When I arrived in January of 2022, the COVID restrictions were still in place and organizations like the BCM were really struggling. We only had a handful of students involved. Once restrictions were lifted, we had around 25 attending. Last year we jumped to an average worship attendance of 59! God used our students for incredible things. Between sharing the Gospel on campus and off campus [ex. helping churches with Discipleship (DNOW) weekends] we led 45 people to Christ from January 2022 through July 2023.

In addition, we helped several churches in our region start or strengthen small groups for young adults. Some are traditional Sunday School classes while others meet in homes. Our desire is to see every Southern Baptist Church in our area have a small group specifically for young adults or one where they are welcomed and growing. We also desire to see every BCM student equipped to help lead their church by the time they graduate college. Many of our students are already running sound, teaching Sunday School, leading the youth, and/or actively leading in other ways. Several students have been called to ministry/missions, and I have personally helped connect almost a dozen ministers to staff positions in the past 18 months.

Furthermore, we took mission trips to Hot Springs, Panama City Beach (to share the Gospel with college students on Spring Break), and NYC (to work with a church plant and collegiate ministry in the city). We desire for all BCM students to take at least one mission trip before they graduate. Thanks to Buckner Baptist Association, Great Commission Baptist Association, and Clear Creek Baptist Association, we have Autumn Wolff, a recent UAFS graduate, working for us part-time to help lead us in missions and our ministry to international students on campus.

Finally, a local church in Fort Smith and the GCBA have provided us with the funds to hire a full-time associate minister. We hired Emma Richardson, a recent Ouachita Baptist University graduate, to among other things, lead our ministry to women on campus. This will free me up to continue mentoring youth ministers in our region and being off campus more to help churches in any way I can to help better reach the next generation.

If you have anyone in your church passionate about college ministry, I will add some ways to connect below.

We cannot wait to see what God does this year,

Phillip Slaughter

UAFS BCM, Campus Minister
Cell: (870)265-0958
Email: pslaughter@absc.org

Ways to Connect:
BCM Dinner and Worship: A different local church provides a meal for our students every Tuesday night at 7pm. We want our students to know your church members, and we want you to invite our unchurched students to worship with you. Sign up here:
https://calendly.com/fortsmithbcm/bcm-dinner

Giving: My salary is paid by the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, but 100% of our local budget is provided by local churches and associations. If you are interested in giving, follow this link or contact Jeff Thompson at (479)597-8262; https://app.easytithe.com/App/Form/bcbd7de8-24ef-49d8-aca8-a8c5a019fea5

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