Written by Rob Ely
I love it when two members of the family come together to advance the kingdom. The Baptist Campus Ministries’(BCM) Fall Retreat was held at the West Virginia Baptist Camp at Cowen on October 25-27, 2019. “Changing lives that change the world” continues to be the mission of BCM and our fall retreat speakers encouraged the students in that task.
Trent Eastman, pastor, New Baptist Church (Guyandotte), walked students through a Bible study on how obedience and boundaries are important components for the life of a disciple. Ed Rogers, interim pastor, Weston First Baptist Church (Broad Run), then led a discussion called The Comprehensiveness of the Call, which encouraged our students to consider how they could use their vocation to serve God. Lastly, Karla Carr, our BCM Associate at Fairmont State University, shared a Bible study titled, Moving from Shame to Jesus … ALove Story. All the speakers did an excellent job of encouraging our students to live lives that are changed by the gospel in a world that desperately needs to hear of Jesus.
The 125 students, representing eight different campuses in West Virginia were blessed. Camp Cowen is a place “Where people meet Jesus and grow as His disciples in a community of faith,” and on Saturday night, we watched that happen. A
young lady from Marshall University approached me and said, “Rob, I have been doing this church thing for a while, but I am not sure I have ever been saved. I want to do that right now!” That was a great ending to an incredible campfire! Through BCM, God has used several people to minister to this young lady over the past three years and we are excited to continue teaching and discipling her. God is so good and we are so thankful to the West Virginia Baptist Convention, which supports ministries like the West Virginia Baptist Camp at Cowen and Baptist Campus Ministries, allowing us to invest into the lives of young adults. It is through ministries like this that we can continue Doing Christ’s Work Together!
