Sojourner #041: A Field Among The Nations - Gadsden State & The Gospel

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." (Psalm 24:1)

In Alabama’s quiet corners, the nations have gathered. Gadsden State Community College has welcomed over 6,000 international students from more than 140 countries since 1968 - a surprising and sovereign mission field tucked into the American South.

Through the Baptist Campus Ministry (BCM), the Gospel is being sown. Not with spectacle, but with meals, conversations, food pantries, and patient, prayerful hospitality. It is a local field with global potential - and a mission worthy of your intercession. 

This is not mere charity. This is Kingdom work - for the nations.

Three Ways to Support the BCM at Gadsden State:

1. Pray Consistently
   Set a weekly reminder to pray by name for campus workers and the nations represented there. Include it in your church’s worship or small group intercession.

2. Give Generously
   Support the BCM with Gospel-purposeful giving - for food, outreach, Bibles, and student events. Every dollar serves the work of Gospel proclamation.

3. Go Willingly
   Volunteer to serve meals, host international students, or lead Bible studies. Whether you're trained or simply willing, there's a place to help carry the message.

“Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” - John 4:35

Prayer Guide for Gadsden State BCM:

① Pray for the Students

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’” - John 6:35

• Pray for local and international students to encounter not just kindness, but the truth of Christ through Gospel-saturated hospitality.

• Pray that loneliness, need, and culture shock would lead students to question, and questioning would lead them to the Word.

• Pray for hearts made soft by providence and ready for the seed of the Gospel.

Ask: Lord, may we see the souls on campus not as guests, but as image-bearers and potential brothers and sisters.

② Pray for Those Laboring in the Field

“Let those who serve do so by the strength that God supplies, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” - 1 Peter 4:11

• Pray for the staff and student leaders of the BCM - for endurance, theological clarity, and daily communion with God.

• Pray that their faithfulness would not be shaped by results, but by rootedness in Christ.

• Pray against discouragement in unseen work and for joy in ordinary obedience.

Ask: Father, strengthen Your servants in this field, that they may labor not for visibility, but for fruit that lasts.

③ Pray for Gospel Advance

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” - Matthew 6:10

• Pray for clarity in Gospel conversations - that Christ would not be assumed, but proclaimed.

• Pray that each act of mercy would become a bridge to the message of the cross.

• Pray for conversions: not just exposure to religion, but regeneration by the Spirit.

Ask: Lord, open eyes, break hard hearts, and draw the nations to Your Son, by the working of your Holy Spirit in their lives.

④ Pray for the Local Church

“How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” - Romans 10:14

• Pray that local churches would see this campus not as a project, but as a mission field in their own backyard.

• Pray for reformed, rooted churches to engage joyfully in long-haul partnership.

• Pray for members to give, go, invite, disciple, and send.

Ask: Lord, awaken Your Church to the field on their doorstep. Let them not pass by the harvest to chase what feels bigger.

⑤ Pray for Eternal Impact

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people’… and in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called sons of the living God.” - Romans 9:25–26

• Pray that the students who come to faith here will return to their nations as Gospel witnesses.

• Pray for generational impact - disciples who make disciples across language and border, both here and abroad.

• Pray that what begins in Gadsden would echo in eternity.

Ask: Lord of the harvest, let Your name be great among the nations, beginning here at Gadsden State Community College.

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