{"id":49185,"date":"2025-01-28T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/?p=49185"},"modified":"2025-11-04T16:23:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T21:23:59","slug":"god-at-work-in-students-hearts-and-lives-at-univ-of-central-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/god-at-work-in-students-hearts-and-lives-at-univ-of-central-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018God at work\u2019 in students\u2019 hearts and lives at Univ. of Central Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO\u2013What is Brad Crawford\u2019s one message to those who may be disheartened about the darkness in the world and what that might mean for the next generation? His one message is a simple three words: \u201cGod is greater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crawford, director of Baptist Collegiate Ministries<\/a> at University of Central Florida, is confident that though many may be tempted to feel \u201cdisheartened\u201d about the next generation, God is still very much at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile it\u2019s true that the darkness is dark and the needs are great, God is greater, and He is still at work in the hearts and lives of college students,\u201d Crawford reflected. \u201cGod is at work on our campus, and we have a group of students who are committed to growing in their faith and being intentional about sharing it with others.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“While it\u2019s true that the darkness is dark and the needs are great, God is greater, and He is still at work in the hearts and lives of college students.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Brad Crawford<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

A steadfast figure in the campus religious and student leadership community for more than 25 years, Crawford was called into campus ministry after leaving a career in the business world. In addition to his roles as director of BCM and also the university\u2019s Campus Faiths and Ministries organization, he also teaches in the Lead Scholars Academy\u2014the. university\u2019s leadership development program.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching classes in leadership has been a great way for me to meet and impact students,\u201d said Crawford. \u201cThe focus of the program is on servant leadership, which is obviously a natural fit with a Christian worldview. I teach about 60 students a semester. Many of them might never come to a BCM event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Baptist Collegiate Ministries across Florida play a strategic role in reaching students on campus and connecting them to local Florida Baptist churches,\u201d said Nathan Schneider, Florida Baptists\u2019\u00a0next generation ministry<\/a>\u00a0lead catalyst. \u201cBrad Crawford has done an excellent job of leading the ministry to be more creative and flexible in its approach, casting a wide net on campus and intentionally bringing church leaders to the university to make connections with students. Brad has also done a good job of mentoring students and mobilizing them to local churches, as volunteers, interns and staff members.\u201d<\/p>\n

With nearly 70,000 students, the University of Central Florida is the largest university by enrollment in Florida and one of the largest universities in the nation. The university also leads the way in student diversity\u2014with more than half of students being a minority. Underscoring this widespread diversity was a recent ministry event\u2014Around the World\u2014where BCM students highlighted the various cultural nuances of ten countries.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

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\u201cOne of the encouraging things we\u2019ve seen recently in BCM is an influx of students from a number of different countries and diverse backgrounds \u2026 more diversity than we\u2019ve ever had before,\u201d said Crawford. \u201cStudents who either had a family background or a missions experience in that country hosted a table with local food, souvenirs and facts about the country. It felt like a small taste of the scriptural promise that God will be worshipped by people from every nation, tribe, people and language.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIncredible blessing,\u201d even with challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the university quickly shifting from a commuter school to a more residential landscape, the ministry\u2019s presence is critical despite facing unique challenges, including the constant ebb and flow of student turnover and a lack of permanent building space.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the unique challenges in college ministry is the constant turnover,\u201d he said. \u201cStudents are leaving and arriving every year. The window for reaching, training and mobilizing students is not always four years. Many times, it\u2019s much less than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of building space also presents some weekly challenges. Although the group meets on Thursday nights in the Student Union, also known as the \u201cHeart of Campus,\u201d other gatherings rely heavily on shared space and in various gathering spots across the 1,400-acre campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a BCM building on campus, so we rely heavily on the university for space and access to the campus,\u201d he explained. \u201cThroughout the week, students have the opportunity to meet together on campus for discipleship and prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the various challenges facing Crawford and his team, he still counts it \u201can incredible blessing\u201d to get a front-row seat at watching God transform the lives of the next generation.<\/p>\n

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“One of the great joys of being in this ministry setting for many years is that I get to hear and see the continuation of God\u2019s work in the lives of hundreds of former students.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n Brad Crawford<\/strong>
\n director, Baptist Campus Ministries, University of Central Florida\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOne of the great joys of being in this ministry setting for many years is that I get to hear and see the continuation of God\u2019s work in the lives of hundreds of former students,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s a word of encouragement about how pivotal their time at BCM was in shaping and strengthening their walk with Jesus. Sometimes it\u2019s tracing their career path and seeing how BCM gave them leadership experience or was a part of their journey. Other times, it\u2019s seeing couples that met at BCM and later married and now are faithfully serving the Lord and raising godly families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond campus life<\/strong><\/p>\n

The campus ministry regularly celebrates salvations and baptisms among the student body, highlighting the collaborative efforts and healthy relationships with local churches in the Central<\/a> region.<\/p>\n

\u201cBCM has a great relationship with local churches in the area,\u201d said Crawford. \u201cWe collaborate on joint events, promote church activities and regularly remind students that BCM is not a church. We want students to be actively involved in a local church\u2014now and in the future. The church will be a part of their lives long after graduation from college.\u201d<\/p>\n

This collegiate ministry not only serves as a spiritual haven but also trains its college students to be on mission. Since 2017, the ministry has joined in the state convention\u2019s partnership with Cuba by sending five mission teams to serve at the Baptist camp in Matanzas as well as at a church in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur purpose and mission is to bring students in, build them up and send them out,\u201d said Crawford. \u201cWe want to provide opportunities for them to grow in their faith alongside other followers of Jesus. And we want to send them out\u2014into the local church during and after college, and also to serve and impact people locally, nationally and internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is Brad Crawford\u2019s one message to those who may be disheartened about the darkness in the world and what that might mean for the next generation? His one message is a simple three words: \u201cGod is greater.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":49187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,230,675,155,22,23,25],"tags":[985,673,260,986],"class_list":["post-49185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-region-central","category-college","category-collegiate-ministry-coaching","category-next-generation","category-providing","category-sharing","category-stories","tag-baptist-campus-ministries","tag-baptist-collegiate-ministries","tag-brad-crawford","tag-university-of-central-florida"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49185"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67831,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49185\/revisions\/67831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}