How do you describe a group of people who mean so much to you — who have helped you grow and mature, laughed with you and cried with you over a period of time?
This is what I asked Hannah Powell, Baptist Campus Ministry president at the University of Alabama in Huntsville for the past two years. I simply asked, “What does BCM mean to you?”, and this was her response:
“Family. Friends. Community. That’s just a few of the ways students at UAH describe our BCM.”
“Our BCM is a place where students can come to fellowship, learn and grow with each other and in their relationship with Christ. I have been able to find lifelong friends who constantly encourage me and help me strive for a closer relationship with Christ. With over 180 student organizations on our campus, there are so many places to get plugged in, but I feel like I’ve truly found my home. At any time, I can go to the BCM building and feel like I have a place where I belong. Whether I’m working on homework, meeting with friends, or needing a place to relax, I know I’m welcome here.”
Hannah is thorough, detailed and organized. She asked others before she tried to give me a response.
“Family. Friends. Community” really summed up the responses of others as well as her own. Students seem to always bring up friendships while talking about the importance of BCM. Students feel welcomed and accepted which expresses a lot considering UAH is known as an engineering school.
Hannah and the other leaders of BCM do their best to live out 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NASB): “Having so fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”
BCMs across our state have different personalities, but we all have the same goal of sharing Christ with those on campus, and to do that we must share our lives. Pray for us as we go.
