UTPA BSM

We had an awesome free lunch as we hosted one of the largest groups of students ever at our Free Lunch here at UTPA.  The mood was great and excitment was on the air.  We had our now famous BSM Burgers and freshly baked cookies.

We finished our lunch with a Biblical discussion about asking God to be the main character in the story of our lives. “Whoever seeks to find his life will loose it, and whoever looses his life because of me will find it.” These words of Jesus were the main verse we reflected on.

We also had our coffee house last night.  The BSM band gave us a great performance and those that partcipated during open mic gave us great insight.  Here are a few pictures of both events:

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Today we will be hosting our traditional Free Lunch. Since 1960 students have been part of the BSM tradition. One of the most important things that happen during free lunch is that the UTPA community comes together to take a break during the day, share a meal, and listen to a brief relevant talk about life from a Biblical perspective. 

If this will be your first time coming to free lunch, let me tell you what to expect:

-  We start at noon and end at 12:40 max so that those that need to go to class can do so

-  If you don’t know where the BSM is, follow the crowd at noon crossing University, you can’t miss it

- You can expect to meet new people

-  While at the BSM, you can sign up for a Bible study and other meaningful happenings

Tomorrow, the BSM Band will be playing and the grill will be going for delicious burgers. See you there!

Also, don’t forget our coffee house tonight at 8 PM at the BSM.

We had a blast during our tea day at UTPA.  The most amazing part for me was having over 20 bsmers show up to help, it sure made a big difference to have such cool group of students.  We also met really nice students and promoted our free lunch and Bible study times.  Here are pictures of the event:

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Today is our Campus Tea Day and we can’t wait to meet students.  We will be there hanging and giving away delicious raspberry tea and pink lemonade.  This event is way on its way to becoming a BSM tradition.  I will post pictures later on today.

This week we are also having some other cool events:

We had an amazign day yesterday. We showed up at the SU and met students. In the mean time, Sharon stayed back at the BSM and waited to see if students showed up to free lunch even though we don’t start until next week. We had about 30 students showed up! We also had a fun time at the SU and then went to the BSM for the after party.

At 5 we went to Bucky’s party and set up a coffee style booth.  It went awesome.  We then rushed back to the BSM for speed friending.  It was great. We met new people, played fund games, and had iced coffee. We can’t wait for next week! The BSM Band wil start us off during our free lunch on Thursday and then perform during our coffee house. Pictures of these events to come.

In the mean time, here are a few pictures of a full day yesterday….

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view a slide show of pictures of the first week

It rained yesterday at UTPA. However, it did not keep us from having a great time during campus infusion. We met a great group of students that are open to learning more from God. Here are a few comments we heard:

” cool, I have been looking for a place to study the Bible..”

” No, I am not religious, but I would be interested in learning more.”

” I have heard about the BSM a lot, it is nice to finally connect the dots, I’ll see you guys at lunch next week..”

” Why are you guys giving stuff free?”

” Oh yeah, my friend has told me about the BSM..”

We heard much more, overall, our impression was that students at UTPA are very open to learning about God. I am glad the BSM is at UTPA, after all, learning about God and knowing him is the reason for our existence.

Here are pictures of the event:

We have had a great time during the last two days.  On Monday night we went to the UTPA campus and prayer walked.  We pray for all students to have a good year and for God to give us a spiritual awakening so that we may open our eyes to the world around us.  The after party happened at the BSM as we ate paletas.

Yesterday we had a get together at the BSM. A good group showed up as we shared a meal and exchanged summer stories.  To all those of you great new people that came, welcome, it was great meeting you.

Here are some pictures:

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Meet new people, catch up, get college life going. Come to the BSM for thin crust pizza, salad, and raspberry tea. (vegetarian option available)

A BSM preview will be shared. All students will get the specially designed BSM 09 T-shirt. Start right and get with cool BSM students who will be a good bunch of friends to you. Come and go..starting at noon.

Locate us

Want to begin with prayer? Today, Monday night meet other like minded students at 8 PM at the BSM as we prayer walk the UTPA campus.

In just a few days a new school year will begin at UTPA.  For some it will be their first year, others will be starting their second, third, etc. Not for the BSM.  The BSM building opened its doors in the early 60s.  The student ministry has been going on since the early 50s.  Since then, thousands of students have been part of this refreshing ministry that inspires and equips students to be followers of Christ.

I have met many BSM UTPA alumni that have shared with me how much the BSM meant to them during their college years. Many found a dependable and encouraging group of friends, others were deeply touched by God’s grace to decide to live a life of service to him, and others found all this and even the love of their lives.

If you ask me, my favorite part of the BSM is seeing God transform lives for his glory. I have seen students do things for God that they would have never dared to do.  From the halls of the UTPA campus to continents like Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe. They have been following Jesus’ commandment of being his witnesses to the ends of the earth. This is what I love about our BSM, seeing how every moment we live at the BSM can be transformed into someone making a life altering decision that literary changes lives.

As we begin the school year, my prayer is that your life, as well as mine, is mobilized to know more who God is and to make him known in our campus and all over the world. I can assure you one thing, being part of the BSM will open your eyes to who God is and how he is working in this world.

Good times ahead…..

A reminder to us that the things we have seen in our travels on mission trips in various parts of the world should forever change us and move us forward to live a life of service and dedication to God. This will result in serving others in God’s name.
May God continue to inspire and challenge students all over the world to be the presence of Christ to people in this world.