Each December, we ask our members and attenders to prayerfully considering giving to our Holiday Missions Offering (HMO) which is in addition to our regular offering. 100 percent of the money collected is divided between ministry agencies that Northstar supports during the year.
One of those ministries is the Virginia Tech Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM). I recently got a chance to sit down with Darrell Cook to get a little insight into just how the HMO goes to help this campus ministry.
Darrell is in his 20th year as director of the Virginia Tech BCM. Prior to his service here in Blacksburg, Darrell worked with the BCM on the campuses of Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
“We always say that our mission statement is that we are after God’s heart in community and on mission,” says Darrell when asked about the focus on Baptist Collegiate Ministries. He explains that their goal is to see students learn how to be spiritually fed and to go after the heart of God in everything they do. “We want them, when they graduate here, to know what Christian community is; how to be a part of it; how to develop it.” To that end, the BCM emphasizes the importance of small groups and the Christian community that’s formed in those.
Another hallmark of BCM’s DNA is its involvement in missions and the desire to mobilize students to be on mission. Darrell said, “Every Christian’s role is to be on mission for God and we want to make sure our students understand that well as we prepare church leaders of the future.”
Each year, BCM is able to send students on a number of mission trips that happen during school breaks, particularly in the spring and summer. And this is where the Holiday Missions Offering is able to play an important role.
Overall, BCM is funded by a mix of cooperative giving from Virginia Baptist churches as well as the support raised from alumni and friends, along with the support of area churches and networks. “Ever since Northstar started the HMO we have streamlined those gifts into student mission involvement,” says Darrell. The BCM was excited, for example, last year to be able to send a team to Indonesia in December and January. “Knowing that Northstar was going to give us some of that money helped make sure the last couple people had their way covered.”
“Every year we’re able to decrease the cost for all students going on spring break trips,” Darrell goes on to explain, “There’s always some students who may need additional help and Holiday Missions Offering is one of those things that’s really helped us mobilize more students and help folks who have a desire to go but need a little extra help.”
If you would like to give to Northstar’s HMO, follow this link.