SOAR 2022: What’s Your Ministry Story?

By NICK JACOBSEN
BMA Conference Manager
 
What’s your ministry story?

My story begins in Tacoma, Washington, where I was born and raised to non-church-going parents. Don’t get me wrong, they were great parents, but we didn’t go to church as a family. When my friend, Garrett, and I would ride our bikes all over our neighborhood, we always passed a little light blue church set off the road, Grace Missionary Baptist Church. Since neither of us grew up in church, we decided we wanted to see what it was all about, so we went to church one Sunday.

A few years later at the age of 16, it was in that little church that I was saved. The following year I felt a stirring, a calling on my life, and after talking to my student pastor and pastor, I surrendered my life to ministry. Unsure of what exactly that meant, I said yes to God.

In August of 2000, I boarded a plane for Little Rock, Arkansas, to attend a small Christian college and study ministry that fall semester. I enjoyed Central Baptist College (CBC) so much that I spent five years getting a bachelor’s degree in Bible with an emphasis in student ministry. Once I finally graduated, I was hired by a church—Park Place Baptist Church—to work with students. Park Place Baptist Church allowed me to minister to students as a vocation, and I loved it.

God would eventually lead me down another path just a few years later that I never anticipated. He opened a door for me to work in media production, and after a few years at a television station, God led me to work at Lifeword. For the past 14 years, I have worked at Lifeword/BMA.
In the past few years, I have thought a lot about God’s call to the ministry: I was just 17 years old and had no clue. Some say I still don’t!

Is God still calling young people to ministry?

Are we giving those young people an opportunity to serve?

Are we encouraging students to give their lives to ministry?

At SOAR 2022, we will spend the week looking at God’s calling on our lives and how He wants us to serve His church. I believe God calls us ALL to serve. Some serve in leadership roles as pastor or student pastor, but all are called to serve.
Are you cALLed?
 
SOAR Student Conference: June 29 – July 1, 2022, Hilton Anatole - Dallas, Texas
Lowest price since 2015: $100 per person.