorm on campus. We believe God can do it, and right now we’re asking you to trust Him and dream with us. Continue to pray as we take this next step.

Hey peeps!

It’s about that time again: Spring Conference is coming soon!

What is Spring Conference?

It’s the spring semester gathering of the statewide Baptist Campus Ministry. That means there will be students from universities all over North Carolina, and we’ll be worshiping and learning with them!

Throughout the weekend, there will be speakers and breakout sessions (chances for you to pick something that interests you). Everything is centered around the idea of leadership, and this year’s theme of “Rooted in Christ.”

When? Where?

This year’s conference is on April 5-7, and is held at Caraway Conference Center, just outside of Asheboro.

Okay, I’m interested. What do I do?

First of all, get your name on our email list, here!

The total cost of the conference is $69. This includes your room,and meals for the weekend (all day Saturday and breakfast Sunday), as well as the conference itself. A $20 deposit is due to us by March 19th. That’s the Tuesday after we come back from Spring Break.

After that, we’ll have more details as we sort out times for leaving UNCG on Friday, etc.

Let us know if you have any questions, and we hope to see you there!

In Matthew 5, Jesus told us, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” We know that the gospel is good news of freedom for all people. Here are a few ways we’re working to shine that truth:

Summer Missions

This summer, three of us will be heading out of North Carolina to serve as missionaries through the statewide BCM!

Christa will be traveling with Deep Impact, leading worship at youth camps across the country and even internationally!

Tim B. will be headed to Ocean City, Maryland to serve in resort ministry!

and Victoria is going to Waco, Texas for inner-city ministry. She is the third student from UNCG to be sent to Waco!

Although summer seems like a long time away, it will get here really quickly. In the coming months, we’ll be raising funds to help send students from across North Carolina on summer missions, and continue to pray for what God wants to do this summer.

Don’t forget, though, that we are called to make disciples wherever we go, so we’re all meant to be on mission this summer. As May approaches, tell us if your summer plans are taking you on mission locally or elsewhere, in the form of a job, internship, or other experience. It could take the form of serving in your church or just ministering to your co-workers. If you think you’re on mission, then you are. Let us know so we can pray for you and support you in other ways.

END IT Movement

END IT is all about shining a light on slavery. Christ calls us to bring hope to the hopeless, and those victimized by human trafficking are some of the most hopeless. Help us continue to spread the word, and put a few dates on your calendar:

February 27th – Disappear for a Day on Social Media

March 26-27th – Stand for the 27 million: In honor of the 27 million slaves on the planet today, we’ll be standing for 27 hours across campus. This event is a combined effort including Campus Crusade and other groups.

April 9th – Shine a Light on Slavery Day: A day dedicated specifically to awareness and telling everyone you know that slavery is not okay.

There will be more info about these events as the dates get closer. You can also check out enditmovement.com for more ways to get involved. They have digital tool kits for social media (including profile pictures and banners), and the Action Kit including stickers, buttons, stencils, posters, rave cards and more are only $10, and proceeds support END IT.

Thank you to everyone who has already jumped on board and is helping us shine a light on slavery!

I hear the expression, “God won’t give you what you can’t handle,” a lot. That’s total garbage.

From the time we were little kids in Sunday school we glorify and put up our favorite Bible story characters on their own pedestals. David stood up to the giant Goliath and killed with a head shot. Paul changed the world as he spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Think of any of your favorite Bible stories growing up and chances are, there’s only one main character.

We’re leaving out the supporting cast.

Take Priscilla and Aquila for example. These two were the earliest missionary couple in church history. They were former Jews who were expelled from Rome and eventually joined Paul at the church in Corinth. Paul lived with the couple for roughly 18 months, and when he left for Syria, Priscilla and Aquila joined him and accompanied him to the church in Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla are known for being great teachers within the early Church. Acts 18 records that the couple taught the evangelist Apollos “more adequately” in the ways of God. Priscilla and Aquila are just an example of people working together along with Paul and the local churches in Corinth and Ephesus. This was just one example of the way the local church worked together in community. The idea of community goes back to the beginning.

We all know about the Genesis story, God makes everything, including Adam. But God notices Adam is a little lonely. Adam doesn’t realize he is alone because he has no prior standard of community. But God Himself is in community as the Trinity. God wanted community for us. He didn’t want us to be alone. So God created Adam’s “help-meet,” Eve.

We were not meant to be alone. Being created in God’s image means that we are also created for the purpose of community. God created us to have community. God created the local church.

To go back to my opening line, God does give us more than we can handle. If we could handle everything, there is no need for the local church. There’s no reliance on the church or God at all. So remember God created you for the community. Don’t be the hero.

I can’t believe we’re three weeks into the semester; I’m so grateful for everything God is already doing! Here’s a glimpse:

Tuesday nights

Thank you to everyone who has been working hard to make Tuesday nights go smoothly, and to everyone who has been coming out! For me, the best part of this semester is getting to hear everyone’s stories about what God is doing in and around us. I hope this time will challenge us to move forward as we continue learning what discipleship looks like.

Remember that you can get the Multiply book from us, or read it online (for free!) at multiplymovement.com. Like Logan said last week: there’s no excuse for you to wait around for someone to spoon feed you. I hope Tuesday night is a tool for discipleship, but also that you’ll take an active role in being discipled. If you’re just now getting started, so far we’ve covered the first three chapters.

Burmese tutoring

Last week there was some confusion, but Burmese tutoring will start THIS Thursday (Jan. 31^st), and will go from 6:20 to 8pm upstairs in the ACM. This is a great opportunity to serve! Don’t count yourself out because you aren’t a teaching major or because you’re not good at X, Y or Z; we have students of all different ages and with all different needs. What a testimony to them that we are willing to sacrifice our time and our comfort to serve them! See you there!

Summer Missions

Last weekend, several people from BCM interviewed for summer missions positions through the statewide BCM. Soon they’ll be finding out whether they’re serving locally in N.C., somewhere in the U.S., or even internationally! I hope you’ll pray with us throughout the semester as they prepare for what God is going to do this summer.

I’m praying for you all as the semester hits in full swing, and as God starts doing some amazing things through the people in our ministry. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Andria

So apparently the whole fish nearly dying because I cut open their bag and dropped on the floor thing was a big hit last night. But you want to know what my favorite part was? The stories.

Well before I talked about the urgency of the Great Commission, Danielle and Mirra shared stories of living out this calling with urgency. Stories of reconciliation and forgiveness and love and acceptance. These stories didn’t have any catchy gimmicks or funny hooks for attention, but Jesus was never about flash. John the Baptist who spoke of Jesus’ arrival wore camel skins and ate locusts. Nobody went to him because of his charm and manners. Last night was not about me. It is completely about what you did today, what you are going to do tonight, this week and for the rest of your lives! Discipleship is not some sermon series BCM is doing for the semester, it’s what Christians do for their entire lives. So as surprising and shocking as my methods were yesterday to get your attention, keep in mind what Jesus said in Luke 9:57-62. The dog eating your homework might have been an excuse to get out of a bad grade, but there is no excuse for not giving people life. Discipleship in action isn’t cushy and easy, it’s tough, but it’s worth giving others that life that we have received! Batman the fish died today, don’t let someone you know die, too.