By Ki’Yana Taylor, Staff Writer
On Oct. 24, Armstrong’s BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry), held a brownie-baking contest to raise money for their Summer Missions Program.
BCM is a faith-based organization that unites students and faculty with the Christian environment.
Their purpose statement is “Because of what God has done for us, we want to exemplify Jesus Christ and provide opportunities for students to be like him.”
The brownie-baking contest is one of many fundraisers that the organization hosts for Summer Missions Program. The Summer Missions Program sends college students on free mission trips. Students have the opportunity to travel all over Georgia, different states, or different countries. The group plans to reach a goal of $5,500 this year for the program.
Samantha Payne, senior, said the trips are organized based on what an area may need. “Like if there is a hurricane to clean up, like the Sandy relief, we went up to that last summer.” They also go to summer camps. Samantha says she has done two mission trips; one of those was to Camp Hawkins and the other was to Texas. She says they have ministry tasks Monday through Friday.
Hannah Clements, who has been a part of BCM since 2012, organized the Brownie Baking Contest. “I decided to do it because the BCM needed to have a fun event to serve as a place for regulars to come enjoy themselves and for newer people to come and feel like a part of the group.” Hannah said. The contestants brought in brownies, and the brownies were assigned numbers for the participants to vote on. The voters had the option to purchase eight tickets for $2; each additional ticket was $.50. They placed their votes in a jar sitting by the brownie, and the winner, Catie Cofield, received a Chick-fil-a gift card.
Armstrong’s BCM hosts a variety of fundraisers like a dessert theater. The group performs a play and during intermission, they serve desserts from different churches in the community. The event is only ten dollars to attend.
The BCM is spread all over the United States including Louisiana State University, University of Oklahoma, and others. All the universities are striving for the same goal. They each send students on mission trips during the summer and spring breaks and have events to fellowship with one another weekly.
Most of the members get involved with BCM through the lunch program that is held every Wednesday at noon.
BCM has small groups that meet through Bible study classes. The Bible studies are mixed gender and gender-specific depending on the topics discussed. Many fellows involved with the BCM agree that the organization keeps them focused on academics while attaining a social life. Melanie Allen said her freshman year she focused more on academics rather than making friends, but when she joined the group it gave her a balance and she became more social. Another member of the BCM, Victor Moss, said that he hung around the wrong crowd and was not focused in school before the he joined the BCM.
