Church reaches Lamar students through SBTC intern program

VIDOR—When it comes to college ministry, the SBTC has broken the traditional campus-based mold, opting instead to base its efforts in local churches that are strategically positioned near college and university campuses.

A key part of the strategy is an internship program that helps place college ministers in churches, paying a portion of their salaries for up to one year and providing them with resources and training. Last year, First Baptist Church in Vidor hired Tony Romero as director of collegiate ministry through this program. And the internship yielded eternal dividends.

Already a member of the congregation, Romero traveled to Grapevine for an initial one-day training session then began a revitalization of the church’s ministry to students at nearby Lamar University in Beaumont. Over the year of his internship, First Baptist’s college ministry increased from eight to 30 students, with marked spiritual growth alongside the numerical increase.

Though campus-based college ministries can be helpful, “the SBTC is committed to helping places like First Baptist Vidor be the spiritual presence on the college campus,” Romero, a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Havard School of Theological Studies in Houston, told the TEXAN. “… They want to see churches take it upon themselves to reach college students.”

The internship program began nine years ago and funds work at around five churches each year. In addition to providing interns with initial training, the SBTC provides ongoing ministry help throughout the program and holds interns accountable through regular progress reports.

“Tony has a heartbeat for [college ministry] and God is using him at Lamar to begin to do some things,” Lance Crowell, SBTC church ministries associate, said.

As director of collegiate ministries, Romero helped students engage Scripture by breaking them into small discussion groups during Bible studies. He also changed the format of prayer times, putting students in groups of two or three and having them pray for one another in personal, focused ways.

During the academic year, he visited the Lamar campus two days per week to promote upcoming activities and meet with students who attended Wednesday night Bible study. His evangelistic ministry utilized cards with pictures to help start conversations and encourage lost people to express their feelings about spiritual matters.

“A core group of students developed,” Romero said. “Now they know how to engage the [biblical] text. They know how to feed themselves from the Word, and they’re jumping at the bit, I believe, to be engaged in ministry 24/7.”

As the ministry grew, Romero realized that some students attending Bible studies might not be Christians. So he began a series of evangelistic lessons on the seven miraculous signs that Jesus performed in the Gospel of John. During each lesson, he asked the students what the passage taught about their needs and what it taught about Jesus.

A student named Matt attended every week and told Romero he wanted to believe in Jesus but couldn’t bring himself to step out in faith. Finally, after a lesson from 1 Peter about Christ’s death for sinners, Matt asked to talk with Romero. He confessed his fear that coming to Christ would require him to solve all of life’s most difficult problems on his own.

Romero told him, “I’m committed … to making sure that you never feel alone. And if there are any questions you have about what to do now, you can come to us. We’re committed to making sure that you understand where we’re going.”

At that, Matt said he was ready to move forward and committed his life to Jesus.

Romero said the SBTC helped make such ministry possible by sending him to seminars, helping him train other leaders, holding him accountable and allowing him to participate in webinars featuring respected college ministry experts.

“They’re not dedicated solely to the minister. They’re dedicated to the complete ministry,” he said of the convention.

In the end, the internship was so successful that First Baptist decided to keep Romero on staff and increase his salary after the SBTC stopped contributing to it.

“Because of the success of the ministry, the church is going to get behind this thing and own it,” Romero said.

For more information on the SBTC’s college minister intern program, email collegiate@sbtexas.com or contact Lance Crowell in the SBTC offices toll-free at 877-953-7282 (SBTC).