Uniting Helping Hands with Faith
Written by Karl Hennen
Where there is a love for God, there is a way.
Community involvement through positive, Christian values has been made an ongoing reality with the Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) on Kapiolani Street, a national organization serving U.H. Hilo since 1962. The long-standing RISO is as close to students as the University Palms Apartments, offering a platform for individuals to come together in applying themselves worldly and spiritually.
Sponsored by Big Island Baptist churches and the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention on Oahu, the institution provides camaraderie, event-projects, free meals, and support for pupils in an effort to improve their college experiences. After meeting student needs, the BCM’s aims reach beyond the campus. For interested pupils, this entails aspirations which can extend to a global scale— reflecting the organization’s mission of making a profound difference in others’ lives, no matter where in the world they are.
Director Anita Bice encourages BCM-affiliated students to consider activities that are beyond their campus. Students have, for example, previously assisted farmers in growing kalo on Maui. This year, they can anticipate flying to Molokai for a church-partnering sponsorship serving its colleges like the BCM has their own.
It is because of successful student projects such as these that the BCM was bestowed a prestigious Laulima Award by the Hilo University at the Ka Lama Ku Student Leadership Ceremony. The BCM has, for its altruism, also been recipient of several thanks and an increasing number of community partnerships.
Regarding benefits for students, Bice has faith there are many. These include, but are not limited to, personal growth, independence, and caring for their community.
“[BCM students] encourage each other to notice the needs of those around them and to become people who leave every place they go better than they found it,” Bice writes. “They develop leadership skills they take into communities and occupations all over the world, and they start here. We have students leading children in schools and after-school programs, tutoring high schoolers and peers, leading Bible studies for peers, and serving in many ways in churches, jobs, and community groups. As BCM director, I watch students mature as leaders who become more and more selfless. When they leave BCM they continue to invest
their lives in ways that make a positive difference.”
The ideas for the BCM’s missions and service projects are generated, in part, by student leaders. The U.H. Hilo campus, town community, and church groups may have requests for help to complement Bice’s and intern Jude Davis’ ideas. Besides these, any BCM-affiliated student can also make suggestions for future outreach activities. No matter who comes up with their events, however, Bice feels the real-world applications have expansive possibilities.
“Like any other group, BCM has connections to local, national, and global groups and individuals who may not be known to other classes or clubs,” she contends. “That’s one way we broaden the scope UHH and HCC already has. We offer many ways for students to develop as leaders. This past summer, UHH students attended a national leadership training conference in New Mexico. They inspired students in other states to come to Hilo and brought great ideas back for serving their campus.”
Micheal Sagun, a Biology major and sophomore, agrees.
“For me [the BCM is] like my first step to know God more, and believe that He exists and He is always there for us no matter what,” he muses. Sagun finds value in “the opportunity to connect with other people and build some kind of relationship with them (to share things and learn more about them) … [giving them] the opportunity to know and explore more of the Christian world.”
What’s next for BCM members at U.H.H.? Bice reveals affiliated students can look forward to adventures in Kona the last day of October and Molokai during Spring Break. Additional church and community projects are well on their way.
The hands of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries and U.H. Hilo students are helping each other, as well as new, appreciative people, one greeting at a time.
Anita Bice is the Director of Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Please contact bcm.uhh.@gmail.com or visit the BCM Facebook page, HiloBCM, for more information.
