College students are uniquely positioned to go with the Gospel. When commanded in Matthew 28:18-20 to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you,” college students do not hesitate to go. College students respond in confidence that any potential challenge can be overcome. Students’ freedom to go and their confidence in God results in great potential to be used for the Kingdom. 

This past year, Rocky Creek Church made a commitment to be on the North Greenville University campus to be present to disciple students. Jonathan McWhite, a deacon at Rocky Creek, served as a mentor to guys; and Joy Emery, the Connections Coordinator at Rocky Creek, mentored girls on the North Greenville University campus. The college students also came together to engage in a study of “The Fuel and the Flame: Igniting Your Life and Your Campus for Jesus Christ” by Steve Shadrach and Paul Worcester. 

One of the key quotes from “The Fuel and the Flame” that stirred conviction in the hearts of the students was, “The Lord is fulfilling His plan for the ages, and nothing will deter it. WE can either get on board with Him and view things from His eternal perspective, or we can live out our quiet little lives, never reaching the God-ordained potential He has planned for us.” Instead of living lives of passivity in relationship to living out their faith, students began to believe and ask for movements from the Lord, assignments from the Lord, and evidence of the Lord’s work in those around them. 

As the group engaged in deepening discipleship, the college students prayed for a movement of the Lord in the hearts of students. They prayed together that the baptismal waters would be stirred due to students responding to the Gospel in obedience to follow through with believer’s baptism. 

On April 30, 2023, the last Sunday of the semester, Rocky Creek celebrated as 25 students faithfully responded in obedience to summer assignments to live out the Great Commission. The church celebrated and prayed over the students as Missions Pastor, Taylor Wolfe, commissioned the 25 students out to serve this summer. There were 21 students from North Greenville University, one from Bob Jones University, one from the Citadel, one from Clemson University, and one from East Tennessee State University who were commissioned to serve at Christian camps, to serve through North American Mission Board assignments, and to serve through International Mission Board assignments. Some students responded in obedience to serve in more than one location during the summer. 

There was also a celebration of obedience in regard to baptism. Students had an opportunity to watch the Lord use them in the life of a peer who moved to Greenville from California this past year. The peer who moved into our city without any background in Christianity watched the Rocky Creek college students live out a true faith in Christ. The students shared stories of their salvation. They invited the newcomer into their groups. They prayed for his salvation. Then in obedience, the peer came to believe in Jesus at the Converge college retreat at Myrtle Beach in February. When Travis Agnew, pastor of Rocky Creek, gave the invitation to turn from oneself and to believe in Jesus, the student’s heart turned in repentance toward Jesus. 

The first person the student, told was Graham Ford, a student at North Greenville and an intern at Rocky Creek Church. On Sunday evening, April 30, Graham Ford baptized the peer who came to know Christ as Savior. There were also three other college students and two high school students who were baptized on Sunday evening before the students were commissioned

Join us in praying for these students who responded in obedience to serve this summer. Below are those from North Greenville University who were among the 25 commissioned to serve this summer:

• Gracie Bowers – Preschool Intern at Rocky Creek Church
• Beau Bradley  – Student Ministry Intern at Rocky Creek Church
• Abby Carter – NAMB Gen Send to Salt Lake City, Utah
• Bailey Drew Carter  – Woodlands Camp in Cleveland, GA
• Rachel Davidson – Provo, Utah with NAMB Church Planters and South Asia with the IMB 
• Rainey Dinkins – Teacher at Holy City Christian School at Isle of Palms, SC
• Anna Dinn – Covington First Baptist Youth Intern, Covington GA
• Graham Ford – Woodlands Camp in Cleveland, GA 
• Tessa Haack – Intern at Rocky Creek Church and Woodside Baptist
• CJ Hanley  – Connect Camps
• Kaitlinn Harrison – Frontline Missions in South East Asia 
• Emma Heard – Student Ministry Intern at Rocky Creek Church
• Mia Hefner – Connect Camps 
• Maddy Koon – Woodlands Camp in Cleveland, GA
• Michaela Lanier – Costa Rica Study Abroad at the Spanish Language Institute and Connect Camps based in Georgia
• Emma Lankford – Provo, Utah with NAMB Church Planters; Missions Intern at First Baptist Church Indian Trail, NC; Panama Mission Trip
• Kinslee Medlin – Metropolitan New York Baptist Association Multiply Program at af Manhattan Church Plant
• Noah Murphy – Crossroads Summer Camp, Anderson, SC
• John Austin Roberson – Provo, Utah with NAMB Church Planters and South Asia with the IMB 
• Will Shaw – Woodlands Camp in Cleveland, GA
• Karly Wolford – Papua New Guinea with Ethnos 360

Additional Students from Other Universities Also Serving This Summer:

• Sarah Dixon, Clemson University Children’s Ministry Intern at Rocky Creek Church
• Cede Griffith, Bob Jones University – Korea with the Awana Program
• Lucas Lagrange, Citadel – Camp McCall, Sunset, SC
• Justin Smith, East Tennessee State University – Camp Gattawana, Galilee Bible Camp, LaFollette, TN