BCM students at Univ. of Miami on mission in South Africa

Oct 7, 2008
STELLA PRATHER
Arkansas Baptist News

University of Miami BCM student Jordan Wilbanks, worked alongside IMB missionaries Tom and Cindi Melvin in Africa this past summer. Courtesy photo

All of his life Jordan Wilbanks had heard of the need to minister to people groups in Africa. He was aware of the AIDS epidemic, civil wars, corrupt governments and starving children. He had even seen movies and photos depicting such harsh conditions.

But Wilbank’s view of Africa came into focus during a recent summer mission experience in Lesotho—a enclave of South Africa.

Courtesy photo

“We (Americans) watch the news, or hear second hand stories … of starvation, AIDS, civil war, forced child soldiers, desperation crimes and we say, ‘Oh wow. That is just terrible,’” said Wilbanks, a Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) student at the University of Miami. “We may even have a few moments of reflection and life re-evaluation. But the truth is, that is usually the extent of it.”

Recalling a brief conversation with Tim, a pilot from the Mission Aviation Fellowship who transports AIDS victims in Lesotho, Wilbanks said he learned that three and a half people per hour die of AIDS in Lesotho. Given this current rate, the entire population of the Basotho people group, which comprises most of Lesotho, will be completely wiped out in 45 years.

It was at that moment the AIDS crisis was no longer just a newspaper headline to Wilbanks. It was then he was reminded of the world’s lostness.

BCM students Jordan Wilbanks (left) and Brandon Edwards (right) with a new friend in South Africa. Courtesy photo

“Tim’s eyes began to tear up and his mouth quivered as he explained how difficult it is trying to resuscitate a patient dying of AIDS-related illness in mid-transport on the way to treatment, and then to get a call from someone asking them to re-route their flight to pick up a 2-year-old who is on the brink of death,” he said. “My experience in Lesotho … gave me a new perspective about the way the world really is.”

Wilbanks, the son of Mark Wilbanks, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Bradfordville, was among a group of BCM students from South Florida and Louisiana, who spent three weeks this past summer ministering among the Basotho people group. They worked alongside International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries Tom and Cindi Melvin, helping village churches with discipleship and evangelism. They helped construct an outhouse for a small church, held Vacation Bible Schools at three preschools, visited a youth correctional facility and shared Christ with several students at a school assembly.

In addition, one team member took part in a class dialogue with an atheist professor on the meaning of the universe, while the men on the team took part in a two-day, one night ministry excursion to a remote mountain village a few hours outside of the Capital city of Maseru to share the Jesus film.

During each and every ministry project, as small as providing a loaf of bread to a chief of a remote village or visiting with a teenager at a open air market, Wilbanks said God showed up and used the team to encourage and minister to others.

At the showing of the Jesus film, more than 125 villagers weathered frigid weather conditions and watched the film for more than two hours. At the conclusion, more than 40 people made professions of faith in Christ.

“God showed up big time that night, and He did it with style,” recalled Wilbanks, adding, “the sky was so clear and bright one could only assume we were in the company of angels.

In all, 56 people came to know Christ during the mission trip, according to Becky Crandall, Miami area BCM director and team leader. Noting that in the past year and a half the IMB missionaries had only seen 10 people come to Christ, she said, “It was unbelievable! It was so exciting to see Him draw people to Himself.”

Pondering his experiences in Africa, Wilbanks said he was reminded that God is not American, and He has called believers to go and tell others about Him. “The world is a much bigger place to me now that I have seen more of it,” he said. “As much as we can see via the media and as easy as it is to communicate with people around the world, nothing compares with physically getting off of my red, white and blue backside and seeing for myself other parts of God’s creation, and other people that God loves.”

Like himself, he encourages other believers to “get in touch with the reality” of the world’s lostness. “Real people live in Africa, or South Asia or in the Middle East who have never heard the story of Christ, and who are living in fear, hunger, sadness and desperation.

“If anyone should be there, it should be the church. We are commanded to do so, as I don’t recall any requests or suggestions.”

Taking the Gospel around the world was the goal of more than 22,000 college students from 834 campuses who served overseas and in the United States this summer. International ministry sites included: Burkina Faso, India, Philippines, Ireland, Peru, East Asia and Senegal.

Hope Newsome, a Baptist Student Union (BSU) student from Mississippi State University, spent 52 days this summer ministering at the New Faith Family Children’s Home in Manila, Philippines. She served on an IMB Nehemiah Team, with hope that God can do amazing things in a short period of time just as Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and restored the city in only 52 days.

Arriving at the children’s home at 7 a.m. daily, Newsome helped feed and bathe three toddlers and four babies. From there, her day was spent changing diapers, making bottles, playing peek-a-boo, reading stories and distributing medicine.

Noting that her tasks were simple, she noted, “Each day brought new things. Each day I was able to invest so much time with these babies. I have learned their different personalities, and I can see how God has given each one of them unique qualities.”

But the sweetest moments always come at the end of the day, she noted. “Putting the four babies to bed with their bottle in hand, safe and sound, seemed to make any challenge or struggle faced worth it,” said Newsome.

After they babies were asleep, the oldest child in the nursery, Angel, 3, would curl up with Newsome in chair for a bedtime story. When story time was over, the duo would sing while the toddler lay in bed. Almost always they ended with “Jesus Loves Me.”

“These simple quiet moments are what have meant the most to me,” Newsome said, adding she is reminded of James 1:27, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress.”

In Mbour, Senegal in West Africa, Katie Jackson, a BSU student from University of Mississippi, spent two months ministering to Muslim boys living at a local Talibe house. These residents are sent by their parents to live with and be reared by Muslim teachers. To learn humility, they beg for food and money all day, live on what they collect and reside in cramped and terrible housing conditions. They also spend hours chanting and writing Arabic.

Noting that the boys often battle staph and fungal infections as well as multiple other illnesses and wounds, Jackson said the boys weekly came to the local center to take baths and wash their clothes. While there, Jackson and her team members treated their wounds and cuts and told them Bible stories.

“At first they were quiet and reserved around us,” she recounted. “However by the end of our time there, we had formed a close relationship with these boys. They laughed with us and talked with us.

“If we ran into them on the street, they would get huge grins on their faces and wave.”

Despite the language and religious barriers, Jackson said, she and her mission teammates witnessed God open doors to minister. The team was befriended by a group of women who taught them how to cook and allowed them to love on nearly 20 village children.

Personally, Jackson said, God matured her faith in ways she could not describe. “It was a physically challenging summer in that we never had assurance of water or power; sometimes, we went days without either,” she said, adding, “I was even sick for a majority of the summer because my body couldn’t adjust to the food.

“It was in those moments of physical struggle that God became so spiritually evident. When I could have been miserable, God gave me the ability to laugh about my situation and keep going,” added Jackson.

Jackson said she learned to live on very little and be satisfied with what she had.

“God did not call me to sit at home and be comfortable,” said Jackson. “He called me out of my comfort zone to experience yet another part of the big world He created.”

Email this Article Print this page

Login ID:
Password:	Forgot password?