Campus ministries reach out to students

by Isa Torres, staff writer

College life helps students realize and form their own ideas.

Many come to believe that in order to live a fulfilled life, there needs to be a balance of mind, spirit, and body. The religious clubs and student ministries at South Plains College are part of the balance that a student might be looking for to grow in his or her spiritual journey.

“We try to make an alliance between Jesus and the students,” said Aaron Starborouth, director of The Wesley Foundation at SPC, a Methodist-affiliated campus organization.

These religious clubs are created for students to have an environment of spiritual peace by achieving the same goals with others of faith.

There is a place for everyone. The directors of these clubs try to receive everyone and answer all their questions.

 Billy Alonzo, advisor for the Catholic Student Organization, thinks that students should be able to share their doubts and have a place to talk about spirituality. That is why they have these student organizations.

“It gives the kids a place to talk about spirituality,” said Alonzo.
There are many different reasons for these organizations to exist, besides helping students who already believe in their faith. Students in these religious clubs share their faith with those who don’t believe in the same faith.

“We want students to encounter Jesus,” said Taylor Davies, campus minister and part of Baptist Student Ministries.
These clubs make goals for themselves. Trying to reach out to students, and sharing their faith and love is an essential part of their priorities. They try to meet their goals by meeting the necessities of these they encounter.

“God wants good for the students, and so do we,” said Davies.
They strive to look a lot like what God looks like, show the same love that God shows, and do the same thing God does.

“God loves everyone,” Starborouth said. “We are just a tool that He uses. We hope to be used by God.”

 Alonzo explained that giving glory to God is their main purpose, and they try to be prepared to help every student, every person with a different character. They can start from students who are beginning in their spiritual journey to the students who want to grow more in their faith.

“We want to lay the ground work for the people that come here,” said Starborouth, “lay a foundation of faith.”

Part of the process of showing God’s love to the students is to train them so that they can be ready to share that same love to others.

“We train student leaders,” said Davies.

But what keeps these clubs running is the response of the students toward the activities, and the directors know that students and their involvement is what really counts.

“We want to keep the kids involved,” said Alonzo.

These clubs use activities to attract students, and students might see something they have never seen before. That’s when the impact comes, according to Elizabeth Bradley, a sophomore human development and family studies major from Lubbock.

“God revealed to me that I needed to be serving Him,” said Bradley, who is a member of both the BSM and The Wesley Foundation.

The directors of these clubs try to make a change in the personal lives of their students. Through different activities, they try to approach students and build a personal relationship.

Counseling and servitude are included in the basic activities of these clubs and their members.

“They need to know that someone loves them,” said Davies.

The members of these campus religious organizations try to show how much they care and love the students on campus.

“It helps them to understand how much God loves them,” said Bradley.

Like Bradley, many other students see that transformation in their lives, and then they feel like doing the same for other people.

“I want to invest in their life,” said Bradley.

But they don’t want to do anything without first knowing if that is what God wants.

“We seek God’s leadership,” said Davies. “We don’t want to do anything that He is not leading us through.”

The BSM serves luncheons every Monday and Thursday from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The cost of the meal is 50 cents.

Their worship services start at 7:30 p.m. every Sunday. In addition to those weekly activities, they also organize Mission Trips to Cd. Juarez, Mexico twice a year, and hold work days to raise money for the summer missionaries of the General Baptist Convention of Texas.

Students can contact Arlano Funderburk, director of the BSM, every week day by calling (806) 894-7272.

The Wesley Foundation offers free luncheons every Tuesday from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.  They also have Bible studies on Mondays at 8 p.m. and a coffee house on Sunday through Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.  Starborouth can be contacted at (806) 781-3920.

The Catholic Student Organization is currently inactive, although Alonzo said he is trying to start running the organization once again. If students are interested in helping him start it again, they can contact him at (806) 894-9611, ext. 2436, or e-mail him at balonzo@southplainscollege.edu