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God blessing, challenging MSU’s Baptist Student Union |
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Saturday, 07 November 2009 |
By RUSSELL MORD
For the Daily News
There is a move of God afoot at Mississippi State University, and it may seem to be a quiet one until you enter the Baptist Student Union there.
That’s because, on any given day from August to the following May, the BSU is anything but quiet. The center is filled with activity and students, and it is often filled to capacity. For Michael Ball, BSU director and 23-year campus ministry veteran, the extraordinary growth presents a significant but not insurmountable challenge.
“We are here to help students encounter Christ and have a growing awareness of what He’s doing in their lives,” Ball said. “It’s a biblical challenge for all of us. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. He can make a difference in people’s lives and bring purpose and direction.
“I want to see the BSU become even more effective in reaching individual students. That is a challenge, given the rising student population of both the campus and the BSU.”
For instance, he said, when the present BSU center was built in 1961, MSU had an enrollment of 5,575 students. The campus, obviously, has a much larger enrollment now. Just during the last school year, MSU boasted an enrollment of 17,824 students.
And the BSU’s student population has followed suit. “The BSU has grown to whatever the capacity of the building has been. I don’t know what we could run if we had space, because we are at capacity now,” said Ball.
In 1983, the original structure from 1961 had reached its capacity, so the leadership of that day added on to the building in 1984. Now that additional space is maxed out.
During the lull before the first-week-of-school storm in August, Ball predicted that growth during the 2009-2010 year would supersede that of the previous year. Some meetings last year saw the downstairs meeting room packed with 500 students at a time. There were so many students, in fact, that the BSU leadership requested an inspection to make sure the meetings did not pose a safety risk or code violation.
Numbers from the first few weeks of class have proven Ball’s prediction.
According to Assistant BSU Director June Scoggins, about 560 people attended the first Tuesday night meeting of the year. Subsequent weekly meetings after that saw no less than 450 in attendance.
Scoggins said they pulled out all of the extra folding chairs they had, that students were sitting on the stairway and that there was still standing room only. She said the center is literally “bursting at the seams.”
The great news is that these numbers represent students who are being encouraged in the things of God, Ball said.
During the past eight years that Ball has spent as director of the BSU, he has seen students growing in their relationships with the Lord. They have taken on leadership responsibilities and have participated in local ministries and mission work in Starkville, across the United States and around the world. These students want to multiply the ministry and exalt Christ wherever they go, he said.
This kind of personal growth has been consistent, he said, adding that it typically occurs through a process of discipleship that spans a period of years.
Ball said that God grew him that way when he was a BSU student at MSU and that he has seen God do this for many others over the years.
One of those many others is Jacob Kitchens, a junior from Whitehouse, Texas. Kitchens came to MSU as an admittedly spiritually weak Christian. But God has changed that through the BSU.
“Last fall, God gave me a heart for missions and to spread His word … to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ,” Kitchens said. “The BSU, through God, gave me a renewal of my soul, a re-welcoming of my walk with Christ. I have done things that I thought I would never do in my life; and I’m thankful for what Christ has done … .”
Another junior, Kimberly Hollis of Columbus, said the BSU encourages her to serve God and grow closer to Him every day. “I have learned through my friendships in the BSU that we were all brought together as one with a common purpose to be His hands and feet,” she said.
“The BSU taught me that in life you put the big things first,” said Joshua Rodgers, a graduate student from Vicksburg. “The BSU has been one of God’s primary tools of instruction to me, and I’m glad that He used the loving and caring people that are there. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
And Austin Dear, a junior from Florence, echoed that sentiment. “The BSU has been instrumental in my relationship with Christ,” he said.
“I have met countless people through the BSU that have had a huge impact on my life…. I will be eternally grateful for the work God has done in my life through the BSU at Mississippi State.”
Ball and others contend that, for the ministry to continue its progress in reaching students, the BSU must enlarge the amount of space it has now. Their dream is to see a new building on the lot in the near future. “Our emphasis is not on the bricks and mortar, but there is a demand for space to do the ministry,” he said.
This new facility would have two floors with a total area of 26,400 square feet. The worship center on the main level would have a seating capacity of 1,000 students.
When the proposed building becomes reality, it will occupy the space immediately north of the present building on East Lee Boulevard. At that time, the area where the present building now sits will be used for parking.
The total cost for such a structure is expected to be roughly $3 million, which is not easy to come by in economically troubled days like these, Ball said. Yet, the campus ministry has received a tremendous amount of support in its push to expand.
To date, the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board has contributed $500,000 toward the development and construction of the new building; and MBCB has pledged another $500,000 toward the project. And a capital campaign has brought in another $786,000 from other sources.
The most recent gift, an early October one, came from a former MSU football standout and BSU president.
Johnny Baker of Houston, Texas, contributed $250,000 toward the capital campaign. He and others hope this challenge gift will encourage others to match the donation or give whatever the Lord leads them to give.
In all of this, Ball sees God’s hand at work.
“God is faithful, and we see His hand at work as individuals give to provide the necessary resources to make this new facility a reality,” he said.
Even so, there remains another $1.3 million that is needed to finish the work. BSU ministry leaders are praying that God would lead people to contribute to the effort.
At this point, they have done all they can with the existing building. “We are defying the odds already with minimal parking spaces,” Ball said.
“In the present building, we have added live feed monitors and knocked down a wall.” But there is nothing left to do until there is a new building, he said.
For information on the BSU or on its expansion plans, visit http://www.msubsu.com/alumnni.php or call 323-5761. The address of the BSU is: P.O. Drawer BU; MSU, MS 39762.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 08 November 2009 )
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