Maguire State Mission Offering

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MIAMI (FBC)—It is more than a love of children and the call to share their Christian faith that brings Florida Baptist college students to two urban counties in South Florida each summer. They go to encourage and bolster the work of churches in the state they love, making Florida their mission field.

“The churches we worked at are churches that are overlooked and do not have people pouring into them,” said Shailyn Vielstorss, a University of North Florida graduate who served Haitian churches as a summer missionary.

As Florida summer missionaries, the students ministered to help the South Florida churches move beyond limited resources to sponsor Vacation Bible Schools for their communities.

FBC photos by Ken Touchton

The Maguire offering enables student missionaries to have VBS in churches with limited resources.

“Just the experience of having people come to work with them was so encouraging to those churches,” said Vielstorss. “They knew we cared about them and counted them as worth taking time out of our summer and resources to come.”

While most young people spend summer vacation at the beach or working at temporary jobs, some college students instead choose to follow Christ by giving of themselves and their time in mission service. In 2007 students were divided into four teams to serve Anglo, Hispanic and Haitian churches in the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas.

“A lot of the churches were in a really hard time,” said Beau Denton, UNF summer missionary. “It broke my heart to see these churches. They were trying so hard to reach their communities and have just had a lot of problems.”

“It changed my life to be able to see God use us in tangible ways throughout the weeks,” said Denton. “To see not only the kids change and encounter the Gospel but also the adults and volunteers being encouraged, to see something exciting going on, that was exciting for me too.”

Florida Baptist students are challenged each summer by their Baptist Campus Ministry to explore avenues for sharing the Gospel. In an effort coordinated by the Florida Baptist Convention’s Collegiate Ministries Department, BCM recruits and enlists students to serve nationally and internationally through the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board.

Each summer 200 college-age summer missionaries serve in Florida, as well as national and international locations. The ministry tasks performed by these students is varied, including: helping to start new churches; working in various communities leading Vacation Bible Schools and youth ministry activities; assisting mission congregations by conducting door-to-door surveys and using youth programs as evangelism outreach activities. In 2007, Florida’s summer missionaries recorded over 3,800 professions of faith.

Funding for Florida’s students comes primarily from their participation in BCM fundraising efforts and scholarships. The Maguire State Mission Offering underwrites some of their expenses and training.

During the eight-week South Florida summer missionary VBS program, students sometimes work at two churches a day sharing Bible stories, games and the love of the Lord. In 2007, more than 2,000 community youngsters attended these student-led VBS in South Florida and 216 made professions of faith.

“A lot of times when we think of missions, we think international. But in Florida, the international comes to you,” said Vielstorss. “When we were serving in Miami there were so many cultures represented. It was exciting to see the diversity.”

Vielstorss, who once had the view that missions was done far from home, is now planning to serve in a long-term missionary role. After the summer in Miami, “I’ve realized that there are people around me, right where I am, right where I live, that are desperate for the truth of the Gospel,” said Vielstorss.

Before leaving for their various ministry settings, all BCM students receive cross-cultural training and a prayer calendar to share with family members and friends, all funded by the offering.

The South Florida-assigned teams met in Jacksonville for training before leaving for Miami. “We went through scripture together; prayed together as a team; did different testing and activities in which we learned what our strengths were and how we could play off each other as a group,” said Vielstorss. “We studied even what we were going to be sharing and the best ways to communicate those ideas to the children.”

“None of this could happen without Florida Baptists,” said Denton. “First through the financial, then through providing curriculum, resources and training. And second, through prayer. God opened doors because of the prayers of the people.”

“This past summer opened my eyes,” said Denton, whose decision to go to seminary in the fall was solidified by his summer missionary experience. “Everywhere around me there’s potential to serve somebody and to show them God’s love.”